Chapter 1
Bang. Bang. Bang.
"Come on Denny! I know you're in there.' A shrill-sounding voice hollered from outside my front door. I knew that voice wasn't actually shrill. That was just how I perceive voices at the crack of dawn.
"Ugh." I groaned, rolling over in bed. An empty space reminding my still dreaming mind that this was the grim reality I was beset into. Day one thousand ninety four of the most hellish version of my life. I got up, my mind returning to the edge into a cavernous abyss. I got into my outfit, just shorts and a shirt. My angel wouldn't want me to willfully see her friend in just boxers and a shirt I slept in. I scratched my scruffy chin, wondering if she had left after so long of knocking, but I knew she wasn't so kind. "What, Greta?"
"Ugh. You look like utter shit, Denny."
"I'm not Denny."
"I brought breakfast."
"Wow. That's a shocker."
"At least your humor is still starving in there." She said, with a bright smile. She stepped inside with no regard to my passive complaints. "Ugh. You haven't done a single point on the list!"
"I dusted."
"You always dust!" She snapped. "How am I supposed to keep my promise to Her, if you won't let me?'
"You don't have to. She isn't here to call you out on it."
"That's the point of the promise! To do it after she's gone!" Greta scowled. "Now eat."
"How can you care, after so long?'
"Because I've known her through school. That was a tough time for both of us."
"I know. I saw the scars. And if I ever find the man who did that to her... I'll avenge those scars."
"He's probably not around anymore."
"He should hope not."
"Look. Angelica would want you to keep moving forwards."
"She's dead. She can't want nothing."
"She can from where she's watching us from." I gave Greta a glance, she sighed. "I know. I know... you don't believe in all that."
"Maybe it's you who should move on." I said, a bit pointedly.
"What happened to your nobody left behind attitude?"
"It left with the both of them."
"Any word from..."
"No. She's a yeti, now."
"She's got to be out there still." Greta stood up, touching my shoulder lightly. "I've got to go to work. Will you be alright?"
"No." I grunted, as she walked to the door. I caught a whiff of her perfume. She'd finally tried one of her most desperate moves. Nostalgia. I heard the door shut. I couldn't blame her for wearing the perfume my wife loved. I was shocked it had taken her that long to try that move. She was getting desperate. Any attempt would be fair game for her soon enough.
I didn't mind it. I savored the scent as if it were the day I'd met my Angel. My landline rang.
"Kingslayer, it's Dusk Reaper." A gravely voice sounded on the receiver.
"Find something?" I asked, trying to mask any hope. It was too dangerous. And I'd given up on hoping two years ago.
"No." The voice replied.
"Why are you calling?"
"All possible leads are cold, man."
"There's got to be something."
"Negative. I've tracked everything you gave me personally, man." I heard a tired sigh. Reaper getting tired meant it was true. "Look, Kingsl- Dennis; you should join me if you want me to keep looking. I can't accept any more cash for this. You're blowing your penchant and settlement on this."
"It's my daughter, jackass, not a friend. Not a neighbor. Not a..."
"Not a warlord. I know. But I can't just tear apart the world. Believe me. I've burned quite a number of favors with the intelligence community. Hell, my contacts in the intelligence community are still scoping new reports for Alyx. She..."
"Don't say it. Don't you fucking say it!"
"She's gone, man."
"No she's not! People don't just fucking vanish! She's out there! Try Qatar! Try Siberia! Try inside fucking Chernobyl! The Trench! Every god damned black site!"
"I've tried all but two of those, man." He said, calmly. "Alyx is dead, man."
"She isn't! No she isn't you deranged fuck!" I smashed the phone against the receiver. "You find her! You hear me you fuck! Fucking! Find! My! Daughter... p...please..."
Of course I'd destroyed my landline. The circuitry and plastic shattered to the floor, I yanked the cord of what was still mounted off, hearing it clatter to the floor. I drug the assembly by the cord, throwing it into the trash. I swept up the rest before getting into running shoes. I had to do something to get rid of this anger before it melted through everything I had left.
