Friday, November 4th 8:00 p.m.

The search for Rachel Durant had ground to a screeching halt. Every human being Vergil, Lisa, and Albert could think of had no idea where Rachel had run off to. The enthusiasm that had driven them was starting to wear thin. The gang had worked until the late evening without anything to show for their efforts, and Albert made the astute observation that they'd had nothing to eat since the stale bagels at Vergil's AA meeting.

That's how Vergil and Lisa found themselves sitting across from each other at the Pho King Palace, the place Lisa had taken Vergil on their first date. Albert was lying on Lisa's shoes drifting in and out of consciousness. Vergil hadn't consciously been there since Lisa left. The familiar sights, smells, and sounds reminded him why.

Blinding lights accentuated a garish red decor that coated everything from the wood of the tables to the cheap torn upholstery of the booths. The smell of pho clung to the room like it had long since sunk into the walls. Pho King Palace wouldn't be complete without the King family yelling and arguing in the kitchen like it was rush hour even when the three of them and one family of four were the only patrons that evening.

And the Ghost of Vergil Past

Vergil could almost see the specter of his seventeen year old self sitting across from Lisa, falling in love with her, completely unaware that they were going to be the best times of his life. He wished he could go back to that Vergil and warn him, temper his enthusiasm, so when the harsh reality of life hit, he would be prepared. Past Vergil wouldn't have listened, high on life and young love, the invincibility complex promising him the good times would last forever.

"Those were good times weren't they?" Lisa said.

"Am I that obvious?" Vergil replied. The specter dissipated into the air like a fine mist.

That Vergil is dead, I'm all that remains.

"Lad, the only way your mental state could be more obvious is if a rain cloud were constantly drifting over your head," Albert chimed in.

Lisa met Vergil's eyes and shrugged. The corners of her mouth were tilted downward and her eyes were brimming with sympathy or pity; the two words were synonymous in Vergil's mind.

"Vergil."

He waited for her to continue, but she didn't. The silence gaped between them. In another day, another time Vergil may have had something to say to articulate all the emotions cavorting inside him waiting to break free, but he'd locked them away in a steamer trunk and threw the key into the ocean.

"Why do you hate yourself so much?"

"Look at me. I'm a worthless drunk, stuck in the tar pit that is Lancet Falls, and I'm no good for anyone. It should be obvious," Vergil replied avoiding her eyes.

"That's not what I mean, and you know it."

"I'm not sure I do Lisa, you tell me. Everyone was so sure I'd become something. 'Oh Vergil, you're so smart,' 'Oh Vergil, you can do anything if you set your mind to it,' "Oh Vergil, I can't wait to see what you make of yourself,' Look at me now. What is there to like?"

"You chose this, no one forced you to stay here and mope around pissing your life away."

"We were all supposed to stay here!" Vergil shouted raising his voice, causing heads to turn, "We all promised, every single one of us, to stay and make Lancet Falls great. I thought everyone loved it as much as me, but I guess I was wrong. You, Danny, Luke, and Quinn. We all chose this, but I'm the only one who followed through."

"That pact was made by a bunch of kids that didn't know what they were saying. Kids with a fear of the unknown that wanted to stay young forever, but we grew up. We didn't put our lives on pause for a stupid promise."

"A stupid promise huh? Well it meant something to me, it meant everything to me."

"Is that what you tell yourself? Do you want to know why you really stayed?"

"Enlighten me."

"You stayed because you're so afraid of failure, of letting anyone down, so you let everyone down. The weight of everyone's expectations kept you from trying, because if you didn't try, how could you possibly fail? You can hide behind this pact bullshit, but just know that's what it is, it's high octane bullshit. You could do anything that you set your mind to, but you're so paralyzed with fear and self-loathing you can barely tie your shoes. It's pathetic."

"If that's how you feel, why are you even here?"

"Because I love you, you idiot. Not in the same way, but I'll never stop loving you."

"Why now?"

I had a feeling you needed me, but I've never felt anything so strong in my entire life. I had a dream of you falling, falling into an endless chasm, never reaching the bottom. I shot out of bed, bought a plane ticket, and now I'm here."

