The Hade War

by Luke Carlisle

  “Yeah I get it. Security. Was it some kind of newbie test for me to find the place?” Ryan asked.

  “Not really no. Although to be fair if you didn’t have the smarts to find it then I would be worried about welcoming you into our little… eh… group,” Manning answered.

  “Super group,” Ryan added.

  “Yeah we don’t… we don’t really refer to ourselves as super. It would be kinda up our own asses if we did,” Manning corrected him.

  “Yeah I get that. So who all is in the group?”

  “We don’t exactly have official numbers or membership. After the Skyborn we were scattered. A lot of the guys went back into seclusion and hiding. Some back to their own cities and countries. A bunch of them stuck around though. We’re just a few here in this building but there are others.”

  “The Scattered. That’s what you should call yourselves,” Ryan said.

  The comment took Manning by surprise.

  “I… hmm… yeah maybe something like that. Anyway these are some of the main guys here you’re about to meet.”

  “Who all is here?”

  “See for yourself,” Manning answered as he stopped at a door and put his key in the lock. Ryan took a deep breath as the door opened and Manning gestured for him to enter before him. Ryan stepped into the large open plan apartment which had wall to wall windows with views overlooking New Belfast.

  “Guys!” Manning shouted.

  Warstone put down his magazine and stood up from the sofa. Metalcore looked up from the computer he was working on. Greyfall and Elaine came walking around the corner of the kitchen counter.

  “This is Ryan. The guy I was telling you about,” Manning told them.

  Elaine was the first to step forward and shake his hand.

  “Nice to finally meet you Ryan. Manning has told us a lot about you,” she welcomed him.

  “Cool yeah, happy to be here,” he answered.

  Metalcore approached and shook his hand.

  “He can’t really talk,” Manning told Ryan.

  “Yeah, yeah. No problem,” Ryan told them.

  Warstone was next to great him.

  “Good to meet you,” The wrestler said.

  “You too,” Ryan responded. “Congratulations on the belt.”

  Ronan smiled and nodded.

  “Greyfall slowly walked over to the new comer and extended a huge, mighty hand.

  “My name is Greyfall. We are all excited to see what you can do.”

  Ryan shook his hand and felt like an insect when he felt the strength behind his grasp.

  “I’m looking forward to doing what I can do,” Ryan said with a smile. “It’s an honour guys, it really is. I watched the whole thing live. You guys were great.”

  Manning put a hand on Ryan’s back and gestured him to walk forward.

  “I’ll show you to your room. You’re in between me and Greyfall. The other guys all live across the hall.”

  “Cool.” Ryan followed Manning’s guidance down the hall and into his new room.

  Several minutes later he emerged again and wandered into the living area of the massive apartment. Greyfall stood looking out over the city while drinking a cup of coffee.

  “There’s a fresh pot just brewed there,” Greyfall told him while gesturing with his head to the kitchen.

  “Awesome yeah. I’ll grab a cup in a minute,” Ryan answered, standing beside the bigger man and looking out over the city with him.

  “Is your room ok?” Greyfall asked.

  “You kidding? It’s the biggest room I’ve ever had!”

  “Good. Glad to here it.”

  “Actually it’s… it’s the only room I’ve ever had,” Ryan continued, his mood slightly sombre.

  Greyfall looked at the younger man for a moment but didn’t say anything. Ryan looked around timidly at the others who had gone back to what they were doing before his arrival then he leaned in a bit closer to Greyfall.

  “Uh, listen Greyfall. You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to or anything…” he began.

  Warstone looked over at the two men standing at the window. He knew where this was going. So did Metalcore who had stopped typing.

  “I watched the whole Skyborn thing on the news as it was happening. Yunno they had that girl in the helicopter flying over it and drones and stuff…”

  Elaine poked her head around the corner of the kitchen.

  “I was just wondering what that guy said to you before he flew off into the sky like that? I mean, everyone is wondering,” Ryan asked.

  Greyfall continued to stare out over the city. It hummed and buzzed liked it did before any of this ever happened. In the three months since Jessen disappeared he had hoped and prayed every day that he would return. Everyone was always trying to get some sort of clue out of Greyfall as to where he went and why. But the time traveller always held firm. They weren’t ready for the truth. Not yet anyway. Finally he opened his mouth.

  “He asked me…” he began as everyone in the room leaned forward. “He asked me what the hell a giraffe was doing there.”

  Warstone shook his head and went back to his magazine. Everyone went back to what they were doing.

  Greyfall didn’t look around at his friends but instead sipped his coffee, grinned and looked out across the city.