Going Downhill

I should have done it. I should have destroyed that fucking book.

I tried to. I was about to do it. I was alone, outside the car. Seraph and Kyle were in the gas station, getting some supplies. I was obscured from view, with Burner in one hand, and the book it the other. I ignited Burner, and prepared to set it aflame. But something stopped me. It was a voice in the back of my head, holding me back. It was calm. Gentle. British...

“Don't do it,” the voice said.

“What?” I asked.

“That book will be important for you in the future,” the voice said. “If you destroy it now, and important ally will be lost to you.”

“What do you mean?” I asked. “What ally?”

“I can't see everything,” the voice said. “But you will need his help.”

“But-,” I began, intending to ask who the voice was referring to, but another thought occurred to me.

Couldn't see everything. That's what the voice had said. IT had knowledge of the future. That, plus the accent, could only mean...

“Ben!?” I asked.

Silence.

“Ben!” I almost shouted. “Is that you!?”

There was no answer. The voice was gone. Just great...

I looked down at the book for a while. If that really was Benjamin's voice, then could he have been right? Had he seen a future where I'd still need this book for something? I saw Kyle and Seraph begin to head back outside. I stuffed the book into my backpack, intending to look into it and make a more informed decision on the matter. We all got back in the car. I didn't tell them about hearing Ben's voice, or that I had kept the book.

It was a couple days ago that we ran into trouble. We had stopped to take a rest and stretch our legs for a moment. It was getting pretty late, and there weren't a whole lot of people out. And then we were attacked. High Blood member's began appearing from the shadows and coming at us. There were eight of them. I knew we couldn't handle this many of them.

“Run!” I shouted.

The three of s turned tail and fled. The High Blood gave chase. We ran down an alleyway. But before we reached the end of it, one of the High Blood appeared, seemingly from nowhere, and stuck out their foot, catching my leg and throwing off my balance. I stumbled to the ground, and quickly picked myself back up. By the time I was on my feet, several more of the High Blood had caught up. Including Reout.

She was standing a couple feet from me, holding Seraph in a hammerlock. Kyle was being restrained by another High Blood.

“Hello, Daniel,” Reout said, smiling. “I don't want this to get too difficult. Just give us the book, and well leave you all alone.”

I summoned Burner to my hand. Kyle angrily shouted at Reout.

“He doesn't have it any more!” he said. “He burnt that thing up!”

“Don't lie to us,” Reout said. “We know you still have it. The Backer made it very clear that you're still in possession of it.”

Seraph gave me a panicked look. I averted my gaze, focusing on Reout. I drew Burner from his sheath and set the blade aflame.

“Let her go!” I ordered.

Reout just laughed at that. Then she glared at me seriously.

“Enough of the games, Daniel,” she said. “Give me the book.”

She slid her hand up Seraph's side and grabbed her in a way that absolutely infuriated me. It brought back a memory that I can't stand. A memory of Red Daniel touching her in a very similar way.

“Or else poor, dear Seraph will have to pay for it,” She said.

The storm above us began crackling with white lightning. He had caught up with us several days ago, but hadn't done much other than that. Now, though, it was growing fierce. It was almost as though it was feeding off of my anger. I saw the blurry, red-eyed figure of Burner materialize behind Reout, with his naginata in hand.

“Burn it hell you Blood Vessel bitch!” I shouted.

As if it were a signal, Burner plunged his spear into Reout's back from behind. With a howl of pain, she loosened her grip, and Seraph broke free. The Vessel restraining Kyle must have let his grip go slack from surprise, because Kyle broke free too and drew a handgun from his coat. He turned quickly and put a bullet in his captor's shoulder.

“Get out of here,” I instructed both of them.

Kyle fired off a couple more shots at the surrounding Vessel's and they both took off. Burner cm to hover beside me, his weapon at the ready. A couple of the Vessel's expanded their blood and slashed at me with it like blades. I swung my sword at the speeding blood. Before the blood reached me, it halted in midair and retreated from the flames. The Vessel's were shocked by this, but I wasn't as surprised. I had already realized this would happen. They weren't intimated by Burner's fire, but their blood was. It was Burner's flames that had killed Red Daniel, and their Red Cap remembered that. I took a few steps toward Reout, who was clutching her wound. I could tell that it wouldn't last for too long. Blood Vessel's heal quickly.