Vergil thought about arguing with her some more, try to deny everything she'd accused him of. He wanted to rise up in righteous indignation and stand behind the nobility of honoring his pact, but it wouldn't have been any use. Lisa was right, and he intended to do something about it. The second after he figured out what was going on in Lancet Falls, he was going to go do some real good in the world, use his gift to help as many people as he could.

"I'm glad you're here," Vergil replied, reaching across the table to take her hand in his.

She almost pulled away, but she didn't. Her fingers completed the empty spaces between his, and Vergil felt tears starting to well up. Lisa gave him a reassuring squeeze, and the tears retreated. Vergil smiled, now wasn't a time for sadness.

As if on cue, Jin King strode out of the kitchen with two steaming bowls of pho shattering the moment of intimacy between them. Lisa's hand retreated to her lap as the bowls were slid onto the table.

A new type of tension hung in the air mingling with the weight of their past. They ate their pho silently with the occasional slurp of a noodle to break the silence and Albert complaining about the stench of the place. He said claimed the stench of dead cats was going to make him sick.

When both of their bowls were picked clean, Vergil felt the gears switch, everything was back to business. The emotional catharsis had jogged something loose inside Vergil. He saw the situation in a different light. Despite his half-hearted attempts to find the killer, Vergil had been in a state of inaction. It was time to turn the tables.

◈

The three of them spent the next half hour shopping for an assortment of seemingly random supplies. Purple crepe paper, four high powered flashlights, a tripwire, duct tape, two makeshift net launchers, and a pair of walkie talkies. They needed to get to the men in suits before they could bring anymore of their buddies into Lancet Falls. The Invader's master plan got interrupted the night before, but Vergil couldn't count on lucking out two nights in a row.

Within another hour, they were able to set up a rudimentary trap that with the proper execution could incapacitate The Invaders.

The suited beings seemed like a prudent and mysterious lot, so getting them to come would be the hardest part. Vergil's answer to that was four high powered flashlights duct taped to the four corners of Hampton's roof. The purple crepe paper was fitted over the light that allowed the flashlights to give off an eerie violet glow. Ideally, The Invaders would be drawn to it like a moth to flame, more likely, just to come and investigate. Regardless, Vergil felt like the last thing they wanted was a lot of attention drawn to them. Their actions up to this point had been all cloak and dagger.

Vergil counted on them to enter the building the same way they'd come in the first time, through the Hamptons office. In the opening from the office to the warehouse, they set up a tripwire as low to the ground as possible. On either side of the opening, net launchers had been set up to launch weighted nets to encircle The Invaders long enough for Vergil to pounce on and incapacitate them.

Vergil felt lucky; hunting was such a big industry in Lancet Falls.

As far as Vergil knew, The Invaders didn't know anything about Lisa, so they had Lisa waiting on the roof of a building next door. Vergil told her to look for wonky looking suits or some fresh suits from Hampton's while he and Albert would post up in the middle of the showroom floor with their backs turned to the office door. Vergil hoped they would see he and Albert's exposed backs and use it as an opportunity to pounce, and the Invaders would have to not notice the tripwire.

Too many what ifs, but it's the best I've got.

Vergil swelled with pride at his ability to set up a MacGyver-like contraption on such short notice. Now, all they had to do was wait.

He and Albert passed the time as they always did, arguing about movies. Vergil sat criss-cross applesauce as they argued about the rankings of the six Star Wars movies, and how well the new ones fit into the mix. Albert enjoyed all the new additions to the universe while Vergil felt like the original trilogy were the only films of any relevance. The conversation gobbled up time and went leaps and bounds into calming Vergil's fragile nerves. For better or worse, he felt a conclusion was within reach.

The crackle of Lisa's voice filtered through garbled static announced that two suspicious figures were approaching.

"They're not anyone I recognize," she added.

"Describe them for me."

"I...can't. They're so bland that there's no distinguishing features that stand out."

"That's them," Vergil said.

A determined smile set on his face. His fingers jittered, and he clenched his hands to calm them. The energy the pho had bestowed upon him swirled inside him pleasantly.

Time to prove myself.

Vergil thought he heard the sound of a door opening, and continued his conversation with Albert at a louder volume. The feeling he had the last time he was in this position washed over him. He waited for the the comforting click and whoosh of the net launchers to go off.

A minute dragged by. Nothing. 

