FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"Alright class, everyone ready?!" Ms. Smedley clapped her hands as the chattering turned quiet. "Now, I want you all to remember we are here on a quest for knowledge. You are to behave, to be respectful and above all to keep together. Remember, Westminster is a very active place, and very large so it's easy to get lost, that means you must always be partnered with your buddy, is that clear?"

"Yes Ms. Smedleyyy."

"Good! Now let's ship off good driver!"

"Roooger."

The panda at the front of the bus waved in acknowledgement as they rumbled off towards the city centre, the mixed gaggle of children all piled onto seats as they bounced with excitement whilst their teacher sat at the front, the elderly human primly smoothing out her powder-blue skirt and smart suit with eyes focused out front. The busful of kids yammered on behind as they headed north beneath an August eve where the sun turned cooler in the late morning. Amongst this crowd of humans and anthros rattling around in their seats, James and Ashwin sat together as they watched the world roll on by from the dismal downs of Croydon to a much richer part of the city. The transition from mouldy apartment blocks and half-closed shops, to clean streets and sharp-glassed structures was dizzying for the orphans as the bus parked itself at a station with sleek painted walls and shiny turnstiles monitoring everyone who came and went. All of the children passed through with special vests calling them "Educational Visitors".

"Wooooow," James gasped as they stepped onto the main street, "this place is so...weiiiiird!"

"Hahaha, yeah roigh'?" Ashwin gawped at the high buildings. "S'loik they couldn't make up their moind wot style to do it in!"

"Everyone please follow meeeee thank youuu!" Ms. Smedley beckoned them forth as they filed up beside her. "We all have to stick together, and please do not pester anyone."

"C-CAN WE GO SEE THE PALACE?!" cried a young foal.

"We will be walking past it yes, but remember we are here for the museum. Now, off we go!"

The children headed through the centre of London, the grand spires of Westminster looming over them with great shadows of auspicious elegance from an age long since gone. Gorgeous cathedrals of stone and double-towered with grand windows, old Victorian houses dotted the landscape between glass pavilions and unusual art-modern skyscrapes that resembled fruit to the children. Hovercars roamed back and forth, the roads devoid of any wheel-based machines as they carefully crossed the street for any low-moving vehicle that passed them by. Everyone wore a suit, or a blouse, or something haute-couture that was business casual and never cost less than three digits. Some of them looked at the children curiously, whilst others clutched their briefcases and phones tighter to themselves.

Many sights bedazzled the children with wonders of wealth and multicultural influences. African storefronts and sculptures formed an entire district with cafes and restaurants from Angola to Zaire; the London Light jutted above the Thames as a giant model of a rocket ship shining peerless to the sky; Buckingham Memorial stood with alabaster sheen in front of a large pillar that cars circled around, skimming past the statues of human royals with births and deaths inscribed; and a long bridge led towards the peerless Elizabeth Tower where the eternal Big Ben resided, with shining white faces that rose above the Houses of Parliament, an austere rectangular fortress where war was waged with words not just within, but without as they saw a crowd of protesters standing in front waving banners.

"REMEMBER THE SAVILE SEVEN!"

"THERE'S BLOOD ON YOUR HANDS FOXX!"

"WE ALL BLEED THE SAME!"

"THE POLICE MUST BE JUDGED!"

"Whut's going on?" asked one of the human kids.

"They're protesting about an incident," said Ms. Smedley, "something that happened a few years ago."

"LOOK they got TV people!"

James tried to run off but Ashwin grabbed him immediately and pulled him back as they walked past some distance away from the camera crew where a human reporter with short black hair stood on the scene.

"Protests continue at the lack of action in investigating the Savile Close incident that occurred six years ago. The organisation you can see behind me has accused the London Metropolitan Police for failing in their duty to open investigations, and joining me now is Arthur Meredith, head of Safe Savile."

"Good afternoon," a boar with ribbon-clad tusks stood opposite.

"Mr. Meredith, how has the protest been coming along?"

"We are currently crowdfunding legal funds to bring this case to the courts. The people of Wimbledon have a right to know what happened that night and who was responsible. To this day we still do not know who fired the rocket, be it a member of the police or someone of the public that appropriated the weapon."

"But it was a violent riot that night from both sides," said the reporter, "we know that it was the rioters that started it and the police reciprocated it-"

"That is not the point," argued the boar furrowing his brow, "it's not who started the riot, we know which side did, it's who fired the projectile that sent down a news helicopter of your colleagues into a building and killed seven families! Why have the police not opened this investigation, if they had the numbers to face against a rioting group they could have discovered the perpetrator, but they haven't and they didn't, so why?!"

"Have the surviving members of these families been contacted?"

"Most of them are in our group and working with us to keep funding, there's only one family whom we cannot find any relations concerning due to classified data, apparently one of them worked in a high-level occupation and they have refused to be involved in anything against the government."

"But strictly speaking wouldn't that mean there are eight families?"

"No, we included their family, we just cannot speak of them unfortunately but regardless we want justice for all of them."

Passing by this they headed towards their true destination, a grand building that resembled a Greek institution, sloping triangular roof supported by columns where dozens of tourists took pictures and discussed their routing through the map that was on display. They took their way up the steps into a grand and glorious museum that stretched above their heads, where ancient skeletons hung in the air much to the awe of visitors as they snapped shots and talked into their phones. Pillars lined up on either side with a directional board detailing all the different sections of the museum ranging from art to history to science as the children gasped in amazement at such a colossal interior. Stone and steel interlaced with each other, a gorgeous skylight of reinforced glass beaming down upon them that cast the shadow of a tremendous pterodactyl upon their faces.

"Wooooooaaaah that thing's HUGE!"

"Kinda funny-lookin' bird!"

"It's a pteranodon!"

"Shut up Bennett you don't work here."

"Alright class stick close, we just have to sign in." Smedley took the children towards a buffalo in a prim blue shirt. "Hello, Ms. Smedley from the Iqra-Monassi, we spoke on the phone?"

"Ahhh hello yes," he offered his hand as they shook, "how are you, did you enjoy the sights?"

"Yes we did thank you, children this is Mr. Kennedy."

"But you all can call me Tenpin cuz I'm the master of bowling in this place," he gave a cheerful salute, "welcome to the English Museum, you all ready to learn some history?!"

"Yeaaaaah," they sighed half-hearted.

"Aw come on don't be like that, you're outside and someplace different, and if we get through this well enough we got some good burgers in the cafe!"

"Are the burgers ancient too?" asked Ashwin with a smirk.

"No but the lunch staff is! ...please don't tell them I said that."

The kids started snickering as the buffalo led them through towards one exhibit that detailed Modern History, specifying from the 20th century and onwards as apropos of Smedley's instruction he covered the four world wars of the old times. Weapons and outfits were put upon disturbingly-realistic mannequins showing dioramas of war and conflict, their guide explaining in as punctual a manner as possible about the various political intricacies of ensuing horrendous conflicts. A man in a carriage being assassinated by an errant gunner; feral horses racing over dead greying wastelands where humans fired upon each other; trenches filled with miserable souls where salvaged letters were put on display beside them; a crowd of belligerents adorned with a four-pointed symbol; a collage of newspaper clippings and modernised recreations showing the murder and beating of civilians; and a series of conflicts between planes over the sea and tanks upon beaches.

"Now, let's continue to World War Three," said Kennedy taking them onwards through the grand hall of history, "any questions so far?"

"Yah," a golden retriever raised his hand, "did any dogs fight in those wars?"

"Oh many of them, this was back in the day when canines were considered loyal pets and every nationality had their own variant."

"Whut did these dogs do?"

"Guarding places, hunting down fugitives, attacking the enemy, or just company. Anyways, here's what you've been studying."

A diorama of a young woman being held captive as two special forces groups engaged, bloodied spurts appearing on the soldier mannequins with official orders and newspaper reports in Russian sitting beneath the

"In 2046," began the buffalo, "Anya Kaminsky was held hostage by Korean forces whilst on a diplomatic visit. Russia sent a covert operations group into the capitcal city, but unfortunately they are discovered and Korea enacts a full-on war. Now who can tell me what happened next?"

"OOH OOH!" a chimpanzee waved his hand. "The United States divided itself in loyalties between Korea and Russia, and that caused the Second Civil War!"

"Very good," he walked over to the next diorama of a whole political forum of humans screaming at each other, "the country was destabilised when the Senate split apart from the House of Congress on opposite sides which tore apart America's infrastructure. This had a knock-on effect in the world of finance, and so the war that ensued as additional countries turned on each other, before ending in 2053 when an armada of Indian forces overpowered the Korean elite."

"Why um," a human child rubbed his neck, "wh-why did the US have one side support Korea and one side support Russia?"

"They traded with both countries."

"But why couldn't ALL of them support both?"

"You ever had two friends fight and try to agree with both of them?"

"...ohhhhh." They all understood.

"Now, here we have something very neat, a recreation of the crime scene from 10 Downing Street when the Prime Minister of England murdered the Prince of Saudi Arabia."

"Ooooooh!"

Sure enough they saw the scene of an incident that brought the beginning of the end of the old world. A surly woman standing over a sheikh's body from which blood dripped out between them, with knife in her hand dipped in crimson along with stories at the time in building fear and outrage. Further scenes continued showing the escalation of war, the nuclear attack on Europe in revenge, and a snowballing of repercussions eerily similar to the first World War before a tragic-looking Earth hung in the air looking much more barren than it normally was.

"You alrigh' Jim?" Ashwin asked nudging his shoulder.

