Blac and White

Hey everyone, back here with the fourth Episode. Seems people are really enjoying the story and many are speculating about how the prologue relates to the rest of the story. As I replied to an emailer; a guy who was contemplating what the story turns out like; let me keep a few cards to myself. All will be revealed in good time.

Also have a few announcements to make. Have a major exam coming up on the 24th of this month and have to slog it out before that. So will not be writing this story till after that. Till then I need to be totally hooked up on my studies (on my studies and on Brandon Routh). Really sorry for that but everyone, please pray for me and wish me 'best of luck'. Need lots of it.

One more thing I need to declare; this may come as a spoiler for some of you so you can skip this paragraph if you want to; the story 'Black and White' is intended to be a 7 Episode series (and Prologue + Epilogue). This is the fourth episode so there are 3 more to go before the story wraps up.

Anyways, enough prattling. Onwards with the story!

*

Episode 4

"See you in the evening then," Black said to Aiden who was tying his shoelaces, getting ready to leave his apartment.

"Yup, got tonnes of work to do before that." Aiden replied.

Black knew that since it was a Saturday, Aiden had few lectures in college and intended to cover up on his studies as well as do work on some robot project; this Aiden had informed him. He also knew what Aiden had not informed him about; that he planned on visiting the so called 'Joe Black retirement home'. Aiden meant to spend some time there and later tell him about it. Good thing he kept track of Aiden's thoughts; arrangements would have to be made to ensure that the old age home did exist and would be filled with patrons when Aiden got there.

"Why can't you just get your work and do it over here?" Black questioned much to his own surprise. He did not want Aiden to leave yet.

Aiden tightened a lace and stood up grinning. "Because, we both know that if I do get some of my assignments here, I'll never lay a finger on them with the way you keep me occupied."

Black showed Aiden his tongue and walked him to the door.

"Bye Will." Black replied by kissing Aiden on the lips, a kiss cut short by Aiden, leaving Black needing more. He watched as his lover made his way to the waiting elevator and waved to him before the doors of the elevator slid shut. Black took a deep breath as Aiden disappeared from view. He wondered if he had been spending too much time in his lover's head.

~~~

"You know I've never come to a place like this. You'll have to tell me what to do." Tinka was a bit queasy as Aiden led her inside a building painted in subtle hues of mauve and green. Large golden letters above the foyer claimed it to be the 'Joe Black retirement home'.

"There's nothing you've to do stupid. It's not like we're here to juggle knives and jump through hoops of fire to entertain elder people."

"No but still; How should I behave and that kind of stuff."

"Just behave like yourself." Aiden stated and then pretended to think about what he said. "No wait, that would be disastrous, act as a normal polite girl."

Tinka swung her handbag and smacked Aiden across the head as the two entered the reception. Aiden's 'oww' was cut short as both realized that they were inside now and would have to put on some semblance of decency.

"Good evening Mr. Writer!," a chubby lady with red cheeks behind the reception desk boomed as soon as she looked at Aiden. Aiden frantically tried to recall the lady's name.

"It's Doris." The lady chimed in before Aiden could come up with anything to say. "I see you've come with a friend."

"Yes this is Tinka." Aiden referred to with his hand; who politely greeted the jolly receptionist.

"So you want to spend some time here? The elder people sure could use some younger company." The receptionist was beaming, showing all her 32 teeth to Aiden.

"Yeah, that's what we had in mind."

"I see Mr. Black's not here to escort you today."

"Yes, I intended to come on my own. Please don't inform him, he'll go to a lot of trouble and come all the way here worrying unnecessarily."

"Sure thing, don't tell the boyfriend eh?" Doris lifted her eye brows suggestively as Aiden blushed.

"You kids go on ahead and give those oldies a time to remember," she said, swiftly getting up and ushering the two into a passage that Aiden remembered led to the recreation rooms.

"And remember," the jovial receptionist called out, "Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

Aiden and Tinka glanced at each other with a 'what was that all about' look on their faces.

~~~

Tinka had been having a good time; though she had not expected it. She had been involved with Aiden and 6 elderly people from the retirement home in a card game called 'Uno' which she had just learned. Now 8 people were laughing and joking around a round table, including two aged men in wheelchairs, all throwing cards on the table with oomph, merrymaking as long known comrades.

