Visionary

Chapter 6: Midnight's Wrath

Valerie strolled casually down the bustling copper sidewalks, Shadow resting in her arms. A day had passed since the incident on the train, and Valerie resolved to use trains only when she had to, just in case. She had searched through nearly every historical book in the library and had not found a single word about Paul Nightman.

Valerie wasn't asking around anymore, either. By now she figured that whatever Paul Nightman did many years ago had been hidden by the President from the public.Now she had no idea how to find any information on Paul, except to wait for a new vision, which could take anywhere from a few days to a year, for all she knew.

She walked by two gossiping women when she suddenly heard her name and stopped to eavesdrop.

"There are definitely too many criminals running loose around the city, Alice," complained one. "I'm pretty sure the count has gone up to three now, hm?"

"No, Jenny, today's news report said that they caught the Masked Man who attacked the train," replied Alice.

"So that just leaves the Visionary and the strange Detective apprentice boy?"

"Yes, it seems that the apprentice boy was asking about things President Weatherford didn't want to be discovered." Valerie heard enough and continued walking.

"What'll I do now, Shadow?" she whispered. Shadow looked up at her with his round, golden eyes and blinked slowly, purring. "Now both me and my disguise are being hunted." She kept walking, unsure if she was safe, or if the next Guard she saw would bring her straight to President Weatherford. She had a strange feeling that she was being watched, and felt very uneasy.

She was just turning a corner into an alleyway between two tall, silver buildings when she heard footsteps behind her. She turned around and was met with a thick book slamming onto her head. Her vision blacked out, and she fell unconscious.

Valerie woke up once again on the copper sidewalk, construction sites all around her, along with the beginnings of silver buildings. Valerie jumped up to her feet immediately. Yes! she thought excitedly. Now I can finally learn what Paul and the bald guy were doing. She once again noticed Paul hiding in the shadows of a building, intently watching the construction site. The bald man snuck towards Paul from the shadows and said "Paul, have you decided where yet?"

"Not yet," retorted Paul angrily. "And keep your voice down, we don't want the construction workers to hear. Just stay in the shadows until I figure out exactly where." The bald man returned the shadows of the alley, slinking. Valerie bounced past the unmoving Paul and followed the bald man into the shadows, where he met with another man who looked to be in his twenties, with short, blonde hair. The younger man sat against the wall and tapped his fingers on the ground, seeming as bored as possible.

"Paul's still looking, Ed," announced the bald man as he sat down against the silver wall.

"Well, I hope he'll hurry up, then," replied Ed. "Didn't Mr. Kresco say he was finished working on the project?"

"That's what he said," replied the bald man. "All that's left is Paul deciding where." At that moment, Paul strode into the alley.

"I know where," announced Paul. "Ed, Jonathan, it's time to acquire the project." Paul led the way out of the alley, Ed, Jonathan, and Valerie following him. The small group passed many construction sites on their way, but the workers all seemed too busy to notice them, except for one unfortunate man.

He had been resting from a long, particularly hard day of working, a drink of cool water in his hand, wen he'd noticed Paul and his shady group.

"Hey!" he shouted. Paul ignored him. "Hey, you!" He chased after them, running across the heated road.

"That guy's following us," pointed out Ed as he caught up to Paul.

"I'll take care of it," replied Paul quietly, in a way that seemed almost sinister to Valerie. Paul abruptly stopped and waited for the construction worker to catch up. When he finally did, he was sweating and panting.

"What are you up to?" asked the worker. "Seems a little shady to me."

"You know who I am, don't you?" Paul asked coldly, turning around. The construction worker gasped.

"Paul Nightman?!"

"You've seen too much," said Paul, and he pulled a small, rusty pistol out of his front pocket. The worker's reflexes were unfortunately too slow, and he fell to the road, dead. Paul casually reloaded and slipped his gun back into his pocket.

"Hide him in the shadows for now, Jonathan," Paul commanded. "We can get rid of him completely later." Valerie felt chilled. Paul had just pulled a truly ruthless act-- an unforgivable act. Jonathan seemed uneasy as he took the body an hid it in the shadow of a completed silver, gleaming building.

Paul led them through the city for about twenty minutes before he disappeared down another alley which seemed to lead straight to a dead end. However, Paul pushed a hidden button in the corner of the wall and a perfect circle of the ground opened to reveal a ladder heading down, underneath the city.

Paul, Ed, and Jonathan climbed down the ladder and Valerie followed in pursuit. At the bottom of the ladder was an underground warehouse, full of tools. In the center of the room stood a giant, round table which held a silver, blue-glowing sphere on top of it. Once the group reached the warehouse, they noticed a tall man with shaggy, graying hair waiting for them. He wore a black protective coat (Why wear white lab coats anyway? White's very susceptible to stains.) and goggles. He also wore a dark brown leather belt which held a various assortment of wrenches, hammers, and screwdrivers.

"So you said the Project is finished, Mr. Kresco?" questioned Paul as he eyed the glowing sphere, it's blue illumination flashing on and off dangerously.

"Yes, it is. It has a name, as well," answered Mr. Kresco. "Midnight's Wrath." Abruptly, Valerie's vision started fading. No, not again! she thought.

What is the Midnight's Wrath?