Abel stood in place, shock ridden all over his face.

  He froze for a second, realizing something very odd.

  ‘What was she doing here of all places?’ he thought to himself.

  “Abel Michaelson? How?”

  Then a thought rummaged through Abel's sordid mind.

  How did she recognize him through the artifact glasses? He hadn't taken them off when he got back.

  Even Boris saw through his disguise.

  “How did you know it was me?” He asked, taking the glasses off, reverting to his original red haired appearance.

  Dorothy's eyes widened in understanding.

  “Oh, no wonder! I thought you dyed your hair”

  “That doesn't explain why you could recognize me”

  “It's… complicated!” She said calmly, before sighing.

  Raphael and April watched the happenings with slight glee in their curious eyes.

  “Ohhhhh! Gossip!!!” Raphael smiled as he shimmied up to Abel and nudged him with his elbow.

  “So, what's the relationship between you two huh?”

  “She was my classmate at….” Abel was saying

  “He's my Ex!” Dorothy cut in, finishing the sentence.

  The silence that followed was palpable. And very awkward.

  Abel scratched his red hair, thinking of what to say to her, or how to even start.

  Dorothy, on the other hand, seemed to be shocked by his presence here.

  “Uhuh!!! Abel you bad boy!” May called from the staircase as she came rushing down.

  “Oh my Gosh, Dorothy!!!” She squealed in delight as she rushed into the deadpan Dorothy's arms.

  “Well well, what do we have here?” Dorothy asked the twin sister in her arms. April seemed not to be bothered by what was happening, keeping her eyes on the board before her.

  Just then, the door to the office behind Rathcliffe opened.

  “Ah! The scouting team has arrived” he said with a jest in his tone.

  Abel nodded, trying his best to avoid Dorothy's gaze, which was pinpointed in his direction.

  “Cap'n! Today's work was so haaaard!!!” Raphael moaned as he slumped on a couch just across the gossiping ladies.

  “Oh really? Was it Abel?”

  Abel scratched his cheek and replied

  “Urrh, yeah! Kind of”

  Rathcliffe chuckled, before looking at Dorothy who sat just across him to his right.

  “Ah! Night Wolf, you're back”

  Dorothy stood up with such elegance and poise, one could wonder if she was dressed up as a lady, whether she was of an aristocratic family.

  Because right now, she was dressed in a full on black jacket with leather pants and boots. On her side was a large briefcase as big as her.

  She stood about six feet tall, a lean build and short hair. Her face was without makeup, but it somehow still made her look even more beautiful, sexy even.

  “Dorothy McGinnis reporting back sir” she saluted, keeping a side eye on Abel.

  Rathcliffe noticed something and looked between them. Then a particular incident came to mind.

  He coughed slightly, covering his mouth with a closed fist, and then invited Dorothy to his office.

  Abel took a seat at the counter, drawing near to the receptionist.

  The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  “Hey Martha? Dorothy, how long has she been.. you know…here?”

  Martha looked at Abel with a sorrowful gaze and sighed. It seemed that their relationship was very deep, at least for him.

  “I've known Lady Dorothy for the past eight years I've been here. She joined just before I was posted here”

  Eight years?

  That's a long time. Which meant she was amongst the Hidden Walkers even before they met six years ago.

  “I'll just say this. She did talk about someone she was seeing during a period of time, you must have left a deep impression on her” Martha added with a hint of melancholy.

  “How so?”

  “Well, Dorothy doesn't do well with guys. It's unheard of that she went out with someone for more than a day”

  Abel nodded, knowing full well what she meant.

  At College, Dorothy was a girl everyone fantasized to date, but no one ever survived the first date.

  Well that was until he broke the record.

  They'd dated for more than three months. That was until she suddenly got up and left college all together.

  Just then, the door opened as Dorothy walked out, giving Abel a cold glance, before smiling.

  “The Captain wants to see you”

  “Hey Dorothy, About…”

  “I thought I told you the Captain wants to see you” she cut him off, before walking up the stairs ignoring him entirely.

  Everyone in the room sighed when she left.

  “Another one bites the dust” April spoke silently, her voice almost unhearable.

  Abel sighed and put what happened in the back of his mind. He marched to the captain's office and shut the door behind him.

  ***

  “Take a seat Abel” Rathcliffe signalled to the empty chair before him.

  Abel took a seat, then after a brief pause, gave his full report on what had transpired in the mission.