“Daniel!” Kyle's voice rang out from a distance. “Come on!”

I turned to see him at the end of the alleyway, with Seraph a distance farther from him. I turned and glared into Reout's eyes.

“I don't like killing people,” I said. “But I have done it before. And if you even think of laying so much as another finger on Seraph, I will not hesitate t do it again.”

Reout glared back at me angrily. I sheathed my sword and began sprinting to catch up with the others. But someone else had beaten me there.

A large Panopticon Van screeched to a halt a few feet from Seraph, almost hitting her. Three men got out the back, and one of them shot Seraph with a tazer gun. She fell to the ground, convulsing, and the two other men rushed over to her and picked her up. Kyle lifted his gun to try and stop them, but another shot was fired from the driver's window of the van, hitting him in the arm. He cried out in pain and dropped his gun. I drew Burner, and faced the Driver, who had begun stepping out of the car. He took a stance across from me, holding a hunting rifle in his hands.

“Mr. Ferris,” he said, in a soft, kind of French-ish accent. “I'm glad to finally meet you. My name is Meilleur Monde.”

“I've heard of you,” I growled.

“I'm sure you have,” he said. “I would like you and your friends to come with me.”

I was about to tell him to go have intercourse with himself, when a whip made of blood lassoed my wrist. I looked back to the alley to see Reout standing there, with the rope of blood stretching from her palm. She looked pissed. Monde saw it too.

“The High Blood!” he said, turning to his companions. “Fall back!”

The others began loading Seraph's unconscious body into the van. Monde stepped back into the driver's seat, and took one last look at me.

“If you live through this, and want your girl back, then come get her,” hee said. “Your friend Tony knows where I'll be.”

They then took off, taking Seraph with them. I couldn't stop them. One of the Blood Vessel's appeared behind me, and bashed my knee with a metal pipe. I went down, and next thing I knew, Reout was standing over me, glaring daggers down at me. She kicked me in the face, and I lost consciousness.

I came to in a new location. I was in a large room, obviously made to hold a lot of people. The only furniture was some long tables lined along the walls. There was a large, circular indentation on the floor on one side of the room, not too far from me. It was about as wide as a kiddie pool, and maybe an inch or two deep. I had a chain bound to one of my legs. The other end was driven into the stone floor by a spike. Kyle was chained up too, a few feet from me. He was conscious too. His bullet wound had been treated, and his arm was bound up.

“Kyle,” I said. “What happened?”

“The High Blood brought us here,” he said. “I don't know why, but they need you for something. The book wasn't enough.”

I looked to my side to see my backpack lying there. Sure enough, the Bleeding Crest was missing from it.

“How's your arm?” I asked.

“Hurts,” he said. “But t least I got street cred now.”

He cracked a nervous smile, but I could tell that something was bothering him.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

His smile faded as he looked me in the eyes.

“No,” he said. “Daniel...”

As I looked at him, I noticed what was wrong. For just a brief instant, a red light flashed across his eyes, then was gone.

“I think they infected me,” he said.

“Shit!” I hissed. “We've gotta get out of here.”

I summoned Burner to me and tried to cut through the chains with his flames. It id nothing.

“I don't think that'll work,” Kyle said. “That stuff's reinforced Tungsten. I think it's enchanted somehow, too. You can't melt it.”

“Damn it,” I said.

Fortunately, my backpack still had me laptop in it, so I was able to type all this up. This is all my fault. If I had burnt that fucking book, I wouldn't be here right now. Seraph wouldn't have been captured, and Kyle wouldn't be slowly converted into one of the High Blood's Vessels. I need to find a way to escape from this place. I don't know when the High Blood will be back, but I need to get out of here before then. Kyle said the book isn't enough. They need me too. So, that means that if I can escape, it'll throw whatever their planning off the rails. I have to try and get Kyle out too. I got him into this. I need to get him out.

This is all my fault...

Quick Update

Apparently, shit has been going down all over the place. I've heard from several of my contacts that the war between the Red Cap's is escalating fast. I was also informed by Dyson that one of the last remaining Scion's has vanished off the face of the Earth. Simply disappeared. Also, the Daemon Lord Isaac is tracking has struck a few more times. Not a good sign. Estren's also been busy. Several of the remaining Dying Man shards have been stirring up trouble. Some of them have special powers, like HELLFIRE does. Estren's the one having to deal with them. He's considering starting a new blog to keep the rest of us posted on that situation.

