4th Interlude Entry

William is sent on one last assignment

4^th Interlude Entry

      The ground shook violently in the North Pole from inside the Dark Ice Fortress. Ice dust kicked up from each quake and bits of the wall would crack deeply. A few ice steps leading to the top cracked and fell into the icy ocean below, creating a deep crack in the foundation of the fortress. Another violent quake ruptured an entire section of the foundation as it crashed into the waters with a deep boom causing the tall spruce trees on the distant shores to topple over in a massive water rise.

      Valencia screamed at the top of her lungs from the inside of the fortress, her hair a wild mess and expelling a cyclone of black energy out from her body as it blasted a hole in the side of the wall. But no sooner than the hole appeared, it was sealed by a red flame back into a wall of black ice.

      “You can’t keep destroying the base, Valencia!” William snarled, his trench coat falling to his sides while lowering his hands as the enraged woman paced back and forth around the crater. She had tossed her scepter down below again in a fit and was trying to devise another plan in the midst of her outburst.

      “I CAN’T STAND WHEN HE GETS IN THE WAY! I HATE PERCY!”

      “We understand that but if you want to blast something then go outside and do it! I can’t keep repairing your mess!”

      Valencia rushed over in a black whirl of cloud, standing face to face with William, who showed boredom rather than fear.

      “How dare you speak to me like that?!”

      “Yeah, well, your plan got us nowhere and what do you expect us to do now in order to get the Chaos Power? Where will my redemption come from then?!” William had stepped back and turned his back on her, repairing another crack he spotted. Valencia was flabbergasted but defeated.

      “You’re right, but next time we won’t fail.”

      William yawned.

      “Will it have anything to do with me bashing that arrogant f****t’s head in?”

      “William!” Valencia mocked as she rushed over and caressed the inside of his open shirt, “Why do you use such derogatory language when describing your own kind? It isn’t attractive at all.”

      “You find anything on me attractive.”

      She gasped as she noticed a trail of dried blood on his chest. She giggled vindictively while her nails illuminated a soft orange color while it extracted the blood off the skin. It levitated for a while as she sashayed back over to the edge of the simmering crater and snapped her fingers. In a sudden horizontal flash, her rusted scepter flew into her clutch and she waved it in William’s direction.

      He watched the blood move as if something was trying to hatch out when Valencia walked up, smiling.

      “You have a bit of his blood on you. You used the acid gun I presume?”

      He nodded slowly as she conjured a manila parchment from black energy out of her hands, summoned the moving blood onto the parchment with the guide of her finger and they watched the letter brighten in a deep maroon glow. Once it stopped, Valencia handed the letter to William who was standing dumbstruck.

      “Like I said, our next move will work and in order for it to do just that, I need to recharge below in Dark-El’s shadow in order to strike with my full energy. Percy’s Wave Attack took a lot from my reserves that I had stored from that slumber his disgusting partner sealed me in.”

      She had begun to close her eyes and clasp her hands together as if she were praying.

      “What does this letter have to do with anything?”

      “If you have to know everything then know that depending on you getting this assignment completed correctly will determine our success in capturing Kenny and getting you the redemption you desire.”

      William stood there and sighed in regret.

      “How do I know where this letter goes?”

      Valencia groaned and looked back at him with fire in her eyes.

      “Figure it out!”

      And she burst into a whirlwind of thousands of black shards and traveled into the depths of the crater. William growled and peered at the letter from every side until he shivered in frustration and in a burst of flames, he found himself staring at the south façade of the Independence Hall in Philadelphia. A horse drawn carriage passed behind him, spooking him into reality. There were people passing by him with smiles in the partly sunny day.

      Everyone was bundled in snug coats or heavy outfits with lots of scarves. He stuffed the letter in the inside pocket of his jacket, closed it and rushed down the red bricked sidewalk. With each building he passed, the letter got warmer until he approached a twelve story cobble stone building.

      When he approached the double French doors, a security guard called for him to stop and sign in. William moaned, turned on his heel and stepped up to the security window.

      “I need your identification, sir and the reason for your visit.” The guard stuffed a clipboard under the opening of the window. But William sighed again, leaned forward and peered half his body through the wall until coming nose to nose with the guard, who shrieked and tumbled out his chair. He noticed the guard had started to pee himself and stood back erect and proceeded through the doors with his chain strapped boots clicking with each walk. He wandered every floor with the doors looking all identical, passing women and their children in the laundry areas on the third and fourth floor, before the letter began warming up again around the tenth floor.

      He opened his coat, his all black outfit revealing the glowing letter immediately, and pulled it into his hands. With each door her passed, he noticed the name placards under each apartment number, and the letter started to feel more like fire. It wasn’t until he approached the last door on his left when he dropped the letter from the burning sensation it caused.

      The door placard read; #1010- Haverford, C., before William began pounding on the door like a madman. There was no answer and he pounded again. Again he found no one came to the door. And in another spout of frustration, he kicked the letter under the door, gave one last pound on the door, and began to walk away. He was muttering angrily under his breath when the door to the apartment of C. Haverford creaked opened behind him and a voice pleaded out in a long awaited satisfied tone,

      “Excuse me sir,”

      William noticed a small accent as he stopped walking but didn’t turn back, his hands were in his pocket bald up into fists.

      “But could you help me get to the nearest train station? I’m trying to get home to Oakland, California.”

      Slowly and surely, a cunning smile etched across William’s face. He felt power swell in his bones as his pupils turned to complete black eyes and when he turned to face the semi opened entrance, a shadow was in the doorway, there was also satisfaction in his voice.

      “I’m heading there now.”

      After a few moments of hesitation, the voice replied deeper and more maliciously satisfied.

      “Excellent.”