Oddity Specialist: Purgatory

by James Courneya

  Quinn thinks it over. “Actually, she’s probably better at this then me, so maybe more so, cuts it into a third or less.”

  “Okay, I’m going to work on devising a system. While I do that, I need you to figure out a way to retain whatever information I tell you.”

  Quinn sees the girl’s serious eyes, and understands what he has to do. He nods his head.

  “Hm, alright, I understand.”

  “Good. Then, if you don’t mind, I’m going to get looking. Meet up with me at ten thirty P.M.”

  “Okay.”

  Neri heads back into her house.

  “…You know, I have an iron clad memory.”

  “That’s fine, I can do at least this much.”

  Lucifer looks down, at the determined boy.

  “Very well.”

  Quinn goes on to do research, on sharpening his memory. “I need to be able to catch even the slightest inconsistency from loop to loop. The smallest thing out of place, means it came from the source.”

  Around ten o’clock, he gets a message on his phone. Afterwards, he heads down to a local park.

  “Yo!”

  “Hey.”

  Quinn looks around.

  “Any reason to meet at a park?”

  “To see how it affects the looping.”

  “Like, if location and such affects the next loop?”

  “Yep.”

  “I see.”

  “It also doesn’t matter where we are, or what we are doing, on any given loop, given that it will be reset anyways.”

  “That’s a fair point.”

  Neri hands Quinn a couple pages of notes.

  “Memorize these.”

  “Okay.”

  Quinn starts reading through them. “She checked over local social media posts, news reports, and the traffic reports.”

  “Why traffic reports?”

  “Because, if someone were to do something big, it could affect the traffic.”

  “I see.”

  Quinn keeps reading. “I get it. All these are precise down to the exact second, and would easily be thrown off course by any interference. This casts a web out, that might be enough to catch the source, in of itself.”

  Something catches Quinn’s eye.

  “Wait, this part, are you-”

  “Don’t worry about getting everything perfect, just give me the information the best you can, as it’s written.”

  “But…”

  Her determined stare forces Quinn to go along with it.

  “Okay, I’ll give it my all.”

  “Thanks, I’ll try my best as well. Hmm, you know, the new me, that is.”

  “I don’t like it, when you put it that way.”

  “Sorry, I won’t be able to remember that.”

  “Yeah, I know.”

  “Speaking of not remembering. Is there anything you’d like to tell me, before I’m reset?”

  “Hm? I don’t think so. Actually, wouldn’t that be kind of pointless? Unless, you think I left something out of my explanation, that could be helpful?”

  “Hmm, well, if you can’t think of anything, then it should be fine.”

  “Okay.”

  She checks the time.

  “Hm, this is it. I’ll see you, this morning.”

  “Yeah, see you this morning.”

  “Oh, I see, she gets to be cheeky in referencing things; but when I do it you tell me to sto-”

  Quinn wakes back up, and August 19th begins. Quinn checks the date.

  “Just had to make sure.”

  “You still remember everything?”

  “Yeah. Come on, we got someone to explain everything to, again.”

  Quinn arrives at Neri’s, as the girl is staring up at a tree.

  “Hey oh! You called me out really early, today. What’s up?”

  “We have another oddity problem.”

  “Okay, what do we know thus far?”

  “We are in a time loop; this is the second day of us working together on it. You came up with a system, to track down the source of the oddity. These are a copy of the notes you gave me, to give you.”

  “Hmm, okay, I get the picture.”

  She takes the notes.

  “Already?”

  “I need to, right? Afterall, this version of myself is already on a countdown to being reset.”

  “…Yeah.”

  “Ah, so this is what my notes would look like, to someone else, interesting.”

  She gets to the last page.

  “Clever girl.”

  She puts the papers under her arm, and gives Quinn a salute.

  “I’ll get to work on this, right away.”

  “And I’ll make sure to redeliver whatever you find.”

  “Thanks, I appreciate it.”

  Neri heads off.

  “What now?”

  Lucifer asks.

  “What else? Let’s get looking.”

  “I see.”

  Quinn heads to a mall, and starts observing people go about their lives. “I just have to work on memorizing the details.”

  At ten thirty P.M, Quinn arrives at the park. He finds Neri, who is currently typing something on her phone.

  “Hm?”

  She looks up and notices Quinn.

  “Ah, I kind of thought, that sending a message might be pointless.”

  “I wouldn’t say pointless.”

  Quinn looks down at the notebook, that Neri has been writing in. He then picks it up and starts reading from it.

  “Well, did you do it?”

  “Yep. I looked over everything that went on here, as if this was the first time, I had done it. After comparing and contrasting what I saw against my notes, I did a write up on the differences. Now, I should have a refined note taking system, that even without context, I can understand.”

  “Really?”

  “Well, I can hopefully tweak it, if it’s not good enough. Though, I’ll have to leave that to another me.”

  Quinn scratches his forehead.

  “I still don’t like you talking that way.”

  “Ah, sorry; but I won’t be able to remember that.”

  “I know.”

  “Tomorrow, the next me will start expanding the search, and will start crossing options off the list, slowly but surely.”