He didn't dare risk turning his head now. If the Invaders had stuck around, he might spook them. 

Another minute agonizing minute crawled by. Still nothing.

Vergil debated turning around and charging at them, but decided to wait one more minute. His every muscle was clenched waiting for the perfect moment to spring. The culminating moment was within his grasp.

Click and whoosh. The sound of a door opening.

Vergil turned on his heels and leaped towards the doorway, using enough energy to propel himself fifteen feet across the room. He barreled through the open doorway. There was no one there. No netted figures. Vergil's momentum carried him into the office.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw movement and twisted out of the way of an arm trying to jab something into his neck. He couldn't tell what it was, but he knew he didn't want it to touch him. 

There's two of them.

Vergil dropped to the floor and rolled forward, not a moment too soon. He felt the passing of air over his head as another failed strike drifted overhead. Jumping to his feet, Vergil turned to face his assailants.

Two men stood on opposite sides of the doorway Vergil had just passed through. They each appeared to me holding dull knife-like objects. They looked like butter knives coated in a slick, oily substance. He tried not to think about what it would do to him.

Vergil didn't like his odds, but in his estimation, running wasn't an option. His best chances lay in taking one of them out and getting one of their weapons to level the playing field. Getting a good look at their faces for the first time, Vergil was disappointed in how human they looked. One looked nervous, like Vergil was a feral animal that needed to be caged. That one held the butter knife with less certainty. The other Invader just looked pissed off, and he held his weapon like he wanted to use it. Vergil liked his chances with Nervous.

Jackie Chan movies don't fail me now.

Vergil darted to the right, on the same side of the room as Nervous. This move put Nervous in between Vergil and Angry. Any situation in which Vergil could force a one on one evened out the playing field

Unless the Invaders have powers of their own. 

Vergil shunted energy into his legs, hoping a quick lunge would put Nervous off-kilter. If Vergil could disarm him, he could possibly use The Invader as a hostage and get some answers. Vergil leapt to the man's left, opposite the side he gripped the knife. Nervous swung the knife at Vergil, but the attempt sailed over Vergil's head as he ducked.

Before The Invader could recover, Vergil slid his arms underneath the man's armpits. Vergil knew from firsthand experience that a Full Nelson was near impossible to escape if the other man was taller.

While he contemplated a way to jostle the knife out of the man's hands, Nervous went limp. The man sifted through Vergil's grasp like sand, as if his bones were just a useful suggestion, but they weren't necessary for functionality. Vergil jumped backwards with his back to the wall. Nervous' descent through Vergil's hold had made the knife travel too close to Vergil's arm then he felt comfortable with.

Time for Plan C.

The open door to the showroom floor blocked Vergil's exit path. His options were uncomfortably limited as The Invaders fanned out in front of him. He tried not to focus on his minimal energy levels. Vergil's plan didn't even qualify as a Plan C, but he gave it his best shot.

At normal speed, Vergil lunged for Lyle Hampton's desk. He remembered the pen from the previous day, and it was right where he remembered it. Vergil grabbed the pen. It wasn't much, but if Vergil infused some of his energy into the blow, it could do some serious damage. Vergil contemplated punching Angry with a garden variety punch, but he already knew the outcome. The fluid nature of The Invaders could absorb a punch like a vat of Jell-O.

The Invaders positioned themselves in a way that Vergil couldn't separate them. An attack on either one would leave him exposed to a counterattack, Angry on his right and Nervous on my left.

A black blur of motion appeared behind them. Albert lunged past Angry and clamped his mouth on the thick muscle of Nervous' calf. He screamed, a high-pitched scream in stark contrast to the cool demeanor he'd displayed previous. It was the sound of a man who'd never had to experience pain.

Albert didn't let go. Vergil imagined his teeth sinking deeper, using Nervous' leg as a chew toy. Angry reacted faster than Vergil thought possible. His butter knife swiped across the length of Albert's back. The dog's body rigid, still firmly clamped on Nervous' leg. Vergil seized the opening in Angry's defense.

He siphoned tiny amounts of energy into his legs and right hand and aimed for the Angry's center of mass. He hoped the impact would jar the butter knife loose. Vergil struck the man's chest and his momentum propelled him forward until they both slammed into the opposite wall. 

