The world was falling apart, parts of destroyed buildings laid out across the broken concrete ground. Balls of fire fell from the clouds and showered upon the Earth. False Zack stood among all of the chaos, soaking everything in.
Zack's eyes were soft, almost dull as if he was in a trance. The screams of the people echoed through the burning lands, pleading for help and crying in agony. They were first faint, unnoticeable but soon Zack could feel overwhelmed as the screams became louder and louder.
Till his whole mind was covered in the screams of the people. His eyelids became baggy and rough, he was tired. His teeth jammed against one another as he fell to his knees and covered his ears, the screams were still loud. He tried to shout in order to drown out the sound but he could not speak, only listen. Shadowy hands erupted from the floor and slowly crawled their way around Zack's body as he continued to drown out the screams.
"Hey! Mascot!"
Zack's eyelids slowly cracked open, his reality coming back to him. He looked to see where the sound came from, only to find Johnny beside him.
"Must've had a nice dream, hmm?" Johnny snickered, "Glad you liked our 'bedrooms'. Now come on, Edwin wants me to let you practice in our underground sewers."
Zack looked around to see a darkly lit room with multiple tools and gears laying about, around the random tools are placed mattresses on the floor, an improvised bedroom.
"Why do I need to practice, If I'm able to defeat Edwin, then I should be trained enough to take care of myself."
"You are quite talented in your combat capabilities," Johnny acknowledged, "but you need a little bit more experience, Edwin only wishes for you to unlock your full potential. I highly advise you to follow what he suggests, it's better to not complicated everything. Also, let's be real here, no one expected much from you, not even Edwin so when you fought against him you really caught all of us unguarded."
Zack gave a stern look at Edwin before answering, "Fine, I'll follow you."
"Although before we can even start your training, how about we gather some more dummies for training."
"Don't you have the money and resources to buy them?"
"Buy?" Johnny chuckled, "the type of dummies we use are too valuable to be bought through mere nickels and paper. You have to hunt them."
"Hunt?"
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The Distant Storm Arc: Dummy
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Zack and Emily sat in a tranquil room, the tables were placed in a circle with a separate table elevated above the others. Other than Emily and Zack, sat other CoDas of high ranking as only mumbles and whispers passed around the room. Zack had tiresome eyes, even though he was just a spirit he looked like he needed some sleep. Emily watched over him, glancing a few times to ensure that he is calm and does not lash out like he did to Nathan. Zack placed his elbows on the table and leaned his head on his hands, giving small groans of pain as if he had a headache.
Sorry, Zack, I wish I could ease the pain.
For reasons unknown, Emily couldn't access Zack's mind and therefore couldn't restrict his pain or the memories, something beyond her understanding was preventing her. All she could do was look after him and make sure it doesn't get worse.
The whispering crowd came to a silence as there was a thud on the door. It creaked open as Avis made an entrance into the room, her footsteps echoing till she sat at the table which was taller than the rest as she greeted, "My greetings to you all, fellow CoDas."
Everyone humbly responded, "Greetings, lady Avis."
Avis gave a strong tone as she spoke, that of an experienced spokesperson, "I have gathered you all in this important meeting because we have come across a phenomenon." The people in the room, listened as Avis continued, "Although it was technically believed possible, there has never been a sighting of it being done in practical use among the thousands of years of our species existence. A Colorless, for the first time in the CoDa records, has been able to possess and influence a Faker."
The CoDas among the roundtable were surprised as they gasped and murmured to one another but kept their attention towards Avis. "As you can see, the victim of this incident is Zack Kovlocke IllusionFrost, he has been feeling tired and had even lashed out at another CoDa due to the connection with corrupted Faker." Zack hid his eyes, looking down at the table as everyone observed his physique while whispers filled the room.
Zack grit his teeth as his head twitched; the whispers felt like tiny flies, buzzing around his ears as he just felt like crushing them. He grinded his teeth as the little part of his sanity tried to keep him from lashing out.
Emily noticed his behavior and placed her hand on his shoulder, he first flinched then glanced at Emily before relaxing. A CoDa among the crowd spoke up, a buff male around his teens with a stern voice despite his age, "Are you sure you shouldn't have Zack contained?" He looked over to Zack as he continued, "No offense Zack, but I just feel worried that you could perhaps...turn into one of them as well."