I do have some good news. I think I know where the Panopticon's new base is. I haven't checked the place out yet, but I will soon.

I also received a visit from Jack today, regarding the note he left for me.

“What do you want?” I asked him.

“Just one small favor, to put a dent in that debt of yours,” he said.

“What is it?” I asked, suspisciously.

“You will soon come to blows with the Panopticon,” he told me.

“How are you so sure?” I asked.

“It's bound to happen,” he told me. “And when it does, I want you to do something.”

“And what would that be?” I asked.

“I simply want you to do the right thing,” he said, smiling.

“The right thing?” I asked.

“You'll know what it is when you see it,” he said. “I'll speak with you afterwards. Au revior.”

And then he vanished. I don't know what's going to happen, but something tells me doing the “right thing” will end badly. Very badly.

-Tony Helioson, signing out

Souls

After months of waiting, Marshall finally paid me a visit. He appeared in the doorway of my room, observing me silently. Upon seeing him, I grabbed the wooden box that I had received from Adon and turned to confront him. He spoke before I did.

“Finally going to ask, huh?” he said.

“What are these?” I demanded. “And why are you having me find them.”

He sighed and stepped into the room, walking along the wall over to the window.

“Do you know how many Emissaries I've killed?” he asked.

“13,” I said. “The other you, from my timeline, mentioned it.”

“That's right,” he said. “They're what I'm looking for.”

“So these objects carry the souls of those Emissaries?” I asked.

“Yes,” he said.

“And why are you collecting them?” I asked.

“I have my reasons,” he said.

“Tell me,” I insisted.

“No,” he said, quietly.

“What?” I asked.

“No,” he repeated. “I don't need to tell you. And I won't.”

“Then you can find the rest of them on your own,” I told him.

“Oh really?” he asked.

“I wanna know what I've gotten myself into,” I said. “Just why are you gathering these? What the hell are your intentions?”

He glared at me through his one good eye, judging me silently.

“Fine,” he said after a while. “You really wanna know what my intentions are?”

“Yes,” I said.

“I intend to bring them back,” he said.

“WHAT!!??” I demanded.

“You heard me,” he said.

“Why!?” I demanded. “These are servants of the Game Master! Why should they deserve to-”

“And there's the difference between you and me, ParaDan,” He said, cutting off my sentence. “You allowed 15 years of pain to destroy the man you used to be. You threw your morals away, and you no longer see servants as people. They're just fodder for you to cut through with that rapier of yours.”

I fell silent, not quite sure how to respond to that. It took me a moment to think of what to say.

“Even by my standards, this sounds like a bad idea,” I said. “How do you know this wound explode in both of our faces?”

“I don't,” he said. “But I need them. They're exactly the soldiers who can help.”

“So what, are you trying to build some kind of army?” I asked.

“Yes,” He replied.

“For what?” I demanded.

“Daniel wasn't wrong when he said you might have made things worse for this timeline,” he said.

“And what's that supposed to mean?” I asked.

“Do you know what happens when you time travel?” he asked.

“It splits the timelines, doesn't it?” I asked.

“That's one thing,” he said. “It also creates a temporal ripple in the new timeline. It can last for several years, but normally doesn't do much. When I went back, it really didn't have too big of an effect, other then drawing some unwanted attention. However, the ripple you created is another story. Because of it, something is coming. Something bad.”

“So I've basically doomed this timeline?” I asked.

“Not quite,” he said. “Making things worse isn't always a bad thing. It gives us a chance to make things better.”

“What?” I asked.

“Your presence here gives us an opportunity to stop what's coming,” he said. He then motioned to the box in my hand. “But we'll need help.”

I looked down at the box in my hand, pondering it.

“This is a really stupid idea,” I said.

“It's risky, yes,” he said. “But it's worth a shot. Same logic you had in mind when you time traveled, right?”

He was more or less right about that. Still...

“I'll try this out,” I said hesitantly. “But if this goes wrong, it's on you.”

He smiled. “Good. I know where the next one is.”

At Long Last

We were stuck on the Board for a while before we finally encountered someone. Seraph was the first to spot the masked man watching us from the top of a mostly undamaged building. She tugged on my coat and pointed him out to me. I thought for a few moments before waving at him. He promptly vanished.

“Sure that was a good idea?” Seraph asked me.