"Yeaaaah it's kinda cool," James shrugged, "my feet hurt."

"Wot cummon mate look at all this, it's loik...scenes from a movie but loik captured roight HERE oi mean look!"

He pointed over towards a section of artillery where replicas of guns sat up on the wall, ranging from shotguns to pistols to assault rifles as Ashwin briefly memorised all their designs.

"Damn this shottie 'ere looks cool!" he pointed at a sawn-off Lupara. "Wotcha think o' that?"

"Oooooh." James' eyes widened as he looked at the simple antique. "That one looks kinda neat, looks like a father's gun."

use it wisely lad

"H-huh?" James looked around suddenly.

i'll see you in mine mochyn bach

"You alrigh'?" Ashwin tapped him.

"Did...d-did you hear something?"

"Uhhhh, loik wot?"

"I heard someone talkin' like real close to my ear."

"It's just me 'ere Jim."

"BOYS!" Ms. Smedley waved them over as they continued to the next hall. "Come on now no loitering!"

Following the group from the World Wars exhibit and leaving the pantheon of violence behind, they found more dioramas that related more personally to themselves. A bald middle-aged man sat in a laboratory, surrounded by both humans and anthros, the first non-human models they had seen anywhere in the museum.

"Hey is that Dr. Karenn?!" asked a young foal pointing.

"Yes it is!" said Kennedy standing beside. "We don't know what year exactly, but sometime in the first half of the 22nd Century, a man known as Dr. Karenn began experimental procedures in an Icelandic laboratory, planning to create anthropomorphic creatures so as to and I quote 'return Earth back to its true inheritors'. Years of research are poured into this by sympathisers from various regions of the world, and so Iceland became the first country to be populated by anthros."

"How many anthros were there?" asked the equine brushing his snout.

"Again we do not know the exact number, but it's somewhere between two-hundred to a thousand. What we DO know, is that the first anthro was this guy here, the first of what we call the Three Saviours."

He swept his hand over to the next diorama of an incredibly-detailed anthro doberman, draped in thin steel armour that had rusted over with a knife in his hand as he stood over a human wrapped in flags brutalised with bite wounds and gouges, whilst the backdrop behind was a 3D landscape of a ruined broken street.

"Can anyone tell me his name?" asked the tour guide.

"Hansel Weber?" asked James.

"Very good, you studied well!"

"Nah it says there on the thing," he pointed at the description under the model much to the giggling of his peers.

"Hmhmhm, well yes, Hansel Weber was the first anthropomorph, born in 2123. You'll probably have heard of him if you read your Karenniology, he was forced to leave with the other anthros after a lab explosion occurred sometime in the mid-22nd century. We don't know the exact date due to many records being destroyed, but Dr. Karenn left a last will and testament to the anthros, for each of them to rebuild the earth with specialised seed kits he had crossbred to survive in the hardened world."

"Didn't he have a wife?" asked a human boy rocking on his heels.

"Yes, Maris Hamilton whom he travelled to North America with. It was here they first encountered humans outside of their home in 2148, a tribe on the outskirts of Pennsylvania. They were distrustful, but Hansel agreed to help them fight a ruthless warlord that took over Boston-"

"OH, WAIT!" cried a tiger cub, "B-boston Insurrection!"

"Yes, excellent work!

The girl smiled despite a warning look from Smedley not to interrupt again.

"A man called Ezekiel Matheson enslaved the locals to his bidding. Hansel fought him with a small guerilla force of humans that took over Matheson's posts, before Hansel killed him in a duel. Since then Boston has become the historical ground zero for human-anthro relationships into the new world. Two years later, we have our second saviour."

He moved up next towards a deep-green crocodile in a pale blouse, studded with rings on her fingers and the backdrop of a large river behind her where many ports were tirelessly working away.

"Now, who knows about Anne-Marie Yashere?"

"Uhhh," Ashwin scratched his head, "she wuz Queen of the Nile yeah?"

"That's correct! Yashere travelled through Africa versed in the dialect of Swahili, and so became an ambassador to seven different countries by forming a trading route on the Nile River. Establishing an empire, bartering with human tribes who survived the fallout of civilisation and then uniting African nations in a post-apocalyptic world through financial scrutiny and exceptional diplomacy."

"Izzat why Johannesburg is so rich?"

"Exactly, because it was the city that she refounded as the centre of her empire. It's also why the first international TV signals of the new world came from Johannesburg, establishing it as the capital of the world through descendants of Anne-Marie Yashere, who to this day still maintain her dynasty. Now, the last of the Three Saviours is this one here."

Stepping over towards the third display, they saw a velociraptor half-dressed in tattered cloth garments as he meditated within a valley full of fossils. Above him was a painted sky of soft warm flames that crept over the mountains which tantalised James with a strange flickering in his memory. But what intrigued him more was the dark portal behind the display towards another room where something glinted and a voice came whispering.

"This is Alberto Noriega," said the guide, "the founder of Pangaeism, born in 2200. He was the only survivor of a massacre in his home village of Argentina at the age of 27 and he became lost in the wilderness, starved and dehydrated before he came across a valley full of ancient dinosaur fossils. His records claim that he was guided by the spirits of his ancestors, and so he meditated amongst their remnants."

"Whut did he eat fer food?" asked a golden retriever.

"He hunted rodents and birds as Noriega said that for a brief time he regressed into his feral instincts, hunting creatures like his ancestors had done so in the past."

"Wait...whussat mean?"

"It means that he turned back into being a beast, losing his senses which historians say was caused mainly by the great trauma he suffered, lost from the world over the course of nineteen years as a hermit."

"Do only saurians get that stuff?" asked a cobra youth scratching his head. "Like uhhh regression an' that?"

"Apparently so," said Mr. Kennedy putting his hands together carefully, due to the unusual process that Dr. Karenn formed to revive and reshape "anthropomorphs of that type. Those such as you were made from already-living animals, birthed and sculpted through complex genetic techniques. But those such as him..."

He swept his hand towards James who kept on staring towards the abyss. The raptor saw someone's face turn to look at him.

"Saurians were formed by extracting long-extinct DNA from well-preserved insects that carried their blood and placed into artificial egg-wombs to grow and give shape. Because the genetic ancestry of saurians actually predates everyone's genetics by millions of years, they are suspect to regressing into memories with the right motivations."

"So why'd Karenn revive them?" asked the young tigress. "If they were like all already gone."

"Wossat s'posed to mean?!" barked Ashwin suddenly flaring.

"N-nuthin' I just wuz askin'!"

"Now now," the buffalo put his hand between them, "we don't actually know why Dr. Karenn decided to bring saurians back, but they are another welcome part of our new multicultural Earth."

"Ummm, s-sir?" James raised his hand pointing to the dark hall behind Noriega. "Whut's in that room?"

"That's the Pangaeist exhibit," he replied, "but it's not open at the moment."

"Oh. So, why's someone in there already?"

"Huh?" He looked over towards the doorway. "There's nobody in there my lad, you sure?"

"Y-yeah, I-i thought I did."

"Well, no one's in there I'll tell you now."

"But, whysit closed mister?"

"It's complicated let's move on-"

"No it's not I saw someone there, whysit closed?!"

"Alright that's enough questions thank YOU!" he clapped his hands so hard it shook the glass of the display. "Now as I was saying, Noriega went to another village once he finished his ritual and then spoke of the words of Cxulubcah, a spirit he claimed was the last of the dinosaurs to die out in the great extinction event. Through his meditations he detailed rituals of fire and meditation that would allow saurians to reconnect with their ancestors, trapped in their last moments from 65 million years ago."

They made a circuit back towards the main hall, looping in a half-circle before making their way to the cafeteria where the children sat in groups enjoying a luscious meal of burgers and cheap orange juice. James and Ashwin sat separate from everyone else whilst admiring the architecture of the museum food court where arches and buttresses towered over them like they were seated in a church.

"Mmmm borgur," muttered James chewing the faux-meat.

"Borgur guud," mumbled Ashwin holding his burger in his trunk with his glass in one hand, "you alrigh' mate?"

"Mmhmm! This place is kinda neat!"

"Yeah see oi told ya, besides wot chance you gonna get nippin' out to Westminster?"

"We could like, come here on the bus anytime."

"Yeaaah but," he noted with finger raised, "if we came 'ere unattended we'd have got picked up by the police an' that would waste a bus trip."

"Could we like, sneak up here?" asked James shrugging.

"Dunno, would be tough with all them cameras, they got 'em all over the place out 'ere cuz everyone's got fancy stuff."

"Yeah but...um...s-so that Pangaea place?"

"Yeah wot about it?" Ashwin scarfed half his burger.

"You think we could like, get inside it?"

"Why?"

"...cuz I want to?"

"Yeaaah but...why?"

"Um..." his voice fell short as he gripped his fingers, "I-i...I dunno, I heard something."

"You heard wot?" asked his friend.

"Something wuz...callin' me, making me wanna go in an' I uh, really wanna, like why'd that guy not tell me why it wuz closed an' then he told me to 'stop askin' question'."

"Yeaaah that wuz weird...wait...you think..." he leaned forwards dropping his voice, "can you loik see ghosts Jim?"

"Wh-whut?"

"Cuz, you saw sumthin' in that alley when we beat up Adam, now yer hearin' voices an' seeing stuff that no one else can see."

"I-i dunno, I saw it I swear!"

"Alrigh' alrigh', oi believe ya, you got no reason to lie to me." Ashwin took a soft slurp of his drink. "So wot you wanna do?"