Zack was about to speak but was cut off by Emily, "I understand your concerns, Fabian, but I highly doubt it. It seems that his conditions are similar to the CoDas who had experienced trauma when their Dual Pulse was broken. However, while those who had their dual pulse broken got a chunk of painful memories from the human they connected with; Zack, on the other hand, is having those painful memories in small bits of it as time passes by."
Fabian inquired, "But how could Zack, of all people, have painful memories of himself? I thought-"
"You thought wrong..." Emily gave a sharp look at Fabian as everyone went silent. "Never judge a book by its cover." Emily wanted to say more but she held herself back.
Zack looked at her, his eyes were lazy. He could hear the loud explosions and bombings in Iceland, the screams of the people during the war. His father, his mother and his little brother...All gone from a simple spark of light that sounded like thunder; beautiful yet destructive. But, he felt like there was more to these memories, he was missing something vital that he could not remember.
Why didn't I know about the horrible memories before? Why do these memories come back to me now? Did Emily know about them before-...-before I remembered?
What happened after the war? Where did I go? Who...was she? Who was that girl?
Avis sighed, "Please quiet down, I'm not done yet. There seems to be another problem that is suspected to be connected to corrupted Faker, we have found a forcefield of tainted energy that has been surrounding the ports of Gothenburg which were discovered by Emily as well as a few other scouts. The forcefield may be camouflaging all the Colorless from any CoDas who can sense their auras which is why we couldn't find out about the forcefield until now."
"Those who come in contact with the forcefield will be blighted by the tainted energy. For now, we are gathering some CoDas with purification abilities to break the forcefield but there are no results so far. It is my suspicion that there will be a wave of Colorless coming into the city soon. How they will corrupt and taint the city is up to speculation, the most likely outcome is genocide."
The crowd buzzed with chatter, questions, and discussions passing about.
"Uh, How far does this forcefield stretch?" Fabian asked.
"About 5 kilometers cubed, stretching from Bräcke to Johanneberg," Emily answered in Avis's stead.
"That big? Who could possibly create such a thing?"
Avis interrupted, "We can't spend a single minute right now trying to figure out who did it, there's a potential for an all-out battle between us and the Colorless and we have to be prepared for what is to come! I have gathered you all here because you all represent the strength of the Frozen Sun Reapers, each one of you is a leader of your respective squadron. I need you all to prepare your squad mates for the outbreak, have them trained and utilize their abilities to the best of their capabilities. I will inform you all one by one on the tasks I have planned for you when the outbreak occurs, for now, the meeting is dismissed."
"Wait, what about Zack?"
Avis was silent then asked, "What about him?"
"Will he be fighting alongside us?"
"Although I wouldn't want Zack to go into the battlefield as he is, it is not up to me to decide, it is up to Zack."
Emily's eyes widened as she looked at Zack, as so did everyone else. Emily questioned, "You can't possibly think of going out there in that condition, right?"
A more deep, raspy voice spoke among the tables, "Let him be, Emily. Let him fight with dignity. Don't leave him in the pathetic state he is in. And if he does pass on, at least he'll die with honor knowing he fought for good."
Emily gritted her teeth as she looked at the individual, "How could you say that, Darrell!? Do you not care about a fellow CoDa's life!?"
Darrell was an adult among the crowd of youngsters, turning 25 only a few months ago. He had a clean-cut beard, slicked-back hairstyle, and his eyes were ocean blue. "I'm just being respectful, Zack is a strong individual, I don't see him nor anyone else around me as weak. If you have the will then you can fight no matter the state of your body."
Emily wanted to burst but then held herself back, clearing her throat, "I will not allow that! He's not going, as a leader, I cannot allow him to enter the battlefield and have him risk his life." Emily was stern with her sentence as she leaned closer to Zack. Zack looked at her and Darrell arguing, wanting to speak out but he felt too tired.
"What are you? His mother? Aren't you being a little too overprotective? I get that you're his leader but you need to respect his decisions."
"Think of me whatever you want, a mother or a leader. I choose how I lead my squadrons and I don't allow them to fight in a bad shape."
Emily and Darrell continued to argue as Zacks groaned, trying to speak. His head felt like it was about to explode. He inhaled as he tried to speak, "H-hey..."
No one could hear him, they continued to debate. Zack inhaled once more as he shouted, "HEY! You fools!"
