1 Crazy girl, Dying boy

*Crystal Central Presents,

Val knew deep down the heart of the matter couldn't simply be written off as hallucinations and certainly not effects of amnesia as diagnosed by that self-proclaimed Doctor Dag.

Not that she didn't want to believe these two theories or any of the previous ones ruled out due to various reasons, she desperately wanted to. This was the only thing teethering her to sanity; from madness for God's sake, but logic argued otherwise.

At this point she was more than partial to believe they were hallucinations than what they were if not but the tests, medical history and her severe lack of imagination clearly stated that it was not her brain acting up. But what finally broke the camel's back was that she couldn't even pin it on her birth family, as far as she remembers that loathsome bunch had no cases of mental affliction.

Still, nothing was certain. In any case she could reason along hallucinations, stress, childhood trauma and Uncle Fate's over the top blown up tales of a mythical world and all that, but in all certainty not believing Dag's diagnosis was a constant. No one would place their hopes on somebody who changed his interests with every change of night to day.

Sitting on the grey one seater on the right side of the room, the slender and tall beauty with long black hair and a smidge of Asian features on her face turned her gaze from the ceiling onto her left, on the skinny blonde with curly hair and blue eyes as clear as sapphire, his angular face that would draw fantasies of Brad Pitt along with his signature style of blue jeans, a white T-shirt and an unbuttoned tropical shirt seated on the grey three-seater watching what seemed to be a marine documentary on the TV set mounted on the wall directly opposite to him.

Val shook her head mentally adding, "Today he'll probably call himself 'Marine biologist Dag'"

She sighed as her gaze was drawn back to the plain white ceiling.

Dag could not be concerned by Val's critiques one bit even if he knew what she was thinking. He found consolation from being different from yesterday. After all life was short, at least for him it was. At his core he was still the same though. The same overprotective brother, caring friend and tough guy... but at the same time this guy was scared beyond limits at his wanning days of living. But these were feelings he couldn't show. He worried that Mel, his twin sister couldn't handle it. It was better to enforce the facade of 'all is okay'.

As for Val, Dag's blue eyes suddenly changed their target to the young lady with long black hair dazed by the white ceiling and knew he didn't have to worry about her. Neither he nor his sister knew anything about Val from before they met but they knew something bad had to have happened to give her such a tough heart ever since they were young. She rarely wore her heart on her sleeve and it was hard to guess what she was thinking. This was what made Dag concerned as he looked at her, wearing an uncharacteristic, scared, confused and uncertain visage on her face and remembered the conversation they had yesterday,

"I've been seeing things Dag, hearing these voices. I don't know what's going on with me. Yesterday when I was passing by the St. Thomas More statue at the Law library, I swear I saw its head moving. But that's not all you know that golden eagle of the Golden Eagle Monument in front of Gasson Hall at school, I heard it screech and I think it was at me but apparently no one else seemed to have noticed. And then these voices, like chants, I keep hearing them, I think I'm loosing it. Do you think I'm going crazy?"

To calm down her rarely flustered heart, he advised on more sleep but he knew it was all bull crap. He worried for her. He could feel a sense of familiarity in her words to the tales of Uncle Fate and he knew she could too, she just didn't want to go down that road. And he was completely behind her on this. That road looked messier than a bachelor's wardrobe.

Eventually, as do all the mysteries in their life end at, his mind was drawn to the mysterious figure, Uncle Fate. Except for his weird name and his love of telling tales they knew nothing about the man. From what they gathered he is almost like a ghost. Without missing a beat, he appeared only at a major point in their lives and this kind of thing fit right just up his alley. Dag could even bet all his fortune on him appearing soon. The plot was set, only the trigger was left and he had a feeling that soon it would get pretty bumpy.

The two youths sat within the room bathed in natural light from the setting winter sun coming through the window, with a setting prosaic enough to make its occupants doubly shocking. The walls were painted white, a 46" Tv set mounted on the wall directly opposite the three seater couch, a one seater on the right side of the room facing the threshold on the left wall, brown wooden floor, a heavy black wooden table in the middle of the room and a coat hangar just by the door.

Over the low almost tuned out noise from the TV, The dazed Valentine heard a rough and wheezy voice, "I can bet on him appearing before winter ends." The voice was one to spark Star Trek scenes. Had she visualized someone to go with that voice, that would be Darth Vader and one avid smoker rolled into one. But what really dragged her out of her mind were the contents of Dag's statement. Those deep black eyes switched their target to the pale blonde, her face a mask of seriousness.

They unnerved him, those eyes. Especially when she was overwhelmed by emotions and thoughts alike, you could almost see it through them. It really gave new meaning to the eyes being the windows to the soul. He could still clearly recall an incident a pretty while back on a Halloween night, there was this kid wearing a Hanya mask. He remembers seing Val's eyes flash with a tint of red, rush up to the oblivious boy and roughed him up badly. She was like a fiend but when she came to she was in a daze. Dag never clearly understood whether what he was that night was an illusion or otherwise but the sight of red flashing eyes surely left a mark. This was also when he started to take Uncle Fate's tales with some weight.

He instinctively cast his glance back to the screen but his words clearly directed at her, "I mean, we both know it's no hallucinations, your mind is a block of ice, no imagination whatsoever. People like you, I've seen a few, you only believe it when you see it. And as for my suggestion, even I myself know it's all bull crap, you are only holding onto this afraid of what it could mean. You are afraid he has been telling the truth Val. Happy are those who are yet to see but still believe."

Valentine had no change of expression, neither did her gaze avoid Dag. After a silent while she spoke. "You really believe him, don't you?"

After arranging his thoughts Dag replied, "Call me crazy but since we all met him, everything suddenly feels like a grand scheme in hindsight, and all the pieces keep falling into place. The stories, the gang and who trains kids to use weapons? The only other question now is how we fit in with all of it. Even though it might all be in my head, how do you explain his appearances, it's just too convenient that he only appears when something major is or is about to go down. Furthermore he gives me hope, hope that there is a future beyond death, a salvation of some sort to stick longer with you and Mel, so why not?"

In all honesty Dag's words were always at the back of their minds, it's just that no one had the courage to voice them but the dying guy with nothing to loose but everything to gain if the tales were real.

At his words, Valentine could only nod as she turned her head back to the ceiling with thoughts of the future, Uncle Fate and Dag's illness tormenting her.