  “I’ll try my best to help you, as well.”

  “What do you mean? You’re looking as well.”

  “Yeah; but you’re better at it.”

  “Then, give it your all, to support the next me in line, and the ones after them.”

  “…Are you scared?”

  Neri looks blankly at Quinn. Then her eyes narrow in, and her smile shrinks.

  “Yeah. There’s this painful sinking feeling in my stomach. Though, this feeling, along with all the other ones, will be overwritten, soon enough.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “It’s fine, it’s not like I’m dying or anything. I mean, every seven years the body is made up of entirely new cells, from the ones you had before. More than that, people lose their memories, and people even have large portions of their brain changed. There still them, right?”

  Quinn looks over to Lucifer, who is turned away from them.

  “I think so, yes.”

  “Then, this is something that just happens. Maybe one version of me will come to peace with it, and pass it on to the other ones.”

  “We haven’t been in this loop for long; but I can say for sure, you have been nothing but yourself, this whole time.”

  “You think.”

  “Yes.”

  “Hmm. Okay.”

  She motions for Quinn to hand her notes back, which he does. She writes something else down at the end. It says, Quinn says that I am still me.

  “There we go.”

  “You think this will help?”

  “Yep, my future self has no choice; but to believe it.”

  “…Does, the current you, believe it as well?”

  She
puts her hands behind her back, and looks up to the night sky. Neri then looks back down to Quinn, with a bounce to reply, she answers.

  “Yes, I think so.”

  “Alright.”

  Quinn finishes trying to memorize the notes, before the loop resets. The loop goes on, and on, and on. Until we reach the sixth cycle. Quinn pops open a book.

  “What are you up to?”

  “Reading.”

  “Oh, yes, I can see that.”

  “We have a lot of free time, going to and from places. If I can get some extra research time in, that would be beneficial. Plus, with the time loop, there’s an ample amount of time available to us, for the foreseeable future.”

  “I see, so reading to kill time.”

  “No, not that.”

  “Then what?”

  Quinn takes a moment to think on it.

  “Dealing with oddities isn’t exactly a full-time job, worth of work. The main aspect of it, isn’t the time investment; but the danger, and having to use your head to solve problems. So, if I can get even a small edge in that department, maybe we can more easily handle the issues at hand.”

  “I see. Meaning, you think exercising your brain, might help with future oddities?”

  “I’m not really entirely sure. Some of them seem based on historical events, some based on psychology, others based on systems beyond what I understand. I can’t say for certain that I can actually handle what’s to come, or if this will help with anything at all; but I want to give it my best shot… I want to be more useful.”

  “Ho.”

  Lucifer gives the boy, whose attention is placed onto the book, a discerning look. Lucifer thinks to himself. “Perhaps, you’re more of a man, then I had given you credit for.”

  We arrive on the twelfth cycle. Quinn is shifting his attention from what he’s reading on his phone, and the people walking around outside. His leg is restless, and his look is agitated.

  “I don’t like this…”

  “What?”

  “The fact we haven’t found an inconsistency yet. If the source is unaware of the fact they caused a time loop, then they are going to be nearly impossible to find.”

  “Yes, that would be a problem.”

  “You don’t seem overly phased.”

  “Why would I?”

  “Do you want to be stuck in here?”

  “It’s not like it will be forever. Even in the worst case, you can eventually talk to everyone here individually.”

  “How long do you think that will take?!”

  “It’s not like we are tight on time.”

  “Still.”

  Quinn’s phone buzzes. The message reads out as.

  “I found something.”

  Quinn replies back to Neri’s message.

  “Really?! What?”

  “A post didn’t go out, from the north-west side of town.”

  “Okay, what do we do?”

  “I’ll keep a watch on things from my end. You need to head down there and see if you can find anything out of place. Then keep heading there each loop, until you do.”

  “Okay.”

  “I’ll send you an address to start at.”

  Quinn darts up.

  “We found something, let’s go!”

  “Alright.”

  Quinn rushes down to where Neri had sent him.

  “Keep your eyes peeled.”

  “Eye peeling holds a different meaning to demons; but I get the gist.”

  “No time for jokes, todays loop is almost over.”

  After walking around a couple hours, Lucifer stops.

  “What?”

  “I feel something…”

  “Really? That’s great, do you think you can find them then?”

  “I…”

  Quinn looks around excited. “A couple houses, and an abandoned building. Maybe, they live around here? There are only have a couple minutes left, we need to be quick.”

  Lucifer looks around, with an uncomfortable feeling hanging over him. His eyes widen, and he gives a desperate look. He grabs Quinn’s shoulders, and pulls the boy towards him.

  “Quinn run, and don’t stop! I need to hind.”

  The moment that their eyes meet, feel like an eternity for Quinn. Seeing the genuine look of fear in the man’s eyes, shakes Quinn; but he resolves himself.

  “Ok-”

  Lucifer disappears. When the grip on the boy is let go, he starts to run. Quinn begins running along the side of the concrete, rectangular, three story, abandoned building.

