On with the butter!!

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A black minivan stacked with satellite equipment is parked in a private parking lot at an unknown location in the middle of a desert, about two hour drive from Travis City, the home of Roy, Luna and 285.372 more people. The parking lot belongs to a some sort of a military facility, a concrete fortress with no visible windows whatsoever. The sun is shining brighter than ever and the heat can be seen, radiating from the van’s black paintjob. A big door on the side of the van slides open and a behemoth of a man steps out. The man rises more than two meters into the air and takes a deep breath as he walks towards the fortress. The man is bald. He is wearing a black suit, sunglasses and an earpiece like FBI agents in the movies. A man of importance. Behind the big guy in the suit come two men, dressed in lab coats. Their faces are sparkling with sweat. They wipe their foreheads and try to block the sun with their hands. The heat doesn’t seem to affect the big guy in any way. “Let’s go” the big guy orders in a deep, thundering voice. They have to walk some distance before they reach the fortress

As the threesome gets closer (big guy first, then guys in lab coats), they are greeted by a woman wearing a skirt and a jacket. Her hair is red, and she’s wearing high heels and small glasses, giving her a business-like appearance. “Sir! Sir! It’s good to see you!” the woman comes running awkwardly towards the men. “I have something you’ll…..” The big guy pushes the woman aside with some force as she approached him. The woman loses balance and gives a short cry as she falls to the dusty ground. Neither one of the men in lab coats try to help her. The big guy keeps on walking towards the fortress. Growing more and more frustrated with every step. The big guy finally reaches the door and literally smashes it open. On the other side of the door is a security guard, who, rather surprised by the big guy’s entrance, reaches for his pistol.

The last thing the security guard felt was an enormous blow on his eardrums, followed by the unmistaken scent of blood and…. death

The guys in lab coats try not to step on the body, now lying in front on the entrance like a “welcome” mat people wipe their feet with. His skin is burnt. What follows is a long hallway, and then another door, sturdier than the one before. The lesser two of the threesome walk slower and slower, intentionally dragging behind, whispering among each other. The big guy, on the other hand, is practically running when he finally reaches the door at the other end of the hallway. He tries to smash it open like the first one, but the door is made of steel, so it just falls down with a loud bang, shattering the concrete in the walls beside it. The door leads to a vast room, filled with big monitors, and some expensive looking equipment, accompanied by a dozen of men in lab coats. The big guy is standing in the doorway, shrouded in dust and there is rubble at his feet. One of the lab coated men was so startled by the big guy’s dramatic entrance he spilled his coffee all over his white lab coat.

The big guy takes a deep breath, and yells with a beast-like voice. “WHO HERE CAN TELL ME WHAT THE FUCK JUST HAPPENED?!”. The crowd is struck with silence. No one dares to respond, no one dares to even draw a breath. A few seconds pass until a small man with comically thick glasses comes running towards the big guy. He’s holding a stack of paper under his left arm. “Sir! This is remarkable! We’re sure it’s them! They are finally resurfacing!!” The small man pokes some papers into the big guy’s face. “As you can see, they are defiantly back on track, although some portions of them seem to have…” The big guy picks up the small man and throws him across the room, crashing him into a bulletin board, next to a water cooler. The few who had begun talking again after the small man made his appearance were struck with silence once again. Everyone was staring at the big guy. He had just picked up a grown man and thrown him across the whole room, like a rag doll.

The big guy takes another deep breath. “If I don’t get a good explanation for what the fuck just happened, hell will break loose…” The big guy’s voice is as cold as ice.
“It’s Seth”, says a female voice behind the big guy. It’s the woman who had greeted them earlier. She had followed the big guy inside after he pushed her. Her glasses were missing. “Are you absolutely sure?”, the big guy replies as he grabs the woman by the shoulders at looks directly at her. With a trembling hand, she hands him Polaroid photo.

The photo shows a man, maybe in his mid-twenties carrying a teenage girl into the heavens on majestic, black wings.

Luna is lying in a soft bed in a new place. She opens her eyes very slowly. The bedroom is like a bedroom should look. A bed, beside it a drawer with a round mirror on top of it, a big closet covering a whole wall of the room, a fuzzy carpet on the floor, and finally a coat hanger next to a white wooden door. The walls and the ceiling are white as well. The room is dark, but a window with white, semi-transparent curtains lets in a little moonlight, so Luna can pretty much see around the room. It’s nighttime. It’s raining heavily outside. The raindrops hit the thin glass in the window, creating a soothing series of ticks. Luna can hear a car drive by, a yellow brightness follows. Luna’s eyes hurt a little, but then it’s gone. The raindrops continue.
Luna is wearing pajamas she is unfamiliar with, a white silky night dress. Luna sits upright in her bed and starts rubbing her face. She is very tired. She looks at herself in the round mirror, opposing the bed. Surprisingly, her bruises are gone, and her hair is neat and clean. But it’s still very dark.

