1 The Haunting Mist

"Listen, babe," Ty had responded over the phone, "I promise I'll make it up to you tonight with a nice bottle of wine," but as the night dragged on, the clock struck at 9:00 PM.

His girlfriend on the other end sighed softly before stating, "It better be a nice bottle, and you have an hour to get here, or I'll lock you outside again, mister."

With a slight chuckle, 23-year-old Ty said, 'Love you, sweetheart. I'll see you then,' and he hung up. But once the call ended, his smile faded. The stress of his job as an account manager weighed on him. He was employed at a small firm in the heart of New York, which handled accounts for a major Fortune 500 company.

Frustrated, he muttered aloud, "What I would give to move up or get a better job. 'Go to college for business,' Dad had said. 'Easy money,' he stated." It all seemed like a bunch of nonsense to Ty as he continued typing away, working on spreadsheet after spreadsheet.

He tried to move customers' accounts forward and fix mistakes made by other workers, all in the hopes of earning a promotion. His watch beeped, signaling that it was 9:15 PM, and if he didn't close up, he would be late for the second day in a row.

Rubbing the top of his head in the empty office, he said, "I guess it can't be helped. I got most of my work finished, and maybe I can just lie and say the network went out while doing overtime and let it slide."

Grabbing all of his equipment, he put his laptop into his suitcase and grabbed a folder with 3-4 stacks of account papers, placing them into a separate sleeve to protect them from getting wrinkled until the next day.

Heading towards the elevator of his office, he saw a small placard labeled "Floor 30 Central-Work Office" with chains wrapped around it, stating, "Out of Order, Sorry."

"Damnit," Ty chirped, slightly biting a piece of his nail, "I'll have to hurry and take the stairs; pretty bothersome in this tight suit." Without wasting another moment, he walked steadfastly, heading down the spiraling staircase at a hurried pace.

As he made it to the bottom of the first floor, the lights had begun to flicker on and off as the entire building went dark for a brief moment before brightening back up.

"That was a little odd," Ty stated out loud. "Must be this crappy city drawing power elsewhere."

As he stepped out of the side door of the building, the spirals, going over 50 stories high, had always amazed him. "I'll hit the top floor one day for sure and give me and Jade the life we deserve."

Taking a deep breath of the crisp October air, Ty felt a chill that seemed colder than usual for this time of year.

He absentmindedly rubbed the frayed edges of his suit jacket and checked his watch, which read 9:32 PM. Cursing under his breath, he realized he had missed the bus stop for the apartments and would have to endure a 20-minute walk.

"Damn it, I just have the worst luck lately," he muttered as he walked away from the bus stop, watching a loose piece of paper flutter in the chilling wind.

Moments passed as Ty navigated the busy streets, and his phone began to ring. He picked it up to hear the reassuring voice of Jade. "Hey babe, what's up?" "Hey Ty, is everything going alright for you?" Jade's voice carried a hint of concern. "I hear a lot of police sirens out the window and wanted to check on you."

Ty chuckled softly at her worry. "Yeah, I'm doing fine. I'm about 10 or 15 minutes away, depending on the traffic lights."

"Just try to hurry up; you never know about the crazies out around this hour, okay?"

"I can probably cut through the nearby park. Sure, sure, sounds fine by me."

"When we retire one day, we will definitely have to move to a quieter state, though."

"I agree for sure. See you soon, Ty. I'll have some steak finished soon, so don't keep me waiting much longer." Jade's voice carried a playful tone before she gave him the sound of a kiss and hung up.

As Ty walked toward Hudson River Park, he noticed a dense fog rolling in, covering the nearly 5-mile-long park. It was an oddity, for sure. "I need to stop staying late for work. It's always a hassle getting back home with such terrible bus schedules," he thought to himself.

He forced his way through the thick fog, which felt as if it was pushing him back. Finally, he stumbled into the quiet, grassy fields of the park, where an eerie silence hung in the air.

Ty wondered why he couldn't hear taxis or any other noises. He walked faster, using only the park lights to see the sidewalk.

Staring down at his watch, he noticed it begin to dimly flicker. Then it began to turn off and on, showing 9:48 PM before the watch fully bugged out and started showcasing random numbers. "This damn watch is going out already?" Ty cursed aloud.

Moments later, his train of thought was cut off as he stood under the streetlight. A resounding crack sound echoed through the silent air, sending a chill down Ty's spine. It felt as if his instincts turned his body in a 180-degree turn towards the direction where two figures stood about 20 feet apart from each other, both maintaining an odd distance.

At first, Ty was struck with fear, which quickly turned into embarrassment as he concluded that these must be some cosplayers trying to get some cool shots out of the fog.

Cursing at both of them to pick a better time to be goofing off, Ty, who stood at a strong 6'2" with an athletic frame, expected both of them to acknowledge his presence. Instead, within a blink or two, the figures dived towards each other as a cascade of bright circular objects flew towards the smaller man wielding the whip. Ty lost sight of them both in a blur of motion.

Stumbling back in slight shock at what he saw, his only thoughts were something out of the manga he used to read as a small child. He decided he just needed to remove himself from the situation.

He stumbled back from the sidewalk to the grass, feeling as if his tie was choking him. Making a sharp 180-degree turn away from the confrontation, he started running towards the direction of the apartment as the entire park remained enclosed in a shroud of mist.

Just as he got closer to the other end of the park, cutting through the stoplights, a voice picked up behind him, heavy and with a thick accent. "What is a mere human doing in MY barrier?"

A cold shiver ran up Ty's back, and he couldn't help but stand still as he stuttered out, "I-I'm just trying to go home. Sorry for interrupting whatever you have going on."

Before Ty could finish, a response came. "How did you even get into the barrier in the first place? It matters not."

In the blink of an eye, the swift sound of a dagger cut through the air. Ty's fight or flight instinct kicked in, and he swung around, using his suitcase to shield himself. The blade pierced through the center of the case. The burly man, standing roughly at 6"2", delivered a solid kick to Ty's chest, sending him skidding along the ground.

Slowly picking himself up, Ty noticed a burnt print on his chest. His tie was frayed and falling apart. He coughed up a small hint of blood.

"Do you think you'll get away with killing an innocent person?" Ty shouted out, trying to call for help as he slowly backed up, getting a clear vision of the man with dark red hair and a thin beard and mustache painted dark black on his pale face.

The man pulled out a handful of coins. "However, my luck, may be in your fortune," he stated before blowing softly on the coins. They began to rotate rapidly and hurtled towards Ty.