"Draw Four!" Tinka squealed as she slammed a card on the table making Aiden grimace. "And I change the color to blue!" she added as Aiden's grimace turned into a frown and he lifted four more cards to add to the already loaded collection he possessed. Everyone on the table clapped and cheered at the girl.

"You're gonna get it from me sooner or later you know." Aiden mock growled at his friend.

"That's only if someone uses a reverse in their play. And I think I'll finish my cards by that time." Tinka rubbed the two cards she had in her hand to emphasize her point.

Aiden groaned knowing he would never get a chance to trounce Tinka in the present game. She would have won long before he even got a through a fourth of his cards.

2 rounds later Tinka triumphantly thumped her last card on the table yelling 'Uno'. She was ecstatic that she had not only won the game, but ruined Aiden's position in it also. She had been the first person to finish her cards making her the absolute winner.

As the game continued without her, Tinka glanced at her watch and realized it was over an hour since they had started the game. She was 'whipping Aiden's butt' as she put it, but she had something else in mind; she yet had to exact revenge on him for making her eat those 'melbies' filled with toothpaste in the coffee shop a week ago; and she had the proper apparatus in her handbag.

"Hey Aiden, I need to visit the restroom." Tinka whispered into Aiden's ear. She had won that round of the game and would have to wait till the next round to rejoin.

Aiden looked around and signaled to a blonde girl who's name he correctly recalled as Rachael and asked her to point Tinka towards the restroom.

Tinka entered the restroom though she had no intention of actually using it. She shut the door behind her and took out a set of undersized black plastic binoculars from her handbag. This would be her method of taking revenge on Aiden.

The vengeful female then dipped into her bag once more to retrieve a stick of mascara and then proceeded to generously apply the mascara to the region surrounding the eye-piece; the mascara getting applied as a soft black shine, barely discernible to the human eye. All she had to do now was to get Aiden to use the binoculars once. And she would have the perfect opportunity on the way back when they passed the wharf area above on yellow bridge; and revenge would be hers. Of course she would not let Aiden know what had happened and why people were staring at him till he realized the mascara smeared over and under his eyes himself.

As Tinka completed her nefarious deed she perked up as she heard some intermittent humming-grunting sounds. There were some weird noises coming from somewhere, reverberating as a hum across the confined room. She knitted her brow wondering what the hum could be, and where it was coming from.

Tinka began placing everything into the handbag, placing the maligned binoculars in a plastic Ziploc. The noise suddenly got louder and more continuous. Her curiosity got the better of her; she wanted to know what the noise was of. She walked towards the door swinging it open and immediately the sounds were amplified, indicating that the noise was resounding from an adjacent room. Tinka glanced around and realized that it was coming from a room adjacent to the restroom she was in, and the door was slightly ajar.

She quietly tiptoed towards the door and positioned herself against the open slit. 'Just a peek' she told herself.

What she saw left her astounded. "What the fuck?" she said before she could stop herself.

Inside the room were some 6 feet tall swarthy squid like beings; each having only one eye. Their tentacles were sliding about smoothly as they hummed and groaned.

Instantly Tinka felt someone appear behind her. She whirled around to find Will upon her and opened her mouth to let out a scream. Will grabbed her and put a hand to stifle her shrieks.

The binoculars she had been holding in her hand fell to the ground with a thump.

~~~

Aiden was cursing the cards he held in his hand; he would surely end up being last at Uno unless he got hold of some fantastic cards; still he was enjoying himself. That's when he heard an abruptly cut-off noise. He immediately perked up.

"What's that? Is that Tinka?" he asked aloud.

Rachael got a pale expression on her face. "I'll go check it out." she stated and quickly exited the room before Aiden could object. "She probably saw a cockroach or something." Rachael called out as she was leaving.

Aiden settled back down into his game.

~~~

Black was present in the retirement home, though neither Aiden nor Tinka had known of it. He had been watching his lover and his friend. And then he had reacted instantly when he comprehended that his lover's friend had encountered something unusual.