  From the investigations, to the fight and his sudden abilities, to meeting Raphael in the warehouse filled with bodies.

  “Mhmm! This is getting pretty nasty of an affair” Rathcliffe mumbled, grabbing a folder under his desk.

  “Captain, about my abilities”

  “Yes, we will come to that. But firstly, I want to announce your immediate promotion from Intern to Part Time Walker, congratulations”

  Abel sat there stunned.

  ‘I got promoted? How?’

  “No need to look like that, this is a good thing for you. Now you can enter into the Archives from the first to second levels”

  Archives…. That means books

  Books meant knowledge

  And knowledge meant… the Second Sun

  Rathcliffe smiled as he grabbed a cigarette and took a drag.

  “You catch on quick. With your merits, you can now delve into some basic knowledge about supernatural events. The Archive would at least sate some of your hunger” Rathcliffe passed a folder to him.

  Abel nodded and took the folder, seeing a full employment letter stamped, with a golden coin with silver lining next to it.

  The coin of the Hidden Walkers.

  Abel knew the significance of this coin. It meant he could go and leave the Vault anytime he wanted. It also signified their trust in him.

  “Now, about your, Abilities…” Rathcliffe gave emphasis on the word

  “It seems you've taken a step into the transcendental world” he then took another file and began to scribble some words on it.

  “Here, take this to Old man Boris, he'll help you understand more about what you can do”

  Abel took the note and nodded. For now, he had made two major benefits.

  The Archives were the most important. With it, he'd be able to gain more knowledge on the supernatural.

  Since he joined this group of ‘Underground Police Officers’ he'd gotten more curious about supernatural knowledge and events.

  “Thank you Captain” Abel said, before remembering another matter.

  “Uhmmm sir, it might be awkward to ask but…”

  Rathcliffe lifted his palm and cut him off.

  “You'd better to ask her yourself, anything dealing with her is mostly classified, except she seems it worthy of your knowledge that is”

  ‘Classified?’ he thought, before nodding and walking out.

  As he left, Rathcliffe sighed as he relaxed on his chair, then he suddenly frowned.

  "That Kid, isn't he getting too strong too quick?’’

  He began to reminisce on the past few months, before drifting into a light nap.

  ***

  Abel walked out to the parlor. Currently Raphael was fast asleep, and the twins seemed to be missing.

  Abel walked to the entrance and exited the room, meeting Boris sitting just on a chair next to a pillar, dozing off.

  “Uhmm, Mr Boris?”

  “Thatsa Uncle Boris to ya. Whut brings ya here to me laddie?”

  “The Captain said I should hand this over to you” Abel said, handing the letter over to him.

  Boris flipped it open, and then beamed with a smile.

  “Well I'll be damned, you're transcended already?” his face filled with shock

  “Is that… a problem sir?”

  “By Shadows, it ain't a problem, it's a miracle. It took me years of training and damned near maddening meditation and some occult mumbo jumbo in order to transcend” he grumbled as he stood up and patted Abel in the shoulder, shaking him.

  “But let's forget that first, I've gotta take ya to the Archives. Follow me” Boris added, turning around and walking down the hallway.

  Abel followed behind him closely, curious about whether getting supernatural abilities was even a good thing.

  He didn't need to wait long, as Boris filled him in whilst they walked to the elevator.

  “Ya know kid, being a transcendent ain't always a good thing. It's both exhausts ya physically and up here” he said, tapping his skull.

  “What do you mean?” Abel asked as they entered the elevator. Boris clicked on the last button that led to a lower floor.

  “Don't worry, I ain't too good at all them grammar and shite, but I do know that when ya transcend, ya got a chance of going coo coo if you do shit wrong” he gestured by wiggling his finger around his ear before continuing.

  “That's why ya not allowed beyond the second level of the archive. When ya get stronger in the noggin, reading high tier stuff will be easy”

  Abel found it hard to keep up with his train of thought, when suddenly, the elevator stopped.

  The door opened as it led to another hallway, this one shorter.

  Before it were two men dressed in coats and hats that covered their faces.

  Boris walked up to them with Abel in tow, and handed them his coin.

  He signalled for Abel to do the same, and both coins were checked.

  The two men nodded, pressing the button next to the door behind them

  Whoooosh!!!

  The door screeched open, as steam poured from behind it.

  Boris led Abel through it, leading to what seemed to be a well lit library.

  Abel stood there in awe, his mouth agape.

  “Welcome to the Archives Kid”