"I wanna go in," said James nodding, "I wanna know what they're hidin' in there, who that guy was."

"Well that's good enough fer me for a mystery solvin'!" Ashwin clapped his hands. "Wot say oi sort out a plan fer us to get in without us bein' spotted?"

"How ya gonna do that?"

"Welllll lessee...ah!" he snapped his fingers with a grin. "Halloween's comin' up, just get ourselves sum costumes an' no one'll know who we are!"

"OOOH YEAH!" James drummed his hands on the table rapidly. "Thassa great idea!"

"Course you gotta make sure yer entire face an' body's covered since you got all them purple marks."

"Yeaaah," the raptor rubbed his snout feeling the harder grooves, "I just wanna know what's in there, like whysit closed, why wuz sumbody there an' why won't he tell us why it's closed?!"

"Sounds loik SOMEONE'S enjoyin' the museum."

"Well, kinda yeah!"

"Mmhmm," Ashwin smirked leaning back in his seat, "guess it weren't so boring after all 'specially when we get back inside fer a li'l mystery fun."

"You think it mighta been a ghost?" asked James sitting up. "Cuz, I saw someone there an' he said there wuzn't nobody."

"Yanno oi did 'ear that his museum is loik super haunted, had sum books up at Grenfell that told me 'bout it."

"Really like whut?!"

"Well, there's loik a mask in this place that gives you deep wounds if ya touch it, an' there's one o' them old Egyptian coffins that's got moans comin' out of it when it's night but there's no one in it."

"Don't they got like mummies in them?!"

"Yeah but this one's empty. That's weird ain't it?"

"Yeaaaah," James mumbled feeling a chill up his spine, "s-so, we gonna hunt ghosts?"

"Well oi dunno, you think you saw a ghost?"

"I-i, I saw someone Ash."

"Then we're off on a ghost hunt," Ashwin rubbed his chin, "course we wanna practice with sumplace that's more easy fer our ghost huntin' to start with, there's this place oi know about that's said to be pretty haunted not far from Grenfell."

"Really?!" James reeled back startled. "Back where you used to be?!"

"Yeah there's an ol' sewer not too far from there, dunno if anyone else goes there now but there's a lotta local legends about it."

"Like whut?"

"The Gruesome, just this big monster made o' sludge that ate up kids, or the Rat Stabber, that's another one."

"U-uhhhh, m-maybe we shouldn't-"

"Ey-ey don't quit on me now!" Ashwin put a hand towards him and clutched his fingers. "Listen, there's gonna be a lotta crazy shit out there when we get outta England, this is gonna be training fer us, remember we were gonna do that?!"

"Y-yeah I know, I KNOW!" he slammed the table with his elbows putting hands on his head. "I-i-i just don't...whut if something happens?"

"Nuthin'll happen if we're not stupid, cummon mate we're in this together."

"Yeaaaah...mmmmm-"

"Ey." Ashwin offered his arm with a grin and bopped against his wrist. "Sup!"

"Hehee, sup!"

"Yeah thassit, so yer good to go then, we go down to Grenfell an' do a li'l ghost-bustin' alrigh'?!"

"Y-yeah, yeah! Yer right, we can do this, yeah!"

"Any excuse fer a good rumble to practice ourselves on."

"Can you even fight a ghost?!" asked James scratching his head.

"Wellll oi think we can grab ourselves a few weapons yanno, a li'l extra firepower an' such."

"Hey, you hear something?!"

A familiar show tune tickled at his ears as he turned towards a corner of the food court and looked through a window to a break room. Much to his shock the TV had been left on and "Jerry the Hero" was playing as he motioned Ashwin over.

"Hey look, look what's on!"

"Oh my god are you fuckin' kidding me?!" gasped the elephant.

"I haven't seen this one OH, jeez that's right, J-jerry's parents got captured a-a-and he has to find the Hero's Heart!"

"Uhhh, kay well oi'll just sit over 'ere then 'til yer done."

"Heehee, okay!"

James perked up as he moved his chair over to sit down closer at the window, wondering why no employees were even around to watch it with him. But that question soon evaporated as he watched Jerry the heroic gecko in his red-and-yellow outfit stepping into a cavern with Termon at his side before reached an ornate door shaped like a silver gong.

"Is this it?" the gecko asked using his hand as a torch.

"Well it's not the Ritz," said the rex behind him, "and if it was I lost our room keys."

"I'm just saying this is like the third vault we've gone to, we have to make sure the markings are correct."

"Alright alright hold your forces...heh, that's a li'l superhero joke for ya-"

"Would you just get it out already?!"

"Wow." Termon stepped back with a nervous grin. "I mean listen I like you Jer, but work relationships are not-"

"Your PHONE, sir."

Jerry scowled with a tightening fist as his boss/co-worker brought up his phone and quickly scrolled through images. He held it up towards the vault door where symbols could be seen along the outer rim.

"Mmmmnnnuh-yeah...huh...and that...yep. This is definitely it, the symbols match."

"Finally, I don't know how long we have until the Schekuun come back."

"I can't believe they managed to get your parents, they're not the kind who get ambushed so easily."

"I know," Jerry sighed with a bitter gulp, "dad said something about the Hero's Heart before he was taken away, if we can just find it I might have the power to stop the Schekuun."

"Do you guys not have a council or something like aaaaaa league of super friends?"

"I wish, that'd make things a lot easier."

The gecko stepped forwards and put his hand upon the door, feeling it rumble at his touch and shudder to open with a grinding gasp that shook the foundations of the cavern almost threatening to bring the roof down upon their heads. The portal revealed an ancient temple carved from elaborate stone, the walls dappled with intrinsic symbols as far as the animators' strengths would reach as they stepped inside with Jerry waving his hand to light the walls around them. The passage was long and deep, echoing droplets of water from unknown sources as the T-rex followed behind him. The symbols were both vague and yet apparently familiar to Jerry, with Termon studying them more in scrutiny as he flicked through his phone checking other symbols he had.

"Jeez there's a lotta good stuff here," murmured the rex, "and you said my early degree in Sumerian was useless."

"I never said it was useless," said Jerry, "I just said it had a very constricted level of accessibility in our occupation."

"Yeah and that's your way of saying it's useless, come on I know you Jerome."

"Not well enough to remember my name still."

"Well I need some light over here soo uh."

He rolled his eyes huffing as Termon took a picture of each rune and rearranged them into a pastiche. They crept from wall to wall until he had a page full of inscriptions to work with.

"This is weird," said the T-rex scratching his head, "the way these runes were like put out, I'm not really sure what the order of this is supposed to be."

"Maybe it's reversed?" asked Jerry leaning over his shoulder.

"You really think the Sumerians would do something so basic as tha-...okay, apparently THIS group were, wow."

"Hey look not all of us are sudoku masters."

"Are you seriously bringing that up again?"

"You boasted about it for weeks!" cried the gecko raising his hands.

"Only to stop Benson from boasting about it!" retorted Termon as he turned with pointing finger. "Seriously that guy should be arrested for intent to annoy!"

"That's not even a real crime!"

"If I was mayor of the city I'd make it one...pffft, hhhahahaha."

"Hhhhahahaha..." Jerry shook his head with a deep sigh, "aaaah, alright so whatsit say?"

"Well," Termon sat himself on a plinth, "It says...that 'there lies true evil from the west. Five who seek freedom, but know not the darkness they brought with them. A monster hides within five, so in turn five hearts must stand together."

"Five...hearts?"

"Five hearts, each of which possess one of these traits as their strongest merit. Courage, Loyalty, Kindness, Love and Justice."

"Huh..." Jerry scratched his head, "so, we get five people together, the most courageous, the most loyal and so on-"

"Yep exactly," Termon waved a finger, "and no you can't have the most loyal AND loving in one heart, that's not how it works."

"So, five people...any idea where we can find them?"

"It's not a map Jerson-"

"That's not even a name-"

"It's just a guideline to indicate the right people you have to find, and those people will know if you recite these words...to be continued-DAMMIT!"

"Oh what?!" gasped Jerry slapping his cheeks. "Are you serious?!"

"No no wait it's fine!" Termon stood up and pointed to the end of the hall. "They did more renovations down here, I think they added more."

"They better or I'm kicking this entire place down one brick after another."

Heading further in they reached the end of the sanctum, a rectangular room where a stone chest sat in the very centre without any markings upon it. The walls continued with the same inscriptions as Termon scanned their surroundings, noting the structure of the runes with a pensive nod before turning to the stone piece.

"Alright, so, the inscription says the sacred words to activate the hearts are inside that."

"And I'm two-hundred percent sure it's a trap," said Jerry crossing his arms, "soooo how do we do this?"

"Well, luckily I also learned how to disarm Sumerian traps, so if you just back off a bit I'll crack this open."

"Alrighty."

"Heh...gotta admit," the T-rex knelt down beside the stone, "not often I get to be the hero."

"You're a lawyer," reminded Jerry spreading arms, "you're a hero to a lot of people!"

"Awwww that's cute, but I mean like in a real sense."

"I know, I meant that."

"Well," Termon rubbed his fingers along the southeast corner, "there's your public heroes and there's your kind of heroes, that's what I meant."

"Right right but still I don't want you to thin-"

"A-AAAGH!"

"S-SIR!"

The stone casket suddenly sprang open as a black flame burst out of its depths, swarming Termon's body whole as he frantically slapped at his body with an increasing panic.

"A-AAAGH, GET IT OFF, GET OFF ME JERRY!"

"S-SIR HOLD ON!"