“We'll see,” I said. “Just play it cool.”

Immediately after saying that, I drew Burner from his sheath and spun around to parry the spear coming down at me.

“Attacking from behind?” I asked the man. “That's original.”

Up close, I could see the man a bit better. He was dressed in black clothing, with straight red hair almost to his shoulders. The mask he had on was broken. His mouth and most of his right cheek were exposed, and what was left of the remaining mask was cracked and chipped away in places. His chin was coated in stubble, and his skin beneath it was deeply tanned. The symbol on the mask resembled most of a spade with the top half of a two or a three on top of it.

I motioned for Seraph and Kyle to step back. The man had enough courtesy to wait for them before attacking me again. His speed was impressive. I've seen better, of course. ParaDan or Damien could've outrun this guy easily, but this guy was still good. I managed to keep pace with him, deflecting his attacks. He vanished a few times, trying to take me by surprise, but I was able to stop his attacks in time and counter. I switched to the offensive and kept slashing at him. He repeatedly blocked me with the pole of his spear. Burner quickly ignited brightly and I swung again, cleaving his spear in two. He teleported a few feet from me, dropping the two pieces of his spear as he dd and drawing a short sword at his side, then he rushed back in.

He was clearly better with this weapon. Without the spear encumbering him, he was able to take back the upper hand and force me onto the defensive. He managed to knock Burner out of my hand, then, with a smile on what could be seen of his face, he vanished again. He appeared in the air above me and began dropping downward fast, sword gripped tightly. I dropped the sheath and raised my left arm above me, picturing a shield as I did. The ring around my middle finger dispersed into light and reformed as a buckler. I braced my legs as his weapon met my shield. I don't know what Abdalin made that buckler out of, but it's certainly durable.

I threw my arm to the side, throwing off the man's balance, and I swung a right hook at him, catching him in the jaw. I summoned Burner back to me and swung my sword the other way, knocking the sword from his grip. I ignited Burner and pointed the sword at the now unarmed man. He stood silently, string at the tip of my sword intently.

“That's enough, Gale,” Came a man's voice.

The guy I was fighting nodded and vanished. I turned around to see another man standing several yards from me. He had semi-short black hair, that was neatly combed and tied up in the back. His clothes must've looked nice at some point, but were now stitched up in places and carried a couple of patches. He stood up straight, with his arms folded professionally behind his back.

“The Ace Of Clubs, I presume?” I said.

“Please,” the man said, smiling. “Call me Giron.”

“All right,” I replied. “I'm Daniel.”

“I'm aware,” he said. “After all...”

He spread his arms wide, drawing attention to the broken landscape around him.

“Your counterpart thoroughly wrecked our shit,” he said.

“I had nothing to do with Red's actions,” I said.

“Yes, I know,” Giron said. “Unfortunately, as much as I wish to trust you, I can only see his visage when I look upon your face.”

“Yeah, I get it,” I said. “I came here for a reason.”

“The Bleeding Crest,” he said. “That book is out of both of our reach, I'm afraid.”

“What do you mean?” I sked.

“The Game Master sealed it shortly before his death,” he replied. “After Alphonse stole a page out of it.”

Of course. The former Ace Of Spades, and Estren's brother, took one of the Game Master's spells before his desertion.

“There has to be-” I started to say.

“There is no way in,” Giron cut in. “I'm afraid that we are all unable to enter without his assistance.”

“Not all of us,” A new voice sounded.

Abdalin appeared a few seconds later, holding a thing, dusty book in his hand. Giron was taken aback by his sudden presence.

“Seriously, did you even try?” Abdalin asked. “I managed to break in, and I had like, thirteen shots beforehand.”

“What took you so long?” I asked.

“A lot of books to look through,” he said, tossing me the tome. “Plus, I can't track you without my mask. Had to look around for you idiots.”

I looked at the book. Inscribed on the cover, in an almost illegible cursive font, was the title “The Bleeding Crest”. This was it. “This was the book the High Blood wanted.

“Abdalin,” Giron said. “I need to talk to-”

“I'm not interested in the position!” Abdalin snapped. “There's already someone else who'd be perfect for the job! Talk to him.”

“But-” Giron said.

“He'd accept,” Abdalin said. “And he'd be much better suited than me...”