Finally, they both went quiet as Zack stood up from the table, slightly losing his balance before taking a stance. "I...I can still fight!"
Darrell gave a pleased grin, "That's more like it."
Emily stood up as well as she placed her hands on his shoulders, "Zack, you can't be serious."
Zack placed his hand over Emily, "And I'm not gonna die! I'm gonna get the bastard that corrupted my Fake counterpart, and I'm gonna shatter it to pieces! No way in hell am I gonna standby for this!"
Emily exhaled as she let go of his shoulder. There's no way I can change his mind, no matter how hard I try. But, he's always been the one to do whatever he pleased.
Zack looked over at Emily and for the first time the last several days, he gave a wide cheerful smile, even though his eyes were rough and tired, "Don't worry, Mom." He chuckled, "I kid, Emily. I'll cover your back if you cover mine like we always do, okay?"
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Nathan walked up to the door as Anna followed, he took a deep breath before pressing the doorbell. Nathan could hear footsteps behind the door before it opened, an adult woman around her 30s came out as she questioned, "Hallå där, behöver ni något?"
(Hey there, do you need something?)
Nathan took a moment before answering, "Hej, jag letar efter min vän som bor i denna lägenheten, han heter Zack Kovlocke. Vet du något om var han är?"
(Hey, I'm looking for my friend who used to live in this apartment, his name is Zack Kovlocke. Do you know anything about where he is?)
The woman gave a confused look, "Hmm? ah, Zack. Nej förlåt, vi pratar inte med varandra så jag vet inte mycket om vad han gör eller var han är. Varför söker du efter honom?"
(Hmm? ah Zack. No, sorry, we don't talk with each other so I don't know much about what he does or where he is)
Nathan expected this answer but was hoping that he would be wrong, he replied in disappointment, "Ah, okej. Zack har försvunnit, han har inte varit i skolan på 6 dagar och han är inte i denna lägenheten, därför letar jag efter honom. Men okej, tack så mycket. Förlåt för att jag störde dig."
(Ah, okay. Zack has gone missing 6 days ago, he hasn't come to school and he isn't at his apartment home, that's why I am looking for him. But uh, thanks, sorry for bothering you.)
"Åh, det låtar hemskt. Inga problem, lycka till med att hitta din vän."
(Oh that is terrible to hear. It's alright, good luck on finding your friend.)
"Tack."
Nathan and the lady gave their farewell as she closed the door, the thud of the door echoed through the apartment as everything went quiet. Anna tried to cheer Nathan up, "Don't worry, Nathan. You've also asked your Uncle to have the police search for Zack as well, right? We'll be able to find him soon, I'm sure." Nathan knew that Anna was trying to be optimistic but he could not shake off a feeling of worry that has been building up inside him for so long. Anna could see Nathan's worried and frustrated expression as she frowned, "Hey, let's ask people around the city if they saw him. I'm sure we'll find a clue."
Nathan took a moment before replying with a sigh, "I think that's enough for today."
"But-"
"It's 5 pm, Anna. We've been searching since 3 o'clock. I think we've done as much as we could for today. Plus, there's a lot of assignments coming because of the fall term ending soon."
Anna wanted to say more but hesitated before agreeing, "Yeah, you're right. We'll continue tomorrow."
Anna and Nathan headed downstairs then out of the apartment, they walked through the city streets, having mild conversations along the way. "Nathan, have you been thinking about what you want to do in the future, after high school?"
"We're only in the first year, Anna. Do we really need to think about our future right now?"
"Well, yeah but it's always best to plan for your future early." Anna persuaded.
Nathan took a few seconds then answered, "I have a few alternatives, I've been interested in machinery and technology so I consider being an engineer, I like books so I've considered being a writer. Maybe I'll be a doctor, maybe also a teacher."
Anna chuckled, "Teacher huh?"
"What? You think I'm not fit to be a teacher?"
"Well, no offense, I just figured you as a more athletic type. You'd be really great in martial arts because of your aggressive behavior." Nathan turned to her with a disapproving look, Anna felt a regret wash over as she quickly apologized, "Ah, I'm sorry. It just came out, I didn't really mean-"
"It's alright," Nathan interrupted. "I can understand why you'd think so, I've been told to have a natural skill for fighting due to being in many skirmishes but...I feel conflicted. " Anna frowned with slight guilt as Nathan paused before continued. "I hate fighting, I hate being angry yet I depend on it because without my anger, without my aggressive behavior, I feel weak, I don't have any confidence and I feel pathetic."