Jerry conjured up his own fire before reversing it into his hands, trying to absorb the dark smoulder into his palms but it refused to obey as Termon started screaming.

"J-JERRY, JERRY HELP ME!"

"I'M TRYING DAMMIT IT'S NOT WORKING, I-IT MUST BE SOME KINDA MAGIC FIRE!"

"G-GOD, OH GOD HELP IT'S AAAAAAAAAAARGH!"

The tyrannosaur shrieked even higher as he rolled desperately onto the ground, trying to smother the flames with dirt whilst Jerry took off his cape to furiously beat them to submission. The black fire consumed his cloak, and in turn started devouring Termon's flesh with his screams going higher as his limbs became rigid with anguish. Flesh started to cook and his scales peeled from his bones with snapping musculature that curled up like dying insects.

"JERRY, JERRY PLEASE!"

"N-NOTHING'S WORKING O-OH GOD!"

"J-JERRY, MAKE IT STOP, M-MAKE IT STOOOOOOOOOOOP!"

But he couldn't. He was left to watch in horror as his friend burned to a skeleton, his face trapped with eternal rictus as his bones became wrapped in melted skin, blood bubbling out of his organs to convulse and thicken with a horrid pops in his belly. The fire only stopped when his heart did, his eyes hollow sockets within a black and charred skull staring up at him. Jerry covered his own face, falling to his knees with shock through his legs and dulling sensations in his arms as he shivered with tender sobs over his friend's corpse, gasping and howling in the small ruins with shrieks of horror until he forced himself to look into the contents of the stone box. What he saw made him reel back in greater fear.

"Wh-what...what is this?"

He looked up towards James.

"Help me."

His hand reached out to him.

"P-p-please...help me, M-mary."

The screen turned black and shut itself off. James froze in his seat as he struggled to process the events of the episode with a nervous gulp and shivering breaths that crept cold down his spine. His hands shook as he tried to hold them still and he started to sob in his seat.

"Jim?!" Ashwin heard his weeping and came over quick. "Wot's wrong, wot 'appened?!"

"Th-th-the...J-jerry, Jerry's friend d-died!"

"Wait wot?!"

"O-on the t-teevee, h-his friend, j-just burned, w-went up a-a-and h-he couldn't s-save hiiiiiiiim!"

"Awwww mate."

Ashwin hugged him close as James cried into his shoulder, gently wrapping his trunk around his neck and squeezing him carefully with tears stained on his shirt.

The museum trip continued with a long wandering towards the natural history exhibits where replicas of ferals stood proudly in eternal solitude. Bears stood towering over herds of deer whilst lions hunted zebras and wolves roved in packs. Serpents crept along branches above gators and elephants dominated the room with their prodigious size taking up a third of the hallway's width. There were also recreations of dinosaurs, such as a tyrannosaurus rex taking on a stygimoloch, or a group of velociraptors hunting a triceratops which surprised the children for how small the raptors' fossils were, putting them at the size of feral dogs which made James even more insecure as he hugged close to Ashwin. By the time the sun was starting to set they made their way home back to the hired bus with assignments from Ms. Smedley to write about what excited them the most about the museum, or what was the most interesting thing they learned.

James could hardly remember any of the trip, shaken to his core as Ashwin kept watch over him until their future plans commenced sometime next month. Rainclouds and autumn storms filled the skies outside their room and burned through the streets, sparking shots that crackled and boomed with deafening ferocity all whilst the days kept passing by as he would fall asleep, then reopen his eyes to find himself in another time and another place.

"Haaaappy birthday mate!"

"Wh-huh?!"

Ashwin sat down to him on a bench and presented a small store-bought cake in a purple box.

"Don' tell me ya forgot yer own birthday mate."

"N-noooo, I just...mmmmaybe I did."

"Well, here you are, bought it yesterday when you weren't lookin', eat up!"

"W-wait, is this like ALL for me?!"

"Oi mean we can share it if ya loik but sure!"

"Wow, th-thanks Ash!"

He smiled with a blush as he opened the box to see a cheap chocolate cake, squealing quietly in joy as he briefly considered using his hands before Ashwin offered a plastic fork. They shared the cake together in a small park where swings and roundabouts sat forlorn without the sounds of children in merriment to enjoy them, the air turning cold with increasingly damp moisture filling their nostrils. Both of them were now forced into wearing coats that were slightly too large and hung awkwardly against their shoulders like wearing their father's suits. September autumn brought its leaves upon their heads, whistling in spirals down to the earth that became pastels of orange like an impressionist painting, the wind ruffling the hem of their coats as they split the cake in half and devoured it within minutes to the last crumb.

"So," Ashwin clapped his hands of cake dust, "we ghost-huntin' today."

"Yep," James sucked his claws, "I think I'm ready."

"Well yeah, yer eight now, you got bigger, smarter, braver."

"Yeah you think?"

"Oh yeah you got loik a few extra inches on ya now, even got sum more muscle on ya." The raptor giggled when Ashwin grabbed his arms and squeezed them. "Yeaaaah lookit that big boy, ain' no one gonna mess with ya."

"Y-yeah, YEAH, s-so where we going?!"

"Back up to Grenfell, down to the ol' sewer system that's up there, s'a li'l different from the one up at Ema's place. Now this is gonna be a sneaking mission, so you know wot that means."

"Whut?"

"Toime to start our operation."

Ashwin brought out from his bag a small make-up kit and gently started to brush at the raptor's face. The world started to change around them as their minds ran on into fantasy, the sound of helicopters whirring above and the crisp autumn leaves replaced by a sweltering jungle. The elephant captain stood over a map on a table, the raptor sergeant suited up with black lines covering his face.

"At fourteen-hundred hours we land 'ere," Ashwin pointed to a clearing with his voice much more adult, "the ghosts don' have this spot covered owing after our previous op shortened their supplies."

"Weapons free?" asked the raptor equally-adult.

"Best to keep it minimal fire, we don' have many weapons against them, but we got a few an' they don't have much ammunition so only when it's necessary. We take this route, land in the ol' Grenfell region then make our way round this street. Watch fer patrols, don't engage, our target is the inner sanctum roigh' ere."

He tapped at a nondescript location in the midst of several alleys, whilst James brought out a sawn-off shotgun from his belt.

"Lucky I came prepared huh?"

"Wossat there?"

"My special anti-ghost shotgun," he clicked it on with the sound of a flashlight causing a sudden beam of light to shoot off, "made by the top researchers to take 'em on!"

"Uhhhh, not sure if a shotgun's the most discreet manner sergeant."

"UHHH, it's a SILENT shotgun, captain."

"Pfffft, hah, alrigh' then, now, our target is the Gruesome." Ashwin put up a photo of a mysterious blurry monster. "Second-in-command of the ghost army, we take 'em down, we can access the ol' Museum headquarters."

"Got it."

"This'll be yer first outing sarge," Ashwin patted his shoulder, "you sure you up fer this?"

"Y-yeah, I am captain," James saluted before they bumped elbows with each other, "sup!"

"Sup! Roigh', let's move out."

They hopped onto a plane which sounded suspiciously like a bus, droning over the jungle scene as they looked out the windows whilst a faceless group of passengers muttered to themselves of other operations. Palm trees were slowly replaced by old crumbling buildings, shadows of the past, scorched in desolation as they saw fleeting lights and will-o-wisps flicker between them. The plane stopped with gasping air brakes as the boys quickly moved out, jumping off the step in slow motion with a whooshing sound in their ears as they descended to the hard earth, yanking a cord as they parachuted even slower to terra firma. Landing on the street, Ashwin pulled up his rifle which charged up its anti-ghost beam in preparation before he motioned the raptor forwards.

Through the streets of Not-London they went, carefully navigating round corners with Ashwin on point keeping his rifle trained. At one point he stopped with a silent signal, seeing something brush past their vision. An errant ghost drifting off its patrol route making James freeze up, but the sergeant motioned him silence before pulling out a large military knife, almost 18 inches of solid steel before he rushed forwards and made a gutting thrust through its phantasmal core.

"Woah," gasped James.

"Anti-phantom blade," Ashwin murmured, "never leave 'ome without it."

The creature faded as the elephant wiped his blade clean of ectoplasm, clacking it onto a wall with the sound of a wooden stick before they moved on to the next outpost. The rumbling of tanks, ghost tanks that is, filled their ears as the smell of battle came through their nostrils, which they imagined smelt like fire and ash as the wisping smoke wreathed above their heads. Giant spectral beasts grinded and shuddered almost alive with creeping faces of jagged teeth along their sides and long hardened snouts that pulsed with spectral energy. Choppers crisscrossed in the sky as both sergeant and captain sneaked through the streets, ducking low and underneath abandoned store fronts keeping wary of the sinister guards who floated past.

"On yer six," muttered Ash, "got two of 'em up 'ere."

"You take the left, I'll take the right," said James.

"Noice."

They bopped elbows with a quiet "sup!" before engaging with the enemy. James flanked right with his sawn-off in hand, waiting for Ashwin's signal from the other side of the alley before they rushed the phantoms at once. They never saw it coming, not even through each other's selves as the captain swiftly stabbed through the spectral core, silencing the guard as the sergeant immediately followed with a soundless shotgun blast to the face. The guard couldn't scream without a face as both spirits melted away and the two quickly rushed over to their target destination. A sewer grate left unguarded in the back region, to which Ashwin pulled out his T-shaped tool from his bag and quickly pulled it open.

"Alrigh', we're in, let's go."