I could feel some kind of self-loathing coming from Abdalin when he said that. Without another word, he grabbed me and teleported us both back to the normal world. He then went back for Kyle and Seraph. And the car. We all stood in silence for a while.

“So,” I sid after a bit of time had passed. “Who else is there?”

“Who else is there for what?” Abdalin asked.

“To become the Game Master,” I said. “The way you were talking, it sounded like...”

“It doesn't concern you,” Abdalin said.

I shut my mouth. He obviously didn't want to talk about it.

“One more thing,” he said, pointing to the book in my hands. “I read through that.”

“You did?” I asked.

“Yeah,” he said. “The Red Cap is right. You absolutely cannot allow it to fall into the hands of the High Blood.”

“Why?” I asked. “What's in here?”

“You saw what they did to the Board when Red Daniel brought them there, right?” he asked. “And you know how many Cards died because of it?”

I nodded.

“If they had that book, They would do the same thing to the other Red Cap,” he said. “And any poor bastards who found themselves between the two of them would meet the same fate.”

Shit. That's bad.

“You should destroy it,” he said. “Soon.”

And with that, he vanished. I'm gonna follow his advice. Once I wrap this post up, I'm setting that thing aflame.

Looking Into It

This is Tony again. I'm back at Hideaki's house now. Isiore picked me up. That was kind of her.

I don't know what's going on with Daniel right now. Can't get through to his phone. Funny that a domain with seemingly infinite Wi-Fi has no cell reception. Maybe his phone died or something. I don't know. But I'm sure he's fine.

The Panopticon has me concerned though. Their targeting Daniel now. And I know why. He's a threat to them. Their goal is to suppress information on the Fears. Stop people from believing in them. As a walking magnet for eldritch bullshit, Daniel would obviously pose a problem for them. Especially after the incident I had with them before.

So, I've decided to dig up as much as I can about them. Moss has agreed to help me with that. There has to be something we can find that can be used against them.

One more thing. I got a note today. It was short and simple. I said “I came up with a favor you can do. Get back to you soon.” At the bottom right corner of the page was a single, red thumb print. I guess Jacks finally got something for me.

-Tony Helioson, signing out.

The Board

We've been on the road for a while now. No matter where we go, those dark clouds are always there in the distance behind us.

“What do you think it is?” Kyle asked, earlier today.

“I have no idea,” I said.

“I think it's following us,” Kyle said.

“Looks like it,” I said. “But why?”

“I don't know,” Kyle said. “But I don't think it's the only thing.”

I knew what he was talking about. We were currently stopped at a gas station, and I shot a glance at another car that had parked there. It had been driving the same way as us for a while now, and now it had stopped in the same place. I didn't want to jump to conclusions, but it seemed a little suspicious.

“What should we do?” Kyle asked.

“Wait for Seraph to get back and leave,” I answered.

A few minutes later, Seraph came out of the gas station with some bags of snacks and approached us. As she did, a couple men got out of the other car and began walking toward us. Seraph noticed too.

“Bail?” she asked as she got up to us.

“Bail,” I agreed.

We all got in the car and peeled out before the men made it over to us. Unfortunately, we couldn't get out of the parking lot because a van pulled up and blocked the exit. Two more men got out of it and approached us. One of them rapped on our driver's side window, where Kyle was sitting, and said to step out.

I looked over at their van. Scrawled across the side were the words “We live in the best of all possible worlds.”

“Shit,” I said. “The Panopticon.”

The men from the other car caught up to us and circled the car.

“We're fucked, aren't we?” Kyle asked.

I felt the air behind me becoming displaced as Abdalin spontaneously appeared in the back seat.

“Not quite,” Abdalin said, flipping the men outside the bird before we vanished. All of us, including the car, were now in another place.

The skies were a dark orange color, with purple clouds scattered across it. The ground was covered in black and white squares, and all around us was the rubble of collapsed buildings. There was no doubt about our current location.

“No way,” Kyle said.

“This is the Board!” Seraph gasped.

“Yeah,” Abdalin said. Then he vanished.

“Did he just strand us here?” Kyle asked.

“It would appear so,” I said.

Distant Storm

I waited weeks for Abdalin to actually show up. When he did, he kind of caught me by surprise. He appeared next to me, grabbed my arm, and next thing I knew, we were back in California, at Kyle's house.

“Jeez, dude!” I said. “Warning next time!”

“Whatever,” he said.

“You realize you left Lana behind, right?” I asked.