 Vergil heard a whoosh of air as he expelled the air from Angry's lungs. Vergil raised the pen and jammed the tip into Angry's right wrist, pinning the appendage to the stucco walls. Something blue splattered onto Vergil's face, he hoped it was ink, but the deep blue ichor dripping from Angry's wrist suggested otherwise. 

 The butter knife clattered to the ground. Angry tried to wriggle free, but the pen held fast. He may have the consistency of Play-Doh, but he couldn't phase through matter. Throughout the entire ordeal, the whoosh of air was the only sound he'd made.

This one has felt his share of pain.

Vergil twisted on his heels, but not as fast as he would have a few moments earlier. 

  I need to wrap this up.

Nervous pulled at Albert's rigid form, but was having no luck. Vergil called out to Albert, but the dog didn't respond. Vergil charged at the timid Invader, banking on his pain being enough distraction for Vergil to disarm him. Nervous brandished the weapon like a child playing pretend with a stick, and Vergil sidestepped another clumsy swipe. He grabbed the man's wrist and twisted. The skin twisted and kept twisting past the normal human threshold. The Indian Burn worked, and Nervous dropped the knife. 

 Vergil punched him in the face for good measure. Nervous crumpled to the floor. Vergil pressed a knee to man's chest making sure he wouldn't be able to slither free. Nervous' rib cage depressed further inward than a normal human sternum, Vergil held tight. Nervous' chest collapsed like memory foam.

He called out to Albert. No response. However, the dog had finally let go, and lay on the floor, a rigid cast to his body. Vergil launched another punch at Nervous' face, but he didn't make him feel any better. 

 "Start talking!" Vergil screamed, "Why are you here?" 

 "Don't breathe a word Vyth," Angry said.

"I'll get to you next buddy, don't worry," Vergil replied. He turned to the one called Vyth, "I'm not feeling in a particularly forgiving mood. Give me a reason to end your miserable existence. I dare you."

The Invader quivered underneath Vergil's hold. It was a full-body shiver that involved every inch of the man's body, like each cell operated independently, and they were all scared shitless. Vyth looked over Vergil's shoulder to Angry, "He's going to kill me!" The Invader whined. 

 "Death is going to seem like a day at the park compared to what the Miasma's going to do to you if you talk," Angry said living up to his name. 

 "My friend is dead because of you," Vergil said, "I'm going to make sure you suffer. I promise."

"We didn't mean for any of this to happen," he replied, "I swear! I'm just a scientist."

 Vergil gritted his teeth. The thought of Saul's death being a part of some sick, otherworldly experiment for a panel of alien academics made his blood boil. 

"What else? Why Lancet Falls?" 

 Vyth looked at Angry and replied, "I've already told you too much. Not that it matters the Miasma is going to eliminate everyone in this town anyways."

 Angry kept silent, but Vergil didn't notice. "What's the Miasma?"

Vyth pursed his lips together and shook his head. The look in his eyes said he was done talking. 

Vergil raised his fist to hit him again, but the scared look the man's eyes deflated Vergil's fervor. Vyth looked over Vergil's shoulder, and the hiss of a compressed air canister sounded. 

 A screech tore through the air. The screech of pain and rage of a small child that has just been told they cannot have ice cream for dinner. The sickly, sweet smell of artificial cherry permeated the air.

Vergil couldn't look back for fear of releasing pressure on Vyth, but he had a feeling he knew what happened.

"This one was creeping up behind you. Nothing a little Mace to the eyes can't fix," Lisa said. 

 "You trollop, you're going to pay for this. They'll come looking for us, and when they do, I'm going to have some fun."

Vergil heard a series of thud and soft grunts. Angry fell silent. 

 "Start talking. Angry doesn't have to know," Vergil told the Invader.

Vyth expelled a hissing sigh, as the air escaped his body so did his determination to resist Vergil. He said, "Some things may not translate well, but I'll give it my best attempt."

Vergil thought about Albert's stiff body. "Do better than that."

"I really am a scientist. I was contracted by a group whose primary needs were that of exploration. We'd thoroughly mapped out everything their was in our world, and they were intrigued by my studies in dimensional frequencies. To put it simply, I theorized that different dimensions have a unique resonating frequency, and with a machine equipped to alter the frequency of our own dimension, we could theoretically match resonating frequencies with a new unexplored dimension. If that could be accomplished, it would make the veil between one dimension thin enough to cross through. 