Climbing down into the depths of the fortress, Ashwin clicked on his flashlight and held it by the trunk with James behind, both gripping their weapons tight as they scoured the length of the subterranean passage, the walls slick with ectoplasm that dripped grossly down upon their heads. The sewage slushed around their feet at a shallow depth causing them both to grimace as they breathed through their mouths with a steady pace. Gates were left open, sometimes rusted fully to the point that Ashwin only had to twist and wrench the bars from their moorings as they stepped through.

"No guards down 'ere," said Ashwin, "we got lucky on the routine."

"Ugh, are all ghosts this filthy?" muttered James.

"Belay that talk," warned his captain, "don't judge every ghost the same way, we're here just to engage the one group."

"Wait are there like ghost...people, not soldiers here?"

"Not 'ere no, but we don't bother with them, they're safe up in the villages way away from us."

"That's good," James nodded sweeping his gun over every wall, "what do we do if we find this Gruesome?"

"Kill 'im," the elephant tightened his arms, "he's taken too many round 'ere, we 'ave our orders."

"R-right."

"Shh...you 'ear that?"

There was a sound from afar down a particular passage, a narrow corridor that jutted off from the main channel where stone became replaced with steel. A woman's voice, calling to them with a strange song that sent shivers up their throats and caused them to clutch each other tight as the song echoed even farther to a tragic widow's melody.

"Wh-wh-whuh...wh-whussat?!"

"O-oi dunno," muttered Ashwin, "th-there really is a ghost down 'ere?!"

"You didn't think there was?!"

"N-no, well, no yeah but, uh...n-never moind we're on a ghost hunt yeah, so let's hunt it!"

"U-u-uhhhh-"

"Jim, focus!" Ashwin grabbed his shoulders and stared down at him. "This is the moment of truth, we're gonna foind this ghost, we'll beat its arse down an' THEN we take on that strange museum thing."

"R-right," James nodded gulping, "but, you believe me right?"

"W-well...oi-"

"You believe me, RIGHT Ashwin?!"

"C-course oi do! Course, yeah!"

"Good...okay." The raptor stepped forwards with his hard wooden stick held like a gun. "Let's do it."

They approached the hidden corridor and snuck through, the narrow passage forcing them to move single file as they came closer with weapons ready. The voice turned louder, the song became more clear as they heard other sounds rippling through, a low deep strumming and an odd whistling pitch that turned distorted to become almost satanic. James felt his legs turn weak, but Ashwin pushed him onwards as the moist walls grinded against their bodies with increasing discomfort. The passage soon opened up into a small room of pitch blackness as they braced themselves in waiting, watching for the spirit. A shadow passed around the rim of the light as James readied himself to leap.

"YAAAAAAAAGH!"

"COME AN' GET IT YAAARGH!"

Rushing into the dark they swung as hard as they could but found nothing in front of them. The shadow was gone briefly, but they felt someone's presence still.

"I-i know yer there!" cried James. "C-come on out, y-you don' scare me!"

"And if I don't?" asked the woman's voice from the void.

"Th-then I'm gonna, f-fight you, I-i ain't afraid of no ghost!"

"Ghost?! Hmhmhahaha, well now I heard my music was haunting but never I been called a ghost."

"H-huh?! Wait, wh-who are you?"

"K.K. get the light."

With flash from above they were blinded briefly when the thunk of a switch dropped like a leaden weight as the room revealed itself. An abandoned maintenance section with one wall completely covered with a green console rusted with diodes and meters, the remnants of a collapsed wall on the opposite side showing a slope of rubble that formed a natural seat upon which sat a dog with white fur holding a guitar that smiled at them patiently. Standing to the side of him was a female raptor with green eyes dressed in long purple robes that swayed with every movement.

"WH-whuh?!" Ashwin stuttered. "Who're you?!"

"Oh good," said the raptor, "they don't recognise us, makes this easier."

"Sh-should we know you?"

"Are you like criminals?!" gasped James. "You hidin' from the police?!"

"Hahahaha noooo no," she waved her hand with a smile, "we're just two people having a nice little sesh where no one can bother us."

"Least that's whut we thought," said the dog with a southern drawl, "you boys ain' s'posed to be down here."

"Neither are you," said Ashwin crossing his arms, "you gonna tattle on us, bit stupid that mate."

"Heh, guess we all in the same boat huh. Well I don' mind much, long as you don' intrude upon our music."

"Wait...music?" The elephant clicked his fingers. "Ohhhh shit oi know yous two now, yer uh, yer uh, th-that, god whut wuz it, Jim remember the posters we put up back in spring?"

"Uhhhh yyyyeaaah?" the raptor tilted his head.

"Well, one o' yous is named K.K. sooo...AH, Reiki, that wuz it, you're that DJ duo we saw posters of!"

"Well it seems the cat's out of the bag," said the lady shrugging, "you got us. Don't seem that familiar with us though."

"Mmmmnope," said James rocking on his heels, "I kinda remember the posters but nammuch else."

"Damn," K.K. clicked his fingers, "an' I thought we had the under-tens crowd."

"Oi'm thirteen," said Ashwin pointing at himself.

"Well that makes you even more important an audience, considerin' that one's music tastes become more formalised during their teenage years."

"Wait, wot? Wot you mean?"

"First, what are you two doing here?" the lady asked with a hand on her hip. "I'm Reiki and that's K.K. by the way."

"Hi, I'm James," he waved, "and this is Ashwin, we're huntin' ghosts!"

"Hmhmhmmmm that's right, you said you were when you came bursting in, have you found any yet?"

"Nah-uh, well, I think I saw one at the museum."

"You think?" She cocked her head with a small wink. "You having doubts already on your burgeoning career?"

"N-nooo, I just...no, no I definitely saw it!"

"We came down 'ere to practice," said Ashwin patting his shoulder, "didn' mean to break in on your music thing, we'll leave if ya want."

"No no that's fine," Reiki waved softly with a sweep of her sleeve, "it's nice to have a little private audience for our music right K.K.?"

"Sure is," said the dog with a pluck of the string, "back where I came from I used to play to crowds numbering in single digits."

"It takes a village right?" she winked at him as he rolled his eyes. "Anyways, it's good we have kids like you trying to keep the peace."

"Don' patronise us," sneered Ashwin, "yuk it up all you want, we got years left 'til we're old an' miserable."

"The way you talk you sound like you already started," she dipped a finger on his head as he smacked it away with his trunk, "seriously why not sit here and listen for a bit? You can be our focus group."

"S-sure!" James grinned swishing his hands behind his back. "I-i never heard your songs before miss Reiki."

"Well that's good," she bent down towards him almost touching his snout, "means you won't be biased and you can give me an honest answer."

"Not like those fat cats upstairs," scoffed K.K. sitting up straight, "alright you wanna lead Rei?"

The raptor nodded as she stepped into the light, imagining herself upon a stage as she began with a soft dah-dah to test her voice. A cadence for an intro, before the dog started to strum and begin the song proper. James sat himself down and watched her, whilst Ashwin kept standing with crossed arms and a suspicious look whilst the songstress danced lightly, taking a tender step as her voice carried through the underground.

"In this caaaaaaage made of silicon

I hear your voiiiiice, calling like a siren

And I am fiiiiiilled with such intense desire

And I knoooow, I don't belong here

From my liiiiiines you would never know

But in my liiips, is all the evidence

Of what I loooong for, but I cannot say

And I know what, I deciiiided

This I choooooose

Ohhhhh I knooooow

Iiiiii caaaannot deny

My truuuuue calling deep insiiide

Iiiiii don't have the time

For a silver medal priiiiize."

She danced around the edge of the light, vocalising softer as the dog continued to play his music with a gentler vibrato by only the tips of his fingers to match her strength. She stepped ever closer towards James, twirling her dress with a flourish of lavender that brushed across his cheek and caught him by surprise giving a soft scent that tugged at him. With every step she took to him, her voice became stronger once again and somehow James could hear a second voice calling out from within her heart. A voice he knew, one that touched his heart in turn with soft fingers invisible yet warm that caused him to ache. She rose to a crescendo and it was then he reached out in turn, so badly he wanted her to hold him, hug him, cradle his head as their eyes became mirrors to each other, tears softly glimmering from green as her hands stretched out almost touching his face. She slipped back as her face reflected his with a longing James had never felt until this moment. Homesick. Homeless.

"With your smiiiiiile you can tease me now

But just one glimpse, will never be enough

For a tiny chance, would I throw it all away?

'Cause only one thing ever matters

Iiiiii caaaannot deny

My truuuuue calling deep insiiide

Iiiiii don't have the time

For a silver medal priiiiize

Iiiiii can't let it die

My truuuuue calling lives insiiide

Iiiii'm not satisfied

With a consolation priiiiize."

The song soon ended, a last refrain of her voice to peter out to the final notes as James slumped back in a daze against the wall, his eyes wet and his throat dry to a husk as Ashwin knelt beside him.

"Ey...you alrigh'?"

"U-uhh...I-i-i don't...know."

"Was it good?" asked Reiki wiping her tears. "Sorry I do tend to get a bit emotional, just part of the process you know."

"I...I-i liked it." James stood up with his friend's help. "I-it wuz...really sad, but kinda warm inside too like, like it's all gonna be okay but it's still making me sad. N-not like a bad sad, more like a...a...a-a good sad."

"Yeah it wuz pretty alrigh'," said Ashwin, "wouldn't listen to it much but yeah it's pretty good, you got a great voice fer it."

"Thank you," the raptoress bowed deep, "that means so much to me hearing your feedback, it's surprisingly hard to find real honest people these days."

