It had been a full month, I had almost given up.
No matter how many times I played the CCTV footage I couldn't find a single lead to Raven. Now all assumptions were slowly fading away like the clouds passing the blue sky.
Hours on end I sat uptight watching a replay of the night on a huge monitor that could easily pass as a cinematic screen.
All I could see was myself interacting with plain air. As if there was an invisible person or ghost in front of me at the time. One could say I was hallucinating at that moment but what could explain the spicy caramel smell drifting around him, the warmth that I absorbed when he pushed me against the solid wall?
Despite all that, here I was for the umpth time watching the same clip. My apprentice of some sorts looked constipated as he sat with me a notepad in his hand.
He had watched the clip repeatedly with me, now he was probably debating my insanity. I threw a quirky smile before I unpaused the clip again.
"Dean put on a IR filter," I sign with my fingers for him to hurry up as he clicks some buttons on the keyboard.
We watch keenly.
"Zoom in a little,"
Like in a eureka moment, I clap my hands in europhia- finally hitting the nail.
Besides me Dean's mouth is hung agape, surprised. I watch the proof of his existence, the thermal coating of a male figure repeats the actions of a person, that seemed to be missing from the motion picture before. Moreover, every touch was pressed into the cloth of my outfit.
Proudly lifting my chin in confidence, I instruct, "Increase the resolution,"
Deans follows, "I've delayed the frame by 0.8 seconds," He comments as I nod in approval. I can feel his excitement at our new discovery.
We watch intently at the scene, "Oh sweet lord Jesus," I hear a gasp besides me. I look to see Dean's hand covering his mouth as the colour from his face drains like he's seen a ghost.
"You really are a puzzle," I chuckle upon seeing Raven place a note in my pocket whilst my eyes are shut tightly, he turns to the CCTV camera and salutes off with his wicked smile.
That damn idiot knew.
"Dean, make sure no one and I mean no one knows of this, understand?" I firmly warn waving my finger in his face to snap his attention to me. He nods, still speechless.
"How?" Flabbergasted he slouches into his chair exhausted. I contemplate on telling him, I assumed the head would have trained him on this matter. Looks like I'd have to do the job.
"Melissa!" I shout, she walks in seconds later, "Why has Dean not been debriefed?"
She searches through the ipad attached to her arm. "It completely missed the system, must have been a bug. We had one a month ago that deleted many of the agent's appointments. Looks like this one wasn't restored,"
"Run it by the director," I gesture for her to leave. I switch the buttons off, so every electronic device shuts off. Darkness spreading into the room, Dean pales slightly.
I sit in front of him. "Dean, do you belive in aliens?"
At the mention of them he looks terrified. "It's okay, Dean!"
"The world government has worked with other beings for decades," I turn to my watch, the only secure activated device at hand. This baby is safer than a bank safe. I turn on the hologram to show video's of the past, evidence of the fact.
"In fact they may have been here longer than us," It's quite but I'm sure Dean is spooked out.
"What you saw there was an actual man just from a different world, they're supernatural. That's why he probably didn't show up on camera."
Dean's chest starts to heave, "It's okay, Dean. They're harmless, you've most likely encountered one in real life but just haven't known. They can transport between worlds through wormholes or portals - call them whatever."
"Why are the public not aware of this?" He asks, his breathing calming down.
"We're more of a danger to them than they are to us. Humans are destructive, you know that! Only a few elites know, now including yourself. When you entered this job this was what was expected of you after your navy training."
He nods. "Doesn't surprise me really"
"Oh. I'm sure!" I agreed. "Listen, you know the standings. You'll just have to go through a few procedures before more information is disclosed. This is an exciting opportunity Dean, we have so much to learn from them but we must remember to respect them first, okay?"
Humans were so full of curiosity, the most asked questions started with how and why. We had to find concrete evidence to prove our findings even if it meant hurting other. That was toxic - somethings weren't meant to be known.
This was one of them.
"Melissa will explain more," I told him, "I'm exhausted"
"That's fine, I'll meet her just now"
"Good, I'm heading home let the director know if he asks."
* * *
I returned home heading straight to my closet to dig out the blazer I had worn when I met Raven. After minutes of plain frustration and little patience, I find the blazer checking each pocket like an Hungarian beast.
I feel a piece of paper between my fingers.
The note falls by my feet, and I pause to watch it land softly. This is it.
I crouch down on my feet, my thighs parallel to the floor. I see a picture, curiously I pick it up to inspect it closer.
It's a picture of a adult male with a young kid with jet black hair hugging his leg. In the picture the young boy seems covered in sands and sun cream whilst his Father pats his hair cheekily.
The boy has strikingly familiar features to the portrait of Raven I had the artist sketch but I'm not quite sure.
The picture was obviously taken at a local beach. I look closer, the tip of my nose almost touching the photo.
To my great surprise, I find a picture of my 6-year old self with my parents in the background.
It clear enough for me to identify my family. I turn the picture around in alarm, questions popping up in my head.
My heart is debating if I should go ahead with the plan, it doesn't want to ache once more.
Rough handwriting scribbled in a black marker stains the white sheet.
"Cousin of chance, good fortunes best mate, everyone seeks me unsure of their fate. See you soon, my clover!" My voice repeats the words out loud as I hear his voice in my head, I growl in frustration. What sort of clue is this? Is it possible the answer I seek is in the clue?
"My clover..." I repeat, that was something my Mother called me when I was extra emotional as a kid.
I sit in the corner of the closet leaning on the drawers in deep thought. My head was burning from thinking too hard. Couldn't I just relax for a moment without any tension in the world?
"If you can hear me Raven and it's true what you say, then making me run around in circles better be worth it. Cause if you play me, I will crush you're non-existent head to the ground with my foot on top," I growl feeling the inner bitch taking over me. The light flickered in response before returning to normal.
As much I would have liked to let it go, I couldn't because solving this mystery could answer questions about my Mothers whereabouts.
Sitting there, giving into the peaceful silence, leaning my head on my knees, I had decided what my next move was.
I was going to visit this beach. A wrenching feeling swivelled in my gut. Touch wood - hopefully my hunch was correct.
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