"Your not pathetic, Nathan. It's okay to-"
"I am pathetic," Nathan ended with a strong tone. "I don't know what happened to my friend, but I was naive to not be there for him when he needed it. I was stupid. I never needed to depend on my anger when Zack was around, he gave me confidence, happiness, joy. Without him, I'm...-"
"Fragile?" Anna ended Nathan's sentence.
"I was gonna say coward but yeah, that works as well." Nathan gave a short chuckle before sighing. They both arrived at an intersection in the streets then turned left to the alleyway leading to the bus stops. Nathan continued, "Anyways uh, I don't think I will involve myself in any occupation that requires violence. That includes going to the police force, I look up to my Uncle as a police officer but I have dilemmas of being one myself. I wouldn't want to take my anger too far and regrettably hurt an innocent civilian."
"I can understand that. For me, after what had happened in that house, I'm more curious about the human psyche. I keep wondering if that was truly my mother back there or if that was truly ME back there." Nathan looked at her as continued talking, "Didn't you feel like there was some sort of...external force surrounding us? Like...a ghost?"
Nathan looked back at the events when Anna has that sinister presence behind her. He didn't know if he was crazy or if that was real. "Yea, I did feel something like that."
"I don't think I told you, but when I was not myself back there, I could hear this...dark voice in my head. Whispering horrible things to me, I didn't feel like myself, like I was possessed, I just followed whatever this voice told me. That event has made me question if there are such things as ghosts in this world. It would be hard to believe in this time of age, wouldn't it? When most of the world has become more rational rather than irrational."
"Yeah." Nathan zoned out as they continued walking. They came to the bus stop as people gathered in wait for the bus to arrive. Nathan turned to Anna as he spoke, "Well, I guess this is goodbye for now. I'll see you tomorrow, be safe okay?"
Anna smirked as she farewelled, "Yeah, same to you." Nathan and Anna look to their left as a vehicle in the shape of a rectangular prism, arrived at the stop it had an ocean blue outlook and the inside was color-coded in gray. The seats were warm and comfortable as they were made of fuzzy fabrics. The doors slide open as people began entering inside, Anna looked back at Nathan as she spoke, "this is my bus so I'll be going then. See ya." She waved as did Nathan.
Nathan took the next bus to his home that lived slightly out of the city, time passed by as he looked out the window and thought about Zack and where he could be. Ẅhen Nathan arrived home, he greeted his Uncle as he took off his jacket. "Salam, Uncle. Did you get anything on where Zack could be?"
"Salam Nathan. Yeah, we got some clues." Kello replied.
Nathan gasped as he quickly walked over to the living room, "Really!?"
Kello smiled as he assured, "Some of our witnesses last sighted him at the arcade and that was yesterday. Maybe you can ask some people with my rookie partner Jonas while my other units search around the area. Its always good to have an extra pair of eyes."
"Of course, he's my friend."
"I know, Nathan. But remember, if you ever come across any danger while finding him. Like if he was kidnapped, you know what to do."
"I know, don't worry about me."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Anna looked out from the bus window but all she could see was a blurred scenery, she rested her chin on her hand as she zoned out in the snowing city. She thought about the conversation she had with Nathan and how he felt about violence. With her other hand, she softly touched her neck, remembering his grip on her neck as he screamed like a ravaging beast. Seeing his eyes, red with tears leaking out, she wondered, Has there ever been a person in this world who cried like he did? To be enveloped in rage that you could not control, what else could you possibly do except cry in the hopelessness?
I should be afraid of him for nearly trying to kill me back then...but why do I feel all this sympathy?
While looking out of the window and into the blur of motions, Anna's eyes caught something that got her standing up from her seat. She immediately left her seat and went to the door in order to get off at the nearest stop, she ran out of the bus and passed through the crowd. Searching constantly for whatever that caught her eye from before, Anna came to the central square of the city known as Brunnsparken, a common place for having lots of crowds. Anna continued moving through the crowd till she arrived at a fountain, giving a puff of air, she took a good long look at the crowd. Scanning through the number of people passing by till she finally sees him. From a distance, a young boy with rough brunette hair and ocean blue eyes walks through the crowd, it was Zack.