 It was just a theory. The amounts of energy needed to complete a feat would have to be galactically enormous, effectively impossible. This exploration group, The Miasma, assured me that would be no issue. I set to work constructing a device that could accomplish this. A number of years passed, and this exploration was the accumulation of my efforts. Blujh here, is an emissary that was chosen to accompany me in my first foray into your dimension.

Our first attempt, the machine, I'll call it The Cross-Dimensional Resonator, was not powerful enough to sustain a prolonged visit. The results were underwhelming, but we were able to extract enough materials from your world to construct a rough schematic of what life here acted and sounded like. Scholars pored over the tomes we acquired, and crafted a device that would synapse with our brain's communication centers that would allow us to translate as well as transmit our thoughts into words that your feeble minds can understand.

The next attempt was a larger endeavor, we attempted to phase both Blujh and I, in an area that we judged would be remote. Our energy emissions were wildly inefficient and we could only sustain our journey for only a few moments before we were pulled back once again. The Miasma pooled nearly all their resources into the project, so that by the next Moon Cycle, Blujh and I could map out this small town and mount a larger expeditionary force using Lancet Falls as our figurehead."

"You're leaving something out. Explain why your little experiment involves changing me. Why do I feel like another one of your little experiments?" Vergil asked, nearly pulsing with rage. 

 "Oh dear, I'd forgotten about that," Vyth said.

"Forgot?" 

 "One does not think of the ramifications of their actions when they are on the brink of a world-shattering discovery. None of us paid a single thought as to the life on the other side of the veil. The Cross-Dimensional Resonator emits a significant amount of electromagnetic radiation, so Blujh and I had to condition ourselves for the rigors of the journey, and the deleterious effects it could potentially have on our bodies.

None of the life forms in this dimension had the same opportunity, and we did not plan on the far-reaching effects of the radiation. My guess is a series of spontaneous gene mutations, deletions, and duplications are responsible for the changes you and others have been experiencing. We intended to collect some specimens to bring back to the lab to further refine the process, but I admit that was only of secondary concern in the grand scheme of things."

Vergil mulled over the man's story. Not all of the pieces fit as neatly as he would have liked. If they were really emissaries, why all of the cloak and dagger stuff? Why was Vyth so horrified by The Miasma and their retribution. If they're really interested in exploration and pure scientific discovery, why choose somewhere so remote away from the hub of humanity?

"I have a proposition for you," the scientist said."If you escort Blujh and I back to threshold point, we will depart from this dimension, and I will do my best to convince The Miasma to find a more suitable location for our continued explorations. I swear my intentions were purely of scientific discovery and curiosity."

 Vergil thought about asking all the questions that plagued his mind, but he had a feeling he wasn't going to get the answers he was looking for, but an idea formulated in his mind. 

  There's nothing keeping me in Lancet Falls. I'll travel through the threshold with them, and finally get my answers. They'll pay for The Hamptons, for Saul, and... for Albert.

"Okay," Vergil replied, "I want your word I'll never see you again, or I won't be so friendly." 

 "V?" Lisa asked, pain in her voice.

"Do you trust me?" Vergil asked. She didn't reply, but Vergil assumed that was assent. 

 "You have my word," Vyth said to Lisa.

She nodded with storms brewing in her gray eyes.

"When that Blujh fella comes to, I need you to convince him it's in his best interest, or I don't like his chances for ever making it back home."

"Not to worry, the man's instinct for self-preservation transcends all else, I'm sure he'll listen to reason when prompted with those two options."

"Wake him up Lisa. We're going on a little field trip."  

SaintCole here, coming at you very tired. I just started work and my Master's program again. 

This chapter was tricky for several reasons. I wanted to do some positive Lisa interaction as well as do some major reveals. 

Hey guys! I would absolutely love a vote XD I have been feeling like a neurotic self-conscious writer lately. 

Finally, I would love hearing your questiosn especially the science bits. Also, what do you guys think of Vergil's plan? Is it foolish or does it excite you? 

Most of all! The fact you're still reading up to this point warms my heart. Thank you all so much.