He immediately focused on her and appeared directly behind her using an 'Ambulatory Ability'. The girl screamed in shock and fear as she saw him but he thwarted her din with a firm hand placed over her mouth. The girl writhed under his hold, but it was no use, his grip was far too tenacious for a fragile human.

Black held out one arm and hovered it above the girl's head as he opened his mouth to use a spell.

"Ability of the Shadows 34; Stasis Coffin."

Instantly a velvety black stasis field surrounded the girl, encapsulating her and cutting her off from all time and happenings. The girl would remain in the dark stasis, frozen in time, wrapped in a dark cocoon, unless Black would release her.

Black glowered at the two empathic troglodytes who had caused this scene by not concealing their forms. He beckoned the two to follow as he placed a hand on Tinka's form, now encased in black fustian covering.

"Ambulatory Ability 7; Shimmer Teleport." And as soon as those words left his mouth he disappeared from the material plane, taking along with him the frozen form of Tinka; back to the Kingdom of Void.

The petite Empress sat on her throne, her countenance emanating rage that seemed unnatural for such a little girl. The space before her turned hazy as her guardian Black and the two miscreants, along with the 'coffinized' form of a human girl appeared in front of her.

"I have witnessed what had occurred on the seven vision stone." She stated angrily before anyone could say anything.

Black immediately bowed before his mistress. "And what ensues here?" Black asked.

"Deracinate the perpetrators." A simple assertion by the little girl would end the lives of two troglodyte empaths.

Black rose from his position and stretched out both his arms, placing one palm on the back of the other, pointed towards the shuddering form of two careless troglodytes. "Internecine Ability 57; Ineluctable Disintegration."

The squid forms shrieked as their bodies started disintegrating, thousands of tiny particles slowly separating from their bodies, till their screams were curbed as their forms exploded in a cloud of dust and particulate matter. They had been consummately wiped out.

Black fell to his knees in pain, recoiling at the massive internecine spell he had used. But it had been befitting; the troglodytes would not be punished in any milder manner for their carelessness.

"Release the girl," the Empress ordered. She knew there was no time to waste as the Alchemist was waiting on the material plane.

Black reached out an arm as the stasis cover collapsed under his will. He was still holding himself in pain.

A bewildered Tinka blinked rapidly, trying to comprehend her surroundings. No words left her mouth as she looked around the dark chamber she was in, sparsely lit by opalescent multicolored gems studded in the walls that gave her surroundings an eerie feel. She was frightened and shocked at 'just' having been curbed by Will and witnessing two 'aliens', and all those feelings were interlaced with confusion as she saw her best friend's boyfriend writhing about on the floor with apparent pain.

"You girl, have witnessed too much." Tinka turned sideways to see the speaker. An adorable little girl, she noticed, with crystal blue eyes and long golden tresses that touched the ground.

"Don't hurt her." Black called out in the midst of painful agony. The Empress glowered at her Guardian with anger and contempt, but just for a moment. Then she turned her attention back to the intruder.

Tinka suddenly cradled her head in her hands as she felt a piercing pain through her skull. The Empress was expunging her memories.

~~~

Rachael led a dazed Tinka back to the recreation room where Aiden was still laughing and joking with his new found friends.

Aiden noticed her arrival and turned towards her.

"What happened?" he asked, with concern over his face, all his laughter and joy abruptly vanishing.

"It was a spider." Rachael explained and immediately Aiden relaxed. It had been some time since Tinka had disappeared.

"Creepy Scary eh?" Aiden asked Tinka, wiggling his eye-brows, smiling.

"Uh?" was all Tinka managed to eke out. She was confounded; she had no idea what was happening. Wasn't she in the restroom or something? And then what happened? Why was there a throbbing pain at the back of her head.

"Are you ok?" Aiden asked with concern once more as he rose up from his chair and headed towards his friend.

"She's fine." Rachael interjected. "Aren't you?"

Tinka hesitated before replying. "Yeah I'm fine." But she knew she was not. Something was wrong. Something had happened back there in the restroom. Something that shocked her to the core. But she could not recapitulate on the happenings. And all she had now was a spitting head ache.

"Listen Aide, I don't feel too well. Can we go back to campus?"

Aiden looked disbelievingly at his friend. What happened to her suddenly? He shrugged as he agreed to leave.

