Mark Locke

-Years later

Unknown threats rise and the struggle never seems to end. The dawn of the new millennium had seen something of a renaissance in the public awareness of the paranormal. Magic, ghosts, demons. Protest and riots happened at first, but decades later ordinary people started accepting the reality. All the things Science had promised them hadn't come to pass. The diseases were still a problem. Starvation was still a problem. Violence and crime and war were still problems. Despite the advance of technology, things just hadn't changed the way everyone had hoped and thought they would. Things are very similar as before, they just have a mystic touch to it now.

The sunny streets were mostly empty, the area illuminated by sunlight. Their day had just begun and empty street started getting filled.

A couple entered a local almost empty but cheerful coffee shop. They both took a seat opposite to each other and placed their others.

Mark Locke in his mid-thirties sat a few meters away from them. He looked at them thought, 'A person's mentality and subconscious inevitably manifest itself. Exactly like a puzzle. Albeit, a hard to solve the puzzle.'

The man pressed his pocket and the woman noticed a cubical shape forming under the cloth. Something the man didn't want her to notice yet. She crossed her legs and changed their direction and kept her handbag close to herself. They placed their order and chatted; mostly the man, while Mark gave them a slight glance.

'Her knees are facing towards the exit.' Mark thought.

"I have to call, someone. It's kind of important. I'll be back in a minute," said the woman caressed her ear and got up.

"Okay... hurry up. I have a surprise for you." The man smiled at her as the woman got up and left. After she went out and the man brought out the ring case, another man sitting near them looked at the man and said, "Your girlfriend is very beautiful, lucky guy."

The man hesitated, not knowing what to reply. "Thanks... Ahhh."

The other man smiled and said, "No bad intentions, man," He looked him a. "you are going propose to her?"

The man blushed and said, "Yes, after thirty dates, I am finally sure. I finally found my match."

"Good luck."

The red blush was soon going to get replaced by something else. Suddenly a voice interrupted the boyfriend's joy.

"Unfortunately, she thinks different."

The boyfriend looked at Mark taking a sip from his cup. He gave Mark a confused look and Mark looked at him.

"That miss is lying," said Mark.

The boyfriend looked at him. "What are you...?"

"Just maybe, she might not be coming back," said Mark.

The other man looked at Mark and said, "Hey, don't be jealous."

The boyfriend's phone vibrated. He took it to see that he received a new text message. His eyes widened and looked back at Mark.

'No... No.No."

[ Sorry, something has come up. I have to leave. ]

It was from his girlfriend. The boyfriend remained silent for a moment and then looked at Mark. "How did you...?"

"So, she isn't coming back. I mean she already told me. She told all of us here. Look at this place, it's 24 degrees. It's not even cold outside, so why would someone sit cross-legged?" Mark said with a smirk.

"Because it's more comfortable." replied the boyfriend.

"Both male and female have different poses. There is one close pose and then the open pose. When people are fighting or listen to something that they don't want to, they cross their limbs, subconsciously. Other is sign was her handbag."

"Handbag?"

"For some women, their handbag reflects their feelings, their personal space. When they meet someone new they keep their bag away from them, and when they meet someone familiar like they keep their handbag in between, they even permit others to touch it. However, she kept her bag away from you. That's not a sign of closeness." Mark explained and anger rose on the boyfriend's face.

"So what?!" He scoffed at Mark. He glared while Mark's expression was now cold.

"Of course, you couldn't determine a person's mind with just that. You two might disagreement or you two just need more time." Mark continued.

"Yes, that..."

"However, she noticed the ring case in your pocket and I could see some very interesting things. You cannot make accurate predictions based on incomplete data, it's just speculation. To make a more accurate prediction we need more data, such as the sign of a lie."

The boyfriend stared as Mark continued.

"The eyes, the shoulder, neck, sweating and other actions. When people lie they exhibit several tell-tale signs. Most common being touching of lips. She touched her lips when she said that she'll be back. She also touched her ears, the subconscious reaction while hearing something unwanted. Then at last her eyes, if someone lies their eyes are generally impassive. When she smiled she didn't open her mouth. Without a long-term relationship, all these signs indicate that she is ready for break up."

The boyfriend got from his sear and shouted at Mark, "What do you know?! You know nothing about us."

Mark took the last sip and said, "Have you ever been to a place you didn't want to be, someplace other than this, then lower body faces the exit. You just want to get the fuck out at the first chance you get."

The man looked down on his legs, he saw what he didn't want to. His legs facing the exit. The boyfriend got up and left furiously while trying to contact his girlfriend on his phone.

Mark giggled. The other man looked at Mark and said, "You shouldn't have done that."

"Not my problem that he couldn't handle the truth," replied Mark. He got ready to get up, then suddenly his phone vibrated. He took it out and brought it close to his ear.

'Not now.' he thought.

"Locke... " A voice came from the other side.

"So, what's new?" Mark asked.

"Kidnapped Type-Green children, I'll send you the file."

" I haven't accepted it yet, Anthony. And psychic children? How many?"

"Around twenty maybe even more. Level unclear, but we have engaged all the tracking forces. The council has asked to bring you in."

"Yeah, couldn't find any other idiot to chase after possible level A threats. Anthony, I need a favour."

"What? What do you need? "

"You not acting like a robot, that's what I need."

**********************************

-Unknown locations

The child ran on in absolute darkness now. Something grabbed at his foot and he pitched forward. he fell and fell until he was certain the world beneath me was gone. When something solid finally smacked him, for a moment Samuel was unsure whether he had fallen flat or if he had run against a solid wall of stone. Footsteps continued for an instant and stopped abruptly. he held his breath. Were they the echoes of his flight, or the sounds of another?

As quietly as Samuel could, he raised himself and strained his senses against the darkness, a large area with hundreds of metal sealed doors. Everywhere he turned he saw dim figures. Each flicker of distant evil resolved itself into a visual quirk of blindsight, then back again to a hand reaching close for his throat. he spun about, thrashing his arms to fend off the attack from behind, but caught nothing. Scraping noises tried to hide in the thudding and roaring of his ears. Then felt something sharp around his throat.