  BASH! bakingtingtingting.

  Quinn is struck through a window, and is sent sliding across the glass covered floor, getting torn up.

  “Ah, you must be the cause of this time loop.”

  Stepping in threw the window is a woman, with long black hair. She has on a black blouse, with a silver cross around her neck, white trousers, with a black cloth wrapped around her waist, and ankle strap, black, stiletto heels.

  “I wonder what type of oddity you are?”

  Her heels make a tapping noise, as she walks forward, one foot in front of the other.

  “Not that it matters, once you’re dead.”

  Quinn has a jolt go down his body, this surge of adrenaline allows him to get back up and run. He turns a corner and keeps running. “I have to get away!”

  BaCKTAshhshhh

  A stone wall in front of Quinn is busted down. The woman walks out through the smoke, kicked up from the damage. Quinn tries to turn around, he slides forward nearly tripping up; but manages to catch himself, and starts running in the opposite direction.

  ~Pashing~

  Blood flows out from the boy. Quinn feels something stabbing into his back. He looks down, seeing a green, spiked stem stabbed through his torso, near his stomach. It’s pulled out from his back, tearing through the flesh. Quinn trips up; but he does not fall.

  “Hmm, hey boy, have we met before? You seem familiar.”

  Quinn spits up blood, as his lungs start to fill up with the crimson liquid.

  “Maybe, I killed your brother or something.”

  She grabs the Quinn by his hair, and pulls his face up, to where she can see it clearly. Her golden eyes, feeling as if they were peering into his very soul.

  “That’s not it. Dang, this is going to bother me for a while.”

  “Ghe, please… stop.”

  She slams his face into the wall next to them, which tears his top layer of flesh off.

  “Don’t ever, tell me what to do.”

  “Bahhh.”

  “Let’s try this again, who are you?”

  A couple teeth fall from Quinn skull, as tears begin to flow out.

  “Are you, crying?”

  Her brow furrows, as she gives a confused, disgusted look.

  “What type of oddity cries out, from just that?”

  Through the blood, and difficulty speaking, he barely gets out a.

  “I’m human”

  “No, you most certainly are not.”

  Quinn reaches into his pocket.

  “Hm?”

  She pulls his hand out, which is holding onto his phone.

  “What’s this? Calling out for help?”

  She grabs the phone.

  “I did feel like, I felt another presence earlier.”

  As she looks at the phone, Quinn claws at the ground, getting to his feet, sprinting away. The woman turns her head towards him, her face does not change; but yet a potent anger is clearly visible on it. She crushes the phone, and stands up. Quinn runs around the building, trying to get to an exit. Getting into a new room, he slips and falls to the ground. “I… I can’t keep going…”

  He crawls over to the nearest wall, and leans his back up against it. Keeping a hand over the hole in his stomach, he breathes heavily. “I can feel the limitations of my healing…”

  A hand grasps the edge of the door way. Then, the woman peaks her head around the wall, and gives the boy a death stare, strong enough to paral
yze an army. Fear circulates through Quinn’s body.

  “Wait, could you perhaps be-”

  “Bahhahaahaha!”

  Quinn wakes up in bed, August 19th begins. The boy has jolted up in bed, with tears flowing down his face.

  “We lived.”

  Lucifer is sitting in Quinn’s chair, looking down, distraught.

  “w-What was that?!”

  “That was, the oddity hunter, Lilith.”

  The boy stares at the man. Quinn is shaking all over, and is clenching his blanket. He grasps his head, and runs his hand through his hair, unable to get his breathing under control. Lucifer takes note of his condition.

  “It’s okay, take your time.”

  “…I-I don’t even, I just…”

  “Can’t you do that calming down thing?”

  “How could I?!”

  “…Okay, just tell me when you’re ready to talk.”

  Quinn, still tormented from what happened, remembers the predicament they are in.

  “…I can’t leave her waiting.”

  “Hmm, who do you-?”

  Lucifer figures out what he means.

  “Ho, I see.”

  Quinn composes himself.

  “Tell me, what I need to know.”

  “Where should I start?”

  “…You used the term hunter, what is that?”

  “Think of it, as an oddity specialist, that specializes in combat.”

  “Okay. I take it, she was after me, because she mistook me as an oddity.”

  “Indeed, it seems that way.”

  “Then, tell me, what is it you know of her?”

  “Lilith is, one of the few specialists that actively tried to hunt me down.”

  “Is that why she is here?”

  “Given that most likely this is where I supposedly died, that is a likely reason.”

  “To actually confirm your death?”

  “Potentially.”

  “Then… Wait, she was aware of the loop, does that mean-?”

  “No. If she had gained cognizance of what happened from loop to loop, then she would already be here. Most likely, each day she comes to an understanding that there is a loop going on, then goes about the same routine from there.”

  “So, she can’t remember what happened yesterday.”

  “Not yet, at least.”

  “What?”

  “She’s a specialist. Much like you and I, she will eventually adjust to the looping and be able to remember it. More than that, she probably already would have a vague sense of remembering you, if she sees you again.”