Anna began to approach him but stopped as she noticed someone else besides him. A man looking to be in his 20 was talking to Zack as they walked through the crowd, the man had an orange dyed hair and a grey jacket. Instead of confronting them, Anna decided to simply follow and observe them. The two of them started exciting the square as Anna tailed them, she felt something weighing her chest, her mind filled with questions. That man...I have a bad feeling about him...
Anna watched as they conversed but she could not get too close to hear what they could be talking about. As they walked across the street, The man suddenly grabbed another person passing beside him by the shoulder and threw them against the wall to their right. Anna gasped as she tailed them, the person seemed to be a businessman in his 30s and when he was pushed against the wall, he struggled to move until the attacker closed in on him and whispered something into his ears. The businessman stopped struggling and mumbled something back to the attacker, then walked in a completely different direction. Zack didn't seem surprised by any of it and no other civilian passing by noticed what the man did.
Anna thought that maybe she misunderstood the situation and decided to continue observing for a little longer. As she continued tailing them, she then saw the man grab another person by the shoulder and get close to their ear to whisper something, it was a young teenage girl around the same age as Anna who was the victim this time. Once the man whispered to the girl, she stopped struggling and mumbled something back, her eyes seemed to be devoid of any consciousness as they mumbled before walking off towards a certain direction. Anna knew from then on that it was too dangerous to approach them.
I should call Nathan. Anna thought as she pulled out her phone while keeping an eye on the two from afar. Anna glanced down as she searched through her contacts to find Nathan only to feel a sudden pressure looming behind her.
Its presence so powerful and insidious, she could do nothing but be frozen in fear. The last thing Anna would've ever wanted was to feel that presence again because it reminds her of that horrid experience. To feel those emotions and to not push it away, she was hopeless against it.
She then heard a familiar voice, muffled and distorted, sending shivers down her spine.
I̯̗̤̎͠͝F̝͖̟̃̏͂.̝̞̜͗̎̕.̧̹͈̔̆̈.̢͍̱͐͂̔C͎̮̓́̂͜Ą̳̬͑̄̎Ĺ̹̠̤͠͝L̡̟̗̑̍̆.̬̮̺̎́͊.̛̝͉͖̐͝.̣̬̘̐͂̆
̳̤̤̑̈͘I̟̰̗͂̏̋ ̙̮̞̃̉̎W̢̢̟̓̏̕Ĭ̡̹̤̿͆L̜͔̭̎̄͊L̨͇̝̽̅͝ ̡͎̺́̇͋E͔̘͌̈́͘ͅA̧̤͍͒̇͝T̜̱̩̂͂̚ ̟̤̯̓̂͊Ÿ̧̡͒̿ͅO̡͉̺̍̉̏Ù͍̲̯̅́
She gasped, her eyes widened as she tried to find the will to move but there was no power left within her to fight it. Looking back into the crowd, her eyes were met face to face with Zack as he appeared in front of her. Zack gave a cold look as Anna tried to find the words but was speechless.
His expression changed, giving a kind grin as he spoke cheerfully, "Hey, aren't you Anna!? I've seen you talking to my friend lately, what are you doing here in the middle of the crowd?"
Anna still couldn't speak with the looming presence leaning close and breathing on her neck.
Zack chuckled as he asked, "Hey, whats the matter? You seem like you've seen a ghost? Is everything alright?"
Finally, she found the will to whisper a few words, "Th-There's s-something...behind me..."
Zack gave a confused look, "Well, there are a lot of people behind you just like how there's a lot of people behind me," he snickered, "I mean, we're in a public area so I don't get all the fuss you're making out of it."
"N-no! Th-there's some-'thing' behind me, I can feel it breathing on my neck. Please, you have to help me."
"Some-'thing', huh? Do you mean this?" He snapped his finger.
Slowly, she felt the looming presence wrap its hands around her neck, threatening her with its powerful aura. Her eyes were wide awake now and her hands were trembling, tears running down her face as she covered her mouth at the shock of it all.
Anna looked at Zack as he gave a twisted look, his eyes now clouded in darkness, "You've felt this before, haven't you? This beast that lingers behind you, it gave you a gift, didn't it? A blessing? It felt good, didn't it? The feeling of wanting to drive a knife into someone's throat, the feeling of wanting to burn someone's skin as they scream in agony, the feeling of warm blood showering upon you..."