"We get a lotta suck-ups," said K.K. tuning his strings, "you wouldn't think so considering we're trying to keep indie, but it happens."

"Sooo there's no ghosts here?" asked the young raptor.

"Not that I can see," Reiki shrugged with a smirk, "but I do have something nice for you since you helped me."

She walked forwards with a hand in her sleeve, to which Ashwin quickly stood in front of James with his stick on hand to brace for any tricks. The songstress pulled out two thin slips of laminated paper and offered them to the youths.

"Here, two tickets for my concert coming up this winter."

"Awwww sick!" James eagerly grabbed them and gave one to Ashwin. "Wooow thanks miss Reiki!"

"Yeaaah uh thanks," the elephant peered with squint over the font, "seems legit."

"I never been to a concert, c-can we go Ashwin, can we, pleaaaase!?"

"Ehhhhh...foine."

"YESSS!" He danced with a kick to his heels. "It's gonna be AWESOME, it's gonna be loud a-and cool an-"

"And those are VIP tickets," said Reiki patting his head, "so you'll get backstage access and not have to deal with the crowd."

"Cool th-thanks!"

"Yeah pretty neat miss thanks," Ashwin started pulling James gently towards the exit, "well it's been fun listenin' to ya but we gotta go practice, yanno, ghost huntin' an' such."

"Alrighty then!" she waved them off with a full toothy grin. "Hope to see you soon, take care boys!"

"Watch out fer ghosts!" said K.K. waving in turn. "Don' trust your eyes now ya hear?"

Slipping back out through the tight hall they headed back topside into the region of Kensington and Chelsea, surrounded by tower blocks and ethnic shops with a few eyes staring towards them as they clambered from the sewer grate.

"Do you really wanna go to this concert?" Ashwin asked.

"Well YEAH," cried James, "it's like, lotsa music an' dancing, a-a-and we don't even have to PAY!"

"Yeaaaah but, you really shouldn't be takin' gifts from grown-ups you don't know."

"Whuuut?"

"Just sayin' Jim she coulda been a fiddler, lucky fer you oi'm around to make sure nobody gets up to any funny stuff."

"She wuz nice Ash, don't be a dick!"

"Lissen oi seen a lotta types on the street, just don't be so trustin' to every grownup you meet."

"Fiiiiine, but I'm still going to the concert!"

"Yeah cuz oi'm goin' with you to make sure nuthin' happens."

"Yer not my dad!"

"No but I am your friend." The elephant gently gripped James' shoulders with a firm look. "You know oi care about you, oi just don' want sumbody takin' advantage of you."

"I'm fiiiiine Ashwin," he tried to shake him off, "when'd you turn into such a wiener?!"

"Since you started hearin' voices an' such, oi'm worried about you."

"Well, so what we're gonna beat up a ghost aren't we?!"

"...yeah." He sighed and rubbed his head. "Yeah we are, let's go get prepped then."

Heading back to the orphanage they set up their plans for the coming end of autumn as the winds turned cooler and the nights became longer bit by bit. Slowly the streets turned more busy as decorations filled the air with a colourful pastiche of fall, black and orange and purple and green draped over every surface, lights multiplying by the dozen to stretch over streets and household porches where pumpkins started appearing suddenly without warning, both artificial and real with delightful little candles flickering inside. Drinks were suddenly being bought by the crate and party supplies were sold in ghoulish colours that dared to rival the trees slowly shedding their cloaks of auburn. Sinister music began to lull over the streets of London, as the night grew on towards October 31st. The day that demons would come to haunt the city with masks and capes and uniform disguises.

A pack of wolves came out dressed in vampire cloaks with fiendish cackles and tremendous sweeps of the cloth; humans with various pieces of flesh and drooping limbs shuffled between snarling limps and regular walks between places; reptiles wore facepaint and a variety of frighteningly normal outfits with "bloodied" weapons firmly grasped for the next victim; Frankensteinian aberrations formed from different-coloured parts of horses shuffled with bolted necks; and many other monstrosities came from plastic-winged dragons to revived historical figures both human and anthro worn by the other. The streets became filled after 5pm as children went trick-or-treating, running from house to house with buckets ready to receive candy with an older unwilling sitter or relation who barely made efforts to mask themselves in the ambience of Hallows Eve. But in the midst of this cavalcade macabre was a young skeleton raptor and an elephant with a hunched back.

"Lookin' gooood mate," said the pachyderm looking at James.

"How'd you even find something that fit me?!" cried the raptor in black-and-bones.

"Well oi called in a few favours yanno...there," Ashwin fixed on a fake plate to add thick lumps to his temple, "howzat look?"

"Huuhuuwow, you look ugly!"

"EY-EY, no need fer that, oi'm just different from the rest!"

"Your butt don't look that different from your face, Asswind."

"Keep that up an' oi'll stick yer tail up yer arse mister twattosaurus rex."

"Heeheesnrrk!"

The orphanage was naturally full of ghoulish children who had scraped together costumes by a mix of ingenuity and earning profit, showing a veritable horde of enfants terrible that would terrorise the streets and plunder it all of its sweet lucrative treats. Some of the carers had gotten in the mood of festivities, but not all such as Ms. Smedley who remained in her blue suit, but those like Kaplowitz and Okowengo were in full force with the badger wearing a mad doctor's clothes, and the cheetah in a full-on witch costume with pointed hat and slim black dress.

"Well well look at the gruesome twosome."

"Hiii miss," James waved with a smirk, "I like yer costume!"

"Thank you James, I love yours too!"

"Even if you have more bones in your actual body than the costume shows," said Kaplowitz smirking as he pushed his glasses.

"He lost some of 'em," said Ashwin shrugging, "had to make do with wot bones oi 'ad to make 'im!"

"Ahhhh I see you are a necromancer yes?"

"Uh...no, hunchback of Notre Dame?" he pointed at his growth. "Thought you knew about that at least Mr. Kaplowitz."

"Hmhmhah of course I knew I was being facetious," the badger nodded with a click of his boots, "I was wondering who had stolen the raptor bones from my lab where I could perform a great resurrection of my most fearsome beast."

"Uhhhh..." the elephant shuffled back, "are you doing a bit cuz oi dunno wot we're doing."

"Hhhahahaha, sorry sorry, I do tend to get into my role a little too deep."

"A little?" Ms. Okowengo reeled. "This from the bloke who was practicing his evil laugh in the teacher's lounge."

"I was remembering a very particular joke I TOLD you Miriam!"

"Your name's MIRIAM?!" cried James dropping his jaw.

"Um, yes it would be," she shrugged sweeping her hands, "what else would I have for a first name?"

"You have a FIRST name, I-i thought teachers were just Miss or Mister!"

"PFFFT, hmhmhahaha, ohoh god James you are a peach." She bent down to pinch his cheek. "Could just eat you up in my children's stew!"

"EEEEH nooooo I don' wanna be sooouuup!" the raptor batted her back playfully.

"So wot you all up to tonigh'?" asked the humpbacked elephant sucking his trunk. "Got any parties yer off to?"

"Weelll we do have one in the lounge," said Kaplowitz scratching his chin, "just a little meet-and-greet, regaling with some tonics of debauchery I procured."

"Also known as the off-licence," said Okowengo nodding, "but that's nothing to do with you."

"Nope it ain't," Ashwin saluted with his trunk, "cuz we got our own plans tonigh' don' we Jim?"

"Y-yeah, but issa secret!" James shushed with finger to his lips. "We can't tell ya!"

"Well as long as you both stay out of trouble," the badger waved his finger, "the most terrible children receive a visit from Krampus, who just so happens to work in my laboratory."

"Your jokes are makin' me krampus," said Ash rolling his eyes, "anyways, llllater!"

"Later!"

James swished off past them and followed Ashwin out of the orphanage, slipping through the fence door and back out onto the street as they passed through the sea of monsters. Mummies shuffled around with toilet paper wrapped round themselves, humans dressed as werewolves having a fight with canines dressed as vampires whilst an equine anime cosplayer was frantically trying to call peace between them. The boys decided not to take the bus, instead hopping onto a pair of box-carts they had stashed away in the empty lot where their mannequin punching bag resided. The box-carts had been fashioned together from old aluminium plates and bikes into a crude homunculus of a vehicle, a poor man's imitation of motorcycles as they "revved" up in excitement making engine sounds with their mouths.

They imagined a post-apocalyptic setting where the sunset burned across the rooftops, a gasping desert wind howled through their ears as they rolled their sleek silver machines out onto the pavements where dust and papers scattered around their feet. The sounds of shrieking phantoms could be heard in the distance amidst crumbling buildings and weapons firing off like little lights of destruction.

"This is it," said Ashwin, "we go in fast an' no one'll stop us."

"Right," said James pumping the gas, "you know how to get in?"

"Yeah, we got the intel from the sewers," Ashwin tapped his trunk, "don' worry mate, fortress is scoped out, the museum'll be ours."

"Raaad those ghosts are gonna get it!"

"Let's do it Jim!"

The motors screamed as they tore off down the street, ignoring the fact they were pedalling rather than burning fuel as they whizzed into the desolate ruins of another London. Bending their heads low they twisted their handles and went faster, blind to the citizens that looked on with a smirk and shake of their heads at the two rascals vrooming and screeching whilst they swerved around parked vehicles and the odd crossing pedestrian. James focused with eyes tightening and a forward lean as he sped up faster, catching up to Ashwin as they raced alongside each other with a fist bump. Screeching round the corners their bike lights left trails of red behind them, heading to the north with the crumbling towers in the distance. The sound of its bell broke through their imaginings and somewhat alerted James.

