12 Back for More

"Ah! A perfect fit, wouldn't you agree? Oh, before I forget.." Raine pulled the box again and opened it. He handed the gun to Flynn, finger on the trigger, barrel pointed towards him. Flynn almost jumped when he saw it. For a moment he thought Raine was going to shoot him, his heart was beating faster. Flynn received the gun and safely put it in his holster.

"If you ever need help with your arm, if it needs maintenance or gets damaged, just come visit me, any time." Raine smiled.

"Also, if you want, we have our own shooting range. You could test your arm and magic, and whatnot."

"Oh, absolutely!" Flynn replied with wide eyes.

"I doubt you'll need anyone to guide you there, just take the middle elevator." Raine said as he sat down again. Flynn nodded and left. The sounds of the machines echoing in his ears as he walked through the room. If Flynn ever wanted to work somewhere, it was here. The elevator room had nine elevators, Flynn wasn't quite sure why they needed so many. He entered the middle elevator.

Compared to the other elevators, this one took much longer to reach its destination. Flynn had enough time to disassemble the pistol, to examine it in closer detail. It truly was made with impeccable quality, not just the exterior, but everything inside it too. All the bullets were inside the magazine. Even the safety was turned off. One move and Flynn would've been dead. What a fool, that Raine.

The elevator stopped. When it opened, inside was a huge gun range, spanning for longer than Flynn could see. It seemingly went on forever to either side. On the walls were cabinets full of guns, the range itself housing many different targets, from soda cans to military grade dummies. He could recognize every gun he saw, he owned most of them. He unholstered his gun, it felt odd in his new hand. Being able to feel the gun was half the fun, half the joy was now gone. He only now realized how much he actually lost. It didn't feel right in his hand.

He still had to get used to shooting with it, so he took aim. He hit the dummy right in between the eyes. There was no recoil, his new arm dampened it completely. All those years of training to counter the recoil, even that was gone. He couldn't feel the design and texture of the gun, he couldn't feel the kick when he shot. Shooting with the other arm wouldn't be the same, he couldn't shoot properly with it. He shot the rest of the clip and sat down. No thoughts, no emotions. He sat there for what felt like an eternity.

One light flickered. Flynn looked at it. The light turned off. Then another flickered, and another. The lights were all off now. With no light, Flynn only saw shortly forwards. Then a sound, scraping on the floor, far away. The screeching of the metal echoing in the room. Flynn covered his ears, for the noise was piercing. The scraping became louder, but Flynn couldn't see anything. Only soon he saw two red dots in the distance, swaying in the dark. As it came closer the red lights illuminated its ghostly form, a wraith. It stopped and looked at Flynn. He stood up.

"Back to take the other one, are you? Come and get it." Flynn sneered, his hand emitted a dark starry haze. The anger towards the creature was immense, and it all focused on his hand. The wraith shrieked and accelerated towards Flynn. The ghostly body camouflaging in the darkness. It jumped at Flynn and with its honed claws cut his shoulder, the speed was beyond his eyesight. The wraith dragged its claws across the floor, taunting Flynn. He concentrated on his hand, but nothing happened. Flynn groaned and shot the creature, the bullet went straight through it. The wraith made a sound that seemed like it was laughing.

He clenched his jaw, and his muscles tensed. The haze from his hand bubbled like lava. The wraith screeched at Flynn and jumped at him, claws ready for ripping. Flynn didn't feel hollow anymore, he was fueled by anger. The haze turned into thousands of tendrils, all flying at the wraith. The wraith screeched in pain as the tendrils pierced its ethereal form. The wraith howled in pain one last time before dissipating back into dust. Flynn's heart was racing and his hand aching, it felt numb, yet burning at the same time. He collapsed on the floor, breathing heavily. The lights flickered back on. Flynn dragged himself to the corpse of the wraith. The beautiful dust was right there. He took as much as he could and put it in his pouch. Another victory for him. The anger dissipated, and in its place he was content. He rolled over to his back. His hand pulsing in pain. Maybe they'll find him soon.

Time passed, Flynn was still on the floor. The elevator dinged, and from it emerged several mages and a distressed looking Raine. The mages spread around the room and Raine ran towards Flynn, panting.

"The whole building lost electricity on the lights, we feared the worst when we saw that a wraith had breached the facility." Raine looked around the room.

"Where is it?" Raine asked, still catching his breath. Flynn chuckled

"In my pocket." Raine furrowed his brow.

"I, umm, well you're still alive, that's good. Are you hurt?"

"Just a gash on my shoulder." Flynn looked towards his left, his arm was covered in blood. Raine scoffed

"You're a strong one, good. I'll get you a medic." Raine said, and walked away. Finally Flynn had acquired more dust to empower his arsenal. Soon Raine came back with someone dressed in white, bandage in hand. Flynn was all hazy now. No energy to stand up. The medic helped Flynn to sit up and bandaged his arm. Raine walked away to investigate the room closer. Flynn thought for a moment.

"Hey medic man… are there any other entrances to this place beside the elevator?" The medic thought for a second, then responded.

"No, I don't think there are any other ways to get here."

"No vents or such?"

"Nothing." The medic finished wrapping the bandage around his arm. Raine came back, less distressed than before.

"We looked around, but we have no clue how it could've gotten here. I'm sorry for letting this happen." Rain said apologetically.

"Yeah, okay -- don't beat yourself about it too much, I'm fine, really." Raine extended his hand, Flynn grabbed it. He pulled Flynn to his feet.

"C'mon, let's go." They walked back into the elevator. When they reached the top, Raine turned to Flynn. Raine sighed.

"We both know it's dangerous out there. You've been attacked three times by wraiths now, hell, you almost died once. I wouldn't usually do this, but I now know the danger you're in. I think it's time you met someone."