“Don't care,” he said, walking out into the middle of the cul de sac and looking at the horizon.

“So, can you get me to the Board?” I asked.

He didn't answer.

“Um, hello?” I asked.

“Just as I thought,” he muttered.

“Excuse me?” I asked.

“It's here now,” he said.

I looked where he was looking and saw what he meant. There were dark clouds in the sky, miles away from us.

“Is that a storm?” I asked.

“Are you just now noticing it?” he said.

“I just got here,” I said.

“So did it,” he said.

“What?” I asked.

“That's no normal storm,” he said.

Then he vanished. Weirdo...

Kyle and Seraph came outside immediately after that. Seraph slapped me across the face and then threw her arms around me in a hug.

“Stop ditching me!” she said.

“I can't promise that,” I said.

“You two have the weirdest relationship,” Kyle said.

“Shut up,” Seraph told him, releasing me.

I looked into her eyes for a few moments before pulling her back over to me and kissing her.

“Really dude?” Kyle said. “Right in front of me?”

“Yes, Kyle,” I said. “Right in front of you.

I turned my attention back to the looming storm. It looked closer now.

“What is that?” Kyle asked.

“I don't know,” I said. “But I don't think we should stick around to find out.”

Kyle handed the keys to my car to me and nodded towards it, parked on the side of the road.

“Where to?” he asked.

“We'll think of somewhere on the way,” I said.

Kyle nodded and walked to the car. I stood with Seraph for a while longer, looking at that strm. Abdalin was right. There as something off about it.

“You okay?” Seraph asked me.

“I dunno,” I said. “Things just keep getting more and more confusing.”

“It's okay,” she said, taking my hand. “You know we're here for you, right?”

“That's what worries me,” I said, looking at her. “You know that if you stay with me, I might get you killed, right?”

She laughed at that. “I can handle myself. It's you I'm worried about.”

My could feel my heart sinking when she said that. I think she could sense it, because her hand tightened around mine and her voice took on a concerned tone.

“Daniel?” she asked. “Are you... okay?”

“No,” I said softly.

“What's wrong?” she asked. “Tell me.”

“I can't,” I said. There was a lump rising in my throat now.

“Daniel,” she said. “Tell me.”

I took a deep breathe.

“It's what you just said,” I said. “That you're worried about me.”

“Yeah,” She said. “Oh coarse I am. What's wrong with that?”

“You know, don't you?” I asked. “About my destiny?”

“Daniel, what are you...?” She said, her voice trailing off.

“I'm going to die,” I said. “I'm going to die doing this.”

“Daniel...,” she almost whispered.

“That's the only possible outcome for me,” I said. I couldn't stop the tears any more. “I'm going to sacrifice myself for the people I care about. And I'll leave you guys alone, at their mercy.”

“You don't know that!” She said. “There's another possibility. You could be the victor. You could beat them!”

“No, I can't!” I snapped. “Not without my powers! I'm no match for them. I'm... I'm just...”

My legs seemed to give out on my. My fingers slid from hers and I fell to my knees. I had to put my hands out in front of me to keep from hitting the asphalt.

“I'm just a human...,” I said.

Seraph knelt down in front of me and slapped me. Hard.

“Daniel Xavier Ferris!” She said sternly. “You pull yourself together right now!”

I looked up at her.

“You are not just a human,” she said. “Do you know what you are?”

I looked at her, a little confused.

“You're the man you fired a gun at the Mother Of Snakes,” she said. “You're the man who trudged on with a mutilated arm and still kicked every ass that presented itself to you. You've taken on Gods, Sociopaths, and even yourself, and you've come out stronger every time, so don't you tell me that you're just a human. You are Daniel fucking Ferris! The most stubborn son of bitch I've ever met.”

I sat there for a moment. I breathed in and out, clearing my head. I got back to my feet again, and looked back at the storm. It seemed... not as dark, anymore... weird...

I looked back down at Seraph and held my hand out to her.

“Thanks,” I said. “I needed that.”

She took my hand and I helped her up.

“Let's get going,” I said.

“Yeah,” she agreed. “I don't trust that storm.”

I nodded, but to be honest, I wasn't so sure. I don't know what that storm is, but there's something familiar about it. I can't put my finger on it, but I get this feeling...

Whatever. I'll deal with it later. Right now, I need to think about what to do from here.