Anna panted as she shook her head slowly, "N-No...No...Please..."
"It's beautiful, isn't it? Such a shame that you abandoned your blessing. Still, you can be of great use to us."
The older man who was with Zack now appeared in front of her, she still could not move as the man leaned in closer and whispered in her ear,
"Sin...is freedom..."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
From deep within the factory near the port, sounds of gunshots and screams echoed throughout the sewers. The factory held stairs which led to the sewer system underneath Gothenburg, certain parts of the sewage were able to be drained of water which allowed for perfect rooms to use firing range. Although the room floor was filled with mud and waste as well as puddles of water, as long as no one could hear the noises, it was perfect.
A few wooden tables were brought down to the room as weaponry were placed on top of them, at one side of the room, were the kidnapped Swedish citizens who were restrained by the members of the Corpse Parade. On the other side was a ladder, in the middle stood Zack upon a pile of corpses of the kidnapped swedes. His hands bloodied as he inhaled and then puffed out air, he looked at the corpses and saw a knife stuck in one of the heads. He pulled it out as he stood in front of the living kidnapped citizens.
From the metal railings above, Johnny shouted out to Zack, "What do you think our Dummies? Pretty good for practice aren't they?"
Zack stared at the kidnapped citizens who had their eyes blindfolded, whimpering and moaning in fear. He chuckled as he spoke, "It's incredible, I feel so alive."
"Would you like to stop here or go for more rounds!"
"...Give me another one!" He shouted sternly.
One of the members took a restrained citizen and untied the blindfolds, the citizen was the male businessman that Johnny took while walking in through the streets. The man was quaking and frantically looking around, trying to grasp his situation. He tried to speak but his voice was muffled due to the clothe tying his mouth shut. The member then spoke in a threatening voice, "Wakey-wakey, gentleman. It's your turn to be the dummy. Do as we say and your life will be spared."
The man acted rebelliously as he tried to struggle but couldn't under the restraints around his hands, his voice muffled. The member punched his cheek then placed his hands on the man's head, turning his attention to Zack and the corpses. The man gasped as he his eyes widened at the number of corpses, Zack looked at the man coldly.
The member instructed, "Let me ask you something, Mr.Samuel Lindell. Do you have a family? A loved one, perhaps?"
Samuel didn't respond as the member continued, "You really want to go home, don't you? You wouldn't wanna end up like those, would you?"
Samuel shook his head, grunting. "Alright then, listen closely. Here's what you have to do, you see the ladder behind that kid? If you so much as touch that ladder, we will let you go. You can go home and meet your loved ones. But, you have to go through 'him' to progress."
The member then unlocks the restraints and takes off the clothe covering Samuel's mouth, the other member points a gun at Samuel in case if he ever tries to attack them. Zack throws his combat knife in front of the Samuels' feet as the member spoke, "You may try to kill the kid or just try to surpass him, it's entirely up to you. But if you try any funny business and we'll kill you. Good luck, Samuel, you truly need it."
He looked over at Zack who gave a dark look, his face shadowed by the backlights as all Samuel could see were his eyes. Zack puffed cold air as he bent his knees, his eyes stared into Samuel's soul. His presence leaked with bloodthirst so powerful that Samuel felt like he was facing something that wasn't human, a monster.
From deep within the factory, yet another scream of a man echoed throughout the sewers.
---------------------------
TO BE CONTINUED
--------------------------
Thank you for reading this chapter! I know that it took a long time but I hope the length of the chapter will make up for the time lost.
Had a terrible writer's dilemma lately and has been messing with my motivation to write. Too many ideas and only one option to choose from. But I won't lie and say that I wasn't lazy, I hate to admit it but I am and I despise myself for that.
Also, I've been distracted due to video games and anime, so there's that too...
...And I had school work...not trying to bullshit but I had to focus on my studies for the end of the term.
Still, I'm glad I was able to get a chapter out during the fall break. I would never forgive myself if I didn't upload at least one chapter. Anyways, thank you for reading this chapter. I hope you enjoyed it and I hope you look forward to the next one.
Be sure to tell me your thoughts in the comments! I'd love to hear them!!
Also, what did you guys think of me adding actual Swedish dialogue into the story? Did it ruin scene or make it more believable? Let me know! :)