Tale Of Souls (Cathartic Nightmare)

21 Childish Card Games

"You look like your bored." Voicing his concerns to me was something I'd never seen so far out of Kaji's expectations. Then again I've been seeing something new since about four days ago. It's like having Alzheimer's and a bloody nose; it's new every time I look at it.

"I'm not bored, I'm trying to figure this shit out." As abnormal as it was for a January day to be warm like this, I sat out in my smoking jacket with a Marlboro in my hand and my notebook and pen in front of me. "I've written down every fucking possible theory I can and try and work it out."

"Academic brains aren't needed, throw the notebook out. This isn't something you can use logic for." Kaji's face was serious, which was another surprise in itself. "This logic application is what's making us all realize we are at a dead end with things."

"DEAD END MY ASS, Nothing's familiar in my own home town and life anymore because of this. Landscapes are changing outside my window every time the timeline changes. I'll go to sleep, I'll wake up and then suddenly it looks like Tokyo outside. Yet we're in bloody fucking Minnesota not Japan." My confusion wasn't playing nice of course.

"There's someone you need to go see." Kaji handed me a piece of paper out of his jacket pocket and handed it to me. "I Think you know her, and even if you don't you're bound to eventually get who she is. She has some of the puzzle pieces you're missing, get a one up over the rest of the team who can't pull their old fart heads out of their asses – go against the grain and we'll figure this shit out faster than they are."

"Nishikawa? ... Didn't I just say we were in St Paul, not Tokyo?" Growling, I slammed the piece of paper down on the table and put my cigarette down. "Tensei would have my ass, I promised him I'd figure out how to sort this shit."

"You promised him nothing, he's an alien from another world – what the fuck ties do you have to him?" Kaji had a point, I didn't know what my ties were. Terrin was always nine years older than me as it was, and Tensei seemed like someone at least ten years older than Terrin.

"I don't know ok – stop fucking tearing me to bits over something I don't understand." I stood up and started walking away slowly, grabbing the paper and sticking it in my back jeans pocket I turned around and faced Kaji once more. "I just want my life back."

"We all fucking do, but until you man up and be the temporal hero in this situation, we're all going to fade into the reel." Kaji's 'runic' language was an interesting thing to get used to. He talked about the timeline merging like it was a tape that was so overused the playback was a mess. "Go on your own too, last I checked she wasn't doing so well."

"I wasn't planning on going with anyone, I've been a loner since this mess started – I might as well go back to basics." And by that I meant that before I came back to the haven, and before I went to Jail; I was mainly a loner. I didn't save nobody's ass but my own – and I wasn't about to continue changing if it meant for nothing.

"Good boy sparky."

"Will you stop fucking callin' me that?"

"And why would I do that?"

I sighed, and walked off – I needed to get to the garage to get to my car. If it was still there, if it wasn't I'm about to hijack someone else's car and get the hell out of here. I drove a black 82' Chevy cavalier, not by choice. I don't even remember how I got my driver's license, or when I got the car to begin with. High tailing it out of here was the plan, but I can tell you this – I wasn't trying to play into the demon within, it was just doing things against the grain like we talked about.

We're not talking about some disgustingly annoying long list of directions on how to get somewhere. It was a phone number, an address of somewhere in the twin cities – nowhere too far, nowhere too close. I got to the garage to find my car where I last left it, which was quite weird considering that Terrin was the last to drive it. Unlocked, I get into the front and put my black Minnesota North Stars cap on. Can't go anywhere without that right now; it's like a lucky rabbit's foot for the socially inept. Despite of course, the reason being – the North Stars aren't n Minnesota anymore. Keys in the ignition, radio on – doors shut, driving out and into the evening sunset. This is strange, I just remembered that Lily had a hat just like this in her drawer.

The note said Jessica Nishikawa; old beaten nightclub on Hennepin avenue. Old and beaten didn't explain that Kaji meant the First Avenue building; it wasn't old – it wasn't beaten, but it wasn't the same since that one day. It was a scraggly august at around two in the morning when I stumbled into the club drunk and looking for a fight that night – and all I found was a bunch of necromancy and music and a fireball to my face.

I hope Kaji's right, that this going against the grain of society shit is going to piece something together. I can't keep going on like this, and if nobody's man enough to give me the information I need I'll have to take it myself.

The city Arcade barely stands after an explosion four years ago, it's like a ghost town around here. The only thing still alive between a few food joints and a few apartments is the nightclub; bands far and wide – Prince, Dir En Grey ... oh wait, let me rewind here, they didn't play in this timeline. No, in this timeline first avenue wasn't even meant to be an above ground club – 1st and Hennepin was an abandoned warehouse with a temporary above ground storefront (think grocery or department store) with an underground storehouse and parking lot. To many of course, they called that the 'puking lot' with the line of cheap honky bars down the road.

Even though it's considered an old warehouse with a cheeky gift store on the first floor, there is rumored to be a nightclub of the darkest desire on the basement level. It was considered a renegade nightclub and info center for people like us, and I never thought I'd have to come here again. Drop the drum and pluck bass – here we go the merry go round, the lights are pouring outside into the darkness and I'm not even stepping my foot onto the pavement of the vintage storefront. If it only were that easy, it sounds like my ears can hear the beat, I can hear it thick and I can smell the sense of death...

She's here.

ten'VUk