“Who did this?”, Luna thinks to herself. She pushes her blanket aside. But, it’s a lot colder than she thought it was, so she wraps it around herself as she stands up from the bed. Luna’s feet meet the carpet and she starts walking towards the window. It’s cold outside. It’s raining heavily and the window is wet from the moisture. Luna puts her hand against the window, but pulls back. It’s cold. She starts drawing on the window with one finger. A squeaky sound follows as she runs her finger up and down the glass. She started by writing an upper case “S”, then a lower case “e”, and finally “th”. Luna pulls her hand away from the window. The street outside is empty. No light, aside from the moon is visible. The car that drove by earlier is long gone. Luna looks at the outside through the letters she wrote on the glass for a while, but then they disappear as the moisture returns and Luna looks away.
Luna returns to the warm bed, puts her head on the pillow and starts sleeping again. Another car drives by, splashing the water on the street outside. The mysterious bedroom is as dark as ever. Luna starts dreaming

She is standing in a meadow and there is knee-tall grass all around her. The wind is blowing. Luna starts moving forward, into the wind. The fresh air feels wonderful and the grass is so soft. She keeps on walking until she reaches an abandoned playground. In a swing sits a boy, a boy named Roy. He’s rocking back and forth. Smiling at her. Luna feels faint, and starts weeping. The boy says “be strong…. for us”.
Suddenly Roy disappears and Luna is alone once again. The grass around her starts dying.

The first thing Luna sees as she wakes up is a brown teddy bear next to her pillow. She recognizes it immediately. She’s had that teddy for nine years… how it got there is a mystery. The sun is shining outside, letting in a few sunbeams through the curtains. Luna looks at her pillow, it’s wet… she had been crying in sleep. Luna wipes her eyes and turns to her left side, hugging her teddy tightly.

Just as she closed her eyes again, she hears a soft knocking on the bedroom door. Luna is startled and sits up in her bed fast. She is now staring at the door. Her heart is beating heavily. She watches as the brass knob on the door starts turning. She is scared.

The door is swung open and a tall man walks in. Luna is staring at the man as he makes is entrance. “It’s him….” she whispers the herself “It’s Seth!”. The man is wearing a buttoned, white shirt and casual jeans. He’s also wearing a long, black tie and fingerless leather gloves. The man is holding a tray with some food on it. He takes a few steps into the room, without looking at Luna before he lays the tray down on the drawer, opposing the bed on its right side. Then he suddenly turns to Luna and looks directly at her. She tries to escape his eyes, but finds it impossible. His eyes are brown, and as deep as the sky. He is wearing an eyeliner… reminding her of the singer of a punk band she likes. An awkward moment passes until the man in front of Luna grins and breaks the silence.

“You should have seen yourself… you were beautiful”. His voice is soft and low. Caring, yet manly at the same time. Luna looks away, blushing. Another few awkward seconds pass… Seth then starts laughing. “ha-ha… I’m sorry, this must all be so confusing. Are you feeling alright?” Luna opens her mouth… closes it again and nods in his direction.
“Well… I don’t know how much you remember since yesterday, but anyway… my name is Seth. Pleased to meet you!”. Seth puts his hand to his forehead, giving her a humorous military salute. Luna hugs her teddy tighter and looks away shyly, a little disappointed in her hero. Luna gathers the courage to respond and says “Who are you?”. Seth starts smiling and replies cheerfully “Just someone who likes to take care of his own kind”. Luna gives him a funny look “I’m not sure what you’re talking about”. “Oh, you’ll find out soon enough”, replies Seth as he sits down on the bed, next to her. Luna pulls her legs closer against her breast and pulls away from him just a little bit.

Seth leans towards Luna. “I made you some cereal” he says and points at the tray he brought with him. “I’m not hungry” Luna responds and pulls herself farther away. A moment passes. “I thought you’d need him” Seth says and nods in Luna’s direction. Luna hesitates for a moment. “My teddy bear?”. “Yep… you were acting funny in your sleep, so I decided to go get it”. Luna stares back at Seth, big eyed. “Have you been in here all night?!”. “No no, nothing like that” Seth explains awkwardly. “I just….” Seth hesitated, blinked his eyes a few times and added “Never mind…”.

Seth stands up from the bed, picks up the tray and puts it in front of Luna. “Eat up and gather some energy, will ya?”. He throws a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt on the bed as well. “Get dressed, I’ll be waiting outside” Seth says as he gets ready to exit the room. Just as he starts turning the doorknob Luna says “Seth… you… you have wings?” Seth turns his head and looks at her, silent for a while. And then he finally adds “It’ll all be explained to you in details. Now eat your cereal and get dressed” Seth exits the room and closes the door carefully.

“Oh Aaron…” Seth says to himself and leans up against a wall while he reaches for a cigarette. “What were you thinking?”…

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framhald síðar…