"Wh-what's that, is that the patrol?!"

"They're closing up," said Ashwin over the drone of their machines, "perfect toime to get in whilst they're changin' the guard-"

"Wait, ENEMIES!"

"Wot?!"

"Coming up on my six!"

The sound of other vehicles came close with a rumbling that shook beneath their wheels.

"Get yer weapons ready," murmured Ashwin pulling out his knife, "keep yer heads low, we got ghost camo but if it don't work be ready to go."

"Right," James patted his shotgun holstered in his leg, "here they come!"

A large transport came thundering past their sides as they kept close against their bikes, tightening their bodies with weapons ready in their hands before it roared past them undeterred much to their relief. Ashwin gave a wink to James as they kept on, skirting through alleyways big enough to allow them passage as they weaved through phantom checkpoints, dodging around the larger junctions to avoid potential traffic and possible citizens of the ghost city that could report them for trespassing.

"Bridge is comin' up!" warned Ashwin. "Better go under!"

"Wait, under?!" cried James.

"Too open an' exposed, just follow me!"

Screeching off towards the embankment of the Thames, Ashwin led James into a sewer passage that was a straight shot to the other side beneath the foetid river that split the city. Their lights shone in front as the abandoned tunnel gave ample room for them to shriek through as they revved their engines harder until almost burning their ears with the intensity.

"How'd you find this place?!" cried the raptor.

"Oi do a lotta jobs Jim!" the elephant replied. "Gives me plenty o' room to know every which way out o' this fuckin' city!"

"You gotta show me more of these places!"

"Well, you'll hafta know them either way if you wanna survive."

Ashwin smirked looking over at him as they soon reached the exit, bursting through the remains of a construction site and ramping up onto the central street. They turned a fast corner sharply before a roundabout seeing the Buckingham Memorial staring down upon them, the raptor flipping a finger to their imposing faces as they went charging towards the old museum, snaking through corridors and old arcades less populated until they finally reached their destination. They gently parked into a dark corner of the museum's external facade that loomed darkly above them.

"Alrigh', serious toime Jim."

"Right," James stepped off his box-cart bike and shook himself ready, "So how're we gettin' in?"

"With that."

Ashwin pointed towards a service door with a scanner on its front as he pulled out a cheap-looking toy of some space marine dragon with a circular stand upon which a barcode had been printed. The door surprisingly beeped open as it scanned the toy and Ashwin let his friend through.

"W-wait, what?" James scritched his head.

"Lebedev doors," Ashwin knocked on the steel frame, "they read these things called RFIDs an' a lotta stuff uses them nowadays an' normally the code to get in's only on a special keycard. Buuuut then Ms. Vanderlik told me that a certain model of Dracalaxians got the same code on it."

"Seriously?! How'd she know that?!"

"She said when she worked in an 'otel in Johannesburg they chose not to use these koinda doors cuz of that issue, since Dracalaxians are loike SUPER popular down there."

"Wooooow...yer like a super hacker!"

"Naaaah just a security gap, nuthin' fancy."

The hunchback and the skeleton stepped inside the English Museum as the door locked behind them. Darkness overwhelmed them before Ashwin turned on his light and put a dimmer setting on so its beam wouldn't reach out across the room, starting in an old maintenance hallway that was cluttered with shelves of cleaning fluid and scrubbing mops. He walked ahead of James keeping his ears out for any footsteps as they entered the African history exhibit, wall to wall with illustrious masks and gorgeous fabrics that blended ancient colours with modern geometry beneath photos of establishing pioneers and colonialist appropriators. James turned his head from the facial effigies of wood and steel, their eyes judging him with a deep dismay from their hollow sockets as Ashwin led him past the glass labyrinth from continent to continent of a summarised history of the world. Taking a left at the independence of Ethiopia, they skirted round the militarisation of Manchuria where bullets and old garments hung on display, past the destruction of what was now called the Gaza Rift showing seismological data of its complete and total collapse into a canyon. Through the Americas they went, stretching from the Falkland Uprising with its bloodied flag to the Peruvian Ascension where a Neo-Incan empire rose by a wave of dissolute anthros appropriating old ruins to become newer cities. Then came the Antarctic Assemblage where a new country of polar-acclimatised anthros and humans had settled themselves as an autonomous nation that fought for recognition of independence, their flag curiously modelled after what once had been the old pre-war Olympics flag of five rings now locked inside the south polar landmass.

"You alrigh' there Jim?" asked Ashwin.

"Y-yeah," whispered James, "this place is super creepy."

"S'why ghosts love it, wouldn't you wanna creep people out when yer dead?"

"I-i guess...what's that?"

"Shh."

Footsteps came as Ashwin turned off his light, looking ahead towards the central hall where a guard was making her rounds with an industrial flashlight that burned its gaze into each wall. The elephant pulled James back against a display of American currencies, questions on placards concerning the symbology of the eye in the pyramid on the backs of each dollar bill. The guard moved on taking a full circle round the hall entrance, before slowly heading towards their location as Ashwin quickly doubled back with the raptor to hide behind a scale model of Anne-Marie Yashere's personal riverboat, The Silver Asp. The guard walked on by taking a loop through the continental histories as the two intruders sneaked past into the open hall and headed towards the World War exhibits. The scenes of massacre became much more frightening in the dark as human faces twisted with fear and savagery, the light from Ashwin's torch sending shadows across their deathly complexions that aged them even further into the past.

"Hey, Ash?"

"Yeah Jim?"

"How come there were only four world wars an' not like, six-seventy more when we came along?"

"Well lessee," he tapped his chin with his trunk, "first we 'ad no nuclear weapons left, then we 'ad no money 'til that Anne-Marie lady came round and put money back in the world."

"How'd she do that," James scratched his skull, "don't you just make money?"

"Oi dunno mate oi'm not a fuckin' economist. Don' help we didn't get any communications 'til loik 2498, did you not listen during the tour?"

"Ummm, noooo?"

"God yer a twat, oi mean oi know we broke into a museum to hunt fer ghosts but you could loik pay attention to stuff."

"I don' NEED to know boring dead people history-EEP!"

The raptor threw his arms and nearly knocked over a mannequin of a fleeing child as Ashwin thumped his head.

"If ya knew about this stuff yerself you wouldn' hafta keep askin' me."

"Yeah but yer an elephant, you remember stuff that's what ya do!"

"Oi'm not yer fuckin' wiki mate! Anyways, we didn' 'ave more world wars cuz we're too poor to 'ave 'em, there."

"Oh okay..." James sucked his lips as Ashwin tensed his fingers. "But, you could just MAKE money-"

"OHHHH fer fuck's sake Jim let's just kill this ghost an' be done with it!"

"Okayyyy fiiiiiine!"

The raptor put up his boney fingers with a careful sarcastic wave as they passed by the Three Saviours. Hansel, Alberto and Anne-Marie stared down upon them like Egyptian gods judging them for their trespass into the ancient world, with Noriega guarding the inner sanctum of Pangaeist faith. James looked upon the mystic sitting within the graves of his ancestors, a strange expression on his face that made the raptor pause.

"Hey uh...does this guy look weird to you?"

"Wotcha mean?" Ashwin shifted his hump with a twist of his shoulders.

"Just like...wuz he like lookin' down or starin' at me?"

"Maybe if ya paid attention on the tour you'd know."

"Uuuuugh fiiine whatever."

They walked past Noriega's model and into the depths of the forbidden exhibit. Ashwin gripped his torch like a club as James took his other hand tightly, shivering slightly from the odd cold that swept through the place as the light cast across the unseen exhibits. The history of the religion was detailed with a surprising vivacity, showing the massacre of Alberto's village at the hands of a feline horde that gunned down raptors, a horrific scene that made James clench in his stomach with Noriega limping through the jungle, gasping and half-naked, sobbing as a wretched beast whilst placards took excerpts from his diary translated from Latin-American Spanish.

January 7th, 2227

If someone finds this, please hear my story. My name is Alberto Noriega Iglesias Morales Vidal Luna Otero Reyes Mortensen. My mother was Consuela Iglesias Vidal Otero Mortensen Quiroga Ponce. My father was Jaime Noriega Morales Luna Reyes Sugitani. I don't expect to survive past this year, not after what the Rascano had done to my village. Everyone I knew is dead, the hatred of our neighbours overwhelmed their senses as they slaughtered us.

They have always despised us, called us filthy vermin and fossilised mistakes. They told us they would burn our bones to ashes so we could never be brought back again. I must keep moving, but I must also keep a record, for the sake of my family and our village to not be erased. To prove their hatred wrong by not allowing it to succeed in their cleansing.

A part of me desires revenge, wanting to clear the monsters from my village with the hunting skills my mother taught me. But what would that achieve? I would still be alone without my family, I would still be the only one left in a house without its name, even if I were able to slay them all. I must leave everything behind, they have not followed me believing their crusade was successful. It is a cruel fortune. The other part of me wishes they had found me.

"Wow," murmured Ashwin staring on the brutal pastiche, "that fuckin' sucks."

"Yeaaaah jeez," James fiddled with his claws, "this is kinda not as fun as I thought it wuz."

"But educational."

"That's even WORSE!"

"Well it's good to know where you came from roigh'?" the elephant shrugged.

"Yeah but I'm not a pan-guyist," shrugged James harder, "this guy's nothing to do with me."