~~~

"You servant," a little girl spat out, "seem to be harboring unnecessary human feelings that are clouding your judgment." The Empress was enraged by these amorous feelings that she could sense in her guardians mind. They had surfaced in Black once before, and the consequences had been catastrophic.

Black was kneeling before his Empress, barely recovered from the recoil of his mutually destructive spell. But the anger and disdain he felt at himself overshadowed any physical pain he might have been experiencing. He knew why the Empress has summoned him again after deporting the Alchemist's friend back to the material plane; it had been his earlier outburst to not harm the girl.

"I evidently understand that the girl could not be erased because of her closeness to the Alchemist, and you obviously were apprised of that." The little girl was livid with anger at her guardian.

"And still you opened your wretched mouth to bid me?"

Black hung his head low. He could not gather the courage to look at his ruler.

"Human feelings are nothing but falsifying ephemeral tragedies that certainly seemed to have surfeited my abysmal servant. What have you to say?"

Black raised his head slightly, still not lifting his gaze to the enraged four year old. "Forgive me your Excellency, It shall not happen again."

"Obviously it will not," the Empress stated, her eyes burning with anger. "I shall be keeping a careful vigilance on you as well as on the Alchemist from now on."

~~~

"Now can you tell me why you made us leave from there?" an irritated Aiden asked his friend for the umpteenth time. "You totally made a scene out there."

Tinka tried to compose herself. Aiden was being difficult; or was she? She was confused before, but irritated now. Why the hell could she not recall what had happened? She went into the restroom and then whap! Blank. Every time she tried to strain herself to recall what had happened back there, her head starting throbbing painfully. But something was definitely wrong, and there was a feeling inside her stomach which would be difficult to express to Aiden.

"Tinks, what's wrong? Talk to me!"

"Uh, yeah, just seem a little dizzy." Tinka stated, not knowing anything else to say. She was nervously biting her lower lip, trying to sort out things in her mind.

Aiden raised his hands exasperatedly as he neared ascended the acclivity of the yellow bridge from where one could see the ships. He was having no luck here. He had taken Tinka to the old-age home with a partial intention of showing her Will's work so she would do away with any aspersions and feelings of doubt she had for him, however subtle they might be, but things were seemingly back-firing. Looked like that was not working and in fact Tinka had shut him out.

Suddenly Tinka stopped short and started fumbling through the contents of her handbag, rummaging madly through its contents as Aiden stopped beside her giving her a look that asked 'Now what?'

"It's gone!" Tinka squealed. "It's not here!"

"What's not there?" asked Aiden hoping Tinka would not accuse the aged patrons of the retirement home of stealing her money.

"The binoculars. I had them earlier! They should be here!"

"Ok, ok, hang on a second. What binoculars?"

Tinka paused, knowing revealing about the binoculars would divulge classified revenge operation information, but this was not the time for that.

"Listen Aiden, I had a pair of black plastic binoculars I took to the restroom where I applied mascara on it." Aiden stared at his friend as if she had gone mad.

"They were going to be used to play a trick on you. And I had gone to prepare them in the restroom. And now they are gone!"

"What are you trying to say?" Aiden was exasperated and annoyed.

"What I'm trying to say is..," Tinka suddenly stopped. She knew what she wanted to say, and she knew Aiden would hate her for this. But she would have to do this.

"What I'm trying to say is that something happened while I was in there. I clearly remember going into the restroom and preparing the binoculars. And then something happened which I can't remember for the life in me, something bad. And something that threw me off completely."

Aiden was confused now. What was Tinka's point?

"Aiden listen to me; you're gonna hate me for what I am going to say next but I'm gonna say it anyway." Tinka prepared herself, carefully picking her words. "There is something wrong about Will. He's not who he appears to be. There's something hiding behind that semblance of his, and it's not at all good."

Tinka looked sorrowfully at Aiden who had a pained expression on his face. He was speechless and the hurt was raw on his face.

"Listen Aide, I don't want to hurt you but I don't want to see Will hurting you either. I don't know what to say, but I know for certain that something is dead wrong!"

The two stared at each other, standing still on the path of the bridge, each hurt at the other's pain.