"Well still no sign of yer ghost, maybe it really wuz just sum cleaner or yanno-"

"No no no, I SWEAR it wuz someone that don't belong there, i-it looked too weird, like a shadow!"

"Alrigh', let's keep lookin' then."

They moved further through the exhibit, showing Noriega's journey as a starved bedraggled beast stumbling through the jungle whilst his records were on display. Then it came to a wall that fascinated James, showing the prophet standing in a valley surrounded by fossils that dwarfed him immeasurably.

February 12th, 2227

I had a dream two days ago. Whether it was the starvation or the lack of fresh water, I do not know what caused it. But I heard a voice, beseeching me to follow it to the valley beneath. I saw a cavern, and when I awoke, I followed the direction of certain trees that the dream had noted to me and I found a cave exactly like it. Was I dreaming of a prophecy, or was my mind so wracked with dehydration that my memory confused the sequence of events?

The dream regardless led me to a valley within the cave, filled with the ancient fossils of my ancestors trapped within the walls like a tapestry wreathed in stone. There is water here, and plants and creatures that still roam around the length of the little valley. I saw velociraptors chasing their prey, I saw a triceratops tend to its young, I even found the shells from which they walked from. I felt as if I were sleeping with my mother's bones, and yet for the first time since then, I felt at peace amongst the dead. I felt my ancestors would protect me, keep me safe. And they did.

"So wait," Ashwin scratched his trunk, "he dreamed about a place, then found it?"

"I guess?" James stared at the valley of twisting bones trying to piece each animal. "They ever find like, really old elephant bones?"

"Yeah they're called mammoths, got loik huuuuge big tusks, they look fuckin' awesome, bet they stomped an' gored a few humans back then."

"Humans were around back then?!"

"Oh yeah, been around a long toim, though your people been around fer much longer 'til you all died out fer millions of years."

"Soooo..." the raptor twitched his tail looking around nervously, "w-why did we die out?"

"Wuz a meteor weren't it?" Ashwin walked on. "Cummon mate you must know."

"I don' think we did that in class yet."

"Yeaaah fair enough."

James however stopped at the next display showing Alberto sleeping amongst the bones whilst a ghostly pair of claws caressed his head from an ethereal faceless shape.

March 13th, 2227

The voice came back to me again. Everytime I hear his voice, I question my sanity, but at the same time I am soothed by his presence. He calls himself Cxulubcah, and he tells me that my family are safe in the great lands of Pangaea. I do not know how these words exist, these names, but I start to dream of things that feel so familiar, jungles different to the ones outside, giant saurians that roam in wondrous peace. I remember hunting, my claws stained with blood, my teeth taste like metal.

"It's so hot."

"H-huh?"

"Father, it feels...so hot."

"D-did you hear that?"

"Hear wot?" Ashwin looked back to him.

"S-someone wuz...talkin' again."

"Mate don't do that," he shook his head scowling, "not in the mood fer that."

"I-i'm serious, I heard someone!"

"Wuz it that guard?"

"N-noooo it...s-sounded like a guy."

"Well there ain't no one 'ere but us, now cummon there's not much left 'ere to foind."

"R-right."

To the end of the hall they found another painting, beautifully rendering the spiritual ascension of Alberto Noriega as a forest awakened around him, primal beauty undisturbed as a blinding burning sentient fire swelled above his head, claws outstretching to caress his face with a peaceful song on his lips.

April 9th, 2227

Cxulubcah is close becoming an old friend to me now. Each night I close my eyes praying for his return to bless me with his peaceful wisdom.

"He has become my lullaby."

James turned round quick.

"His fire has become my blanket."

"The water tastes sweeter when I awake from his embrace."

"My senses turn sharper when he is near."

His hands shook as he heard the same voice coming from different directions. The heads of Alberto turned towards him with a tender smile on each, hands slowly lifting to stretch out from the glass like thin plastic, painted pastels of flames wreathed across their arms.

"A-ashwin?! ASHWIN?!"

Darkness poured from every portrait like smoke, wreathing across the floor towards James as he staggered back with fright.

"ASHWIN, A-ASHWIIIIN?!"

A light towards the end of a hall gave him hope as he ran with the fog chasing after his heels, his claws clacking against the floor as he felt panic in his breast rising with a seething sound from behind him. Something was breathing on his neck with thick sulfurous fumes that he dared not look back, the light shining closer and closer as the hallway turned narrower.

"ASHWIN, ASHWIN GH-GHOST, GHOST IS HERE!"

"The dust came and took the sun away."

"A-ASHWIIIIIN!"

Something burst in front of his face. The light exploded into a wall of flame as he tripped and fell forwards into the fire. The world screamed at him with a thousand voices at once.

THE RITUAL

let me out please

THE FIRE CALLS YOU

it burns me

LEARN TO RESPECT ME

i don't want it

YOU HUMILIATED OUR FAMILY

Crackling snarls crept at his skin and began tearing across his cheeks, the world consumed in flames where portraits had become twisted mockeries, raptors crying in anguish from a string of tortures practiced upon them through beatings, carvings, burnings and strangulation all whilst a crowd of shadows looked on with indifference. In the centre of it all was a large skeletal figure with blackened bone looming above James at a height of 9 feet.

BLOOD BECOMES AAAAAASH

The boy screamed and tried to run, stumbling against the unseen torrent of flames as the voices continued to roar and stutter between fury and fear.

why did you even have me

ASH BECOMES LIGHT

did you even want me

STEP INTO THE FIRE

i was always weak

DEATH FOR YOUR COWARDICE

"F-FUCK OOOOFFF!" James brandished his stick with shaking fingers. "S-STAY AWAY, STAY AWAY FROM MEEEEE!"

The skeleton approached, crunching feet that cracked the earth underneath and sent horrid dust bursting free across his face, spittling ash that almost blinded James for the burning sting it gave his eyes. The monster swung with its giant hand as James struck back with a screech, clacking useless against its long claws before the second sweep scratched his chest, scarring deep with wounds that made him cry out in shock and clutch himself with tearful gasps.

"A-ASHWIN, A-ASHWIIIIN H-HELP ME, PLEAAAAAASE!"

h-help me

YOU PATHETIC WASTE

i'm sorry

THE WILL OF CXULUBCAH'S MERCY

i can never escape

CXULUBCAH

cxulubcah

CXULUBCAH

"SHUT UP! SHUT, UUUUUUP!"

He hurled his stick with all his might to crack against the skull of the necrotic beast, the raptor-giant staring down upon him indifferent as it swung once again for his body. James dodged back on his heels stumbling to fall on the floor whilst the paintings began to shiver, their bodies gasping and twitching with agonised screams and blood flensing from the paint that leaked out towards the centre of the burning room. The monstrous fossil stepped into the blood and so it began to form flesh up its ankles causing its body to twitch, arms and legs in a violent fit as its voice groaned with an epileptic scream when it clasped its head. Scales slithered up its bones showing them half-exposed as organs melted into being, a pulsing heart taking the form of another raptor's head that lunged free from its ribs like a serpent skinned in death. James could not stop it, nor predict its strike as its musculaw jaws cracked open with a shriek and lanced straight into his heart. His voice refused to obey, wanting to scream from the anguish of something twisting inside him, crushing bone beneath its deathly spasms like a parasite that contorted through his lungs and crawled up through his throat. He felt its voice take over and command his throat like a skin puppet, its teeth pressing against his own and its jaw resting on his tongue.

"yoU wWwWerRrrRe mY OnLy miStAkE."

James screamed inside his head as tears dripped down his face.

"I c-c-CaN rUiN...yOu. h-HE rUiNeD mE. FffffaMiLy...ruined."

The heart-beast started burning. James felt the fire consume him from inside as the creature sobbed inside his throat, crying out harder as his organs melted with bubbling blood until his skin blackened last. Darkness. His smoke consumed him with his last words not even his own.

"cXuLubCaH. C-cxULuB...cAh."

"JIM, J-JIM WAKE UP, WAKE UP!"

"CXULUBCAH, C-CXULUBCAAAAAH!"

The moment he felt his hands freed he frantically threw himself forwards and blindly thrashed the first thing he felt. Something grabbed him in turn with a firm strength, but his claws raked with desperate screams that echoed through the hall until he was thrown back against the floor.

"WH-WHAT'S GOING ON, WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!"

A second voice burst through his thoughts as the light from her torch burned in his retinas. Burned like the fire itself did.

"_D-DUST, FIRE, FIIIIIIRE AAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAGH! _"

"H-HE NEEDS HELP!"

"What the-WHY ARE YOU EVEN HERE?!"

"JUST 'ELP ME DAMMIT, SUMTHIN'S WRONG WITH HIM!"

" CXULUBCAAAAAAAAH!"

James curled up on the floor screaming into his chest, hunched over to a foetal position as his muscles tightened to almost breaking point as his body shook with a furious tension, his mouth frothing with quickening breaths amongst two voices.

"HOLD HIM DOWN!"

"WOT?!"

"HE NEEDS A SEDATIVE, JUST HELP ME!"

"JIM, JIM S-STOP IT PLEASE, S-STOP IT FOR GOD'S SAKE-A-AAAGH!"

" F-FIRE, FIRE BURN MEEEEE!"

He felt hands grasp at his body that he viciously clawed at in response and felt a few drops of blood stain on his fingers. Something stabbed him deep in his arm, something cold and numbing that in a few minutes made his body unclench to slump against the floor. The fire went out, his breathing became slower as he briefly returned to reality before sleep overtook him. The last thing he saw was Ashwin clutching his own face, with fear in his eyes and blood between his fingers.