The atmosphere in the room seemed to rise as Rathcliffe and the behemoth of a woman called Freya left the room to his office.
Abel stood there, rooted like a tree. Soon, a tap on his shoulder jolted him awake, almost causing him to fall over.
"Oi, got your breeches in a bunch ey laddie?" Boris' loud voice spoke from behind him.
Abel stabilized his body, before he would fall over.
He looked again at the lobby. Under no pressure, he appreciated the intricate design and symmetry of the entire room.
The brown sofas were adorned with bronze accents. The table was made of a waxed wooded material that glistened somewhat under the electric chandelier.
The nun who sat on the desk, moved her glasses up and coughed to get Abel's attention.
"Ahem! Good day Mr Abel, could you come here please and fill these forms?" She said as she drew a pile of forms which looked like an employment letter.
Abel scurried to the table and grabbed the for the files and straight away began to read through them.
The shock of him getting a job as an intern had passed. He would ask Rathcliffe questions later.
For now, he wanted to know more about where he was… and what he was about to get himself into.
"So, uhmmm. How can I address you Sister?"
The nun smiled slightly as she grabbed a pen from a drawer next to her and handed it to him.
"Sister Martha of the Order of Shadow. You should have heard of us"
He did. Everyone knew that Mihira was the Divine of Shadows and secrets. Her proselytes were called the Order of Shadow.
"This place, what is it? I didn't apply for a job here"
"But you came with the captain right?" A voice spoke with a condescending tone right behind him.
It was one of the twin girls who seemed to be looking at Abel with vivid curiosity.
The other seemed to be reading a book not too far away on a sofa, ignoring the discussion completely. Raphael and Boris seemed to be discussing something at a corner.
"Ah sorry, I'll introduce myself. My name is May, and that over there…" she said whilst pointing to the girl reading "is my older sister April"
Abel nodded, trying to see the differences between the twins. And differences he noticed.
The one before him had sharper eyes and a rough air about her. The other seemed calmer with a cooler gaze.
Abel could guess that May was the more active of the bunch.
"Hello May. I'm still confused. Why was I brought here? What is this place? And why am I getting a job?"
"This place… this is…" May was about to speak when another voice interrupted her.
"This is known as the Vault. The resting place of the Hidden Walkers. If you want to know more, we advise to go to the study after you sign the contract"
'Contract?' Abel thought, before reading the papers given to him.
Most of them were terms and conditions one would find in a regular business contract. The only difference were points that dealt with 'Casualties'.
As a former police officer, his contract also had these clauses that dealt with injuries and in extreme cases, casualty.
But some parts of the contract seemed quite unexplainable.
For example:
In case of Madness, Contamination or subjection to Heresy, You will be arrested, detained and or Exterminated if the Council deems it fit.
Remuneration will be paid to the subject's family as casualty reimbursement.
Or another even more bizarre that went..
If you or any of your allies have shown irreprovable evidence that you or they have been contaminated, or are under control of an unknown entity or are in alliance to Heretical views that stand against the standard Code of the Hidden Walkers… if it is your allies, you are allowed to exterminate them.
If it is yourself, and due to a miracle of the Divines you regain lucidity; the best option of possible is Suicide. Remuneration will be paid to the subject's family as reimbursement.
These were just a few examples of the rules and regulations he had seen in order to join the organization called the Hidden Walkers.
'Contamination? Madness? Heresy?' Abel thought to himself.
"Uhm! What about my living apartment? I used to have one at NorthMeister"
"Arrangements will be made. Your things will be moved down here to your new hostel"
Martha grabbed a small book just sitting on a shelf behind her.
She passed it to Abel and said
"This is the guide to what you need to know for now. Why don't you have a seat over there and relax"
Abel went over and took a seat on the sofa next to the reading April. The young lady looked at him once, and then went back to her studying, as if uninterested in his presence.
Raphael on the other hand, seemed to have lit up to Abel's presence.
"Hi Mr Abel. You must be confused about what is going on right?"
"Yeah, this is quite new to me. This supernatural mumbo jumbo and all that"
"It's not mumbo jumbo. I've been here for three years now and what I've seen would sound crazy to you if I told you. But it's real" he said with a gasp, excitement dotting his face.
Abel couldn't help but shudder. If what he said was through, then what sort of unimaginable thing could cause that second Sun to rise.
"Like… a second Sun?"
"Yup!"
"You mean… you saw it?"
"Yup, and we stopped it too, well the higher ups did"
Abel was stunned
It was bad enough if a second Sun rose to the sky.
It was even crazier that it was stopped.
"Stopped? just barely!" A voice spoke from behind them as the door to the office opened. Rathcliffe and Freya walked out of the room.
They both looked grim and weary, looking straight at Abel.
"Martha, there's no need to register him. I did that a while ago. Here's his file" he spoke with a melancholic tone, tossing a bound folder to her desk.
Abel was even more confused. When did he sign such a contract?
Rathcliffe, as if understanding his thoughts replied in the most offhanded manner
"Oh this, you did that during our therapy session"
"Therapy?" Abel squinted.
Now that he thought about it, most of his memories during his lunacy were very clouded.
So clouded that it was hard to remember what he said or did this past six months.
"Mhm! I thought you'd remember. Or is it the after effects of your mind being contaminated?" The last part of the sentence Rathcliffe muttered to himself.
Freya heard this and squinted her eyes, before sighing.
She walked towards the door and opened before saying.
"I hope you enjoy your stay here Mr Abel" and slowly closed the door behind her.
A brief moment of silence..
And then
"Phew, she's gone" Raphael gasped as he breathed out.
Boris, who seemed to be brooding on something, stood and walked back to the door.
"Cap'n, I'll be going back to my post"
Rathcliffe nodded, taking a seat on the sofa and sighing.
"Don't be frightened by Freya, she's a nice person…" he said before grabbing a cigar and lighting it.
Doesn't this guy know that too much smoking is bad for the lungs? Abel thought, looking at the middle aged man who seemed uncaring about his health.
"... And, I've got an announcement to make…"
The whole room seemed to suddenly get charged up. Even Boris opened the door from the outside and peeked in.
"Tonight, we're feasting at Popeye's"
"Yes!!!" The others cheered. Even the quiet April joined in.
Abel, on the other hand, was lost in thought. His mind was vividly captured by the book he was reading.
What he'd seen so far borderline almost turned all he knew about life till now on its head.
Spirits, demons, ancient entities, mythical creatures.
And from what he was seeing, the Hidden Walkers may run deeper into the world of the Supernatural than he originally thought.
***
Freya walked down the hallway calmly, her heart on many different matters.
Currently, she was thinking of the order that was sent by the higher ups.
An order that seemed straight up unbelievable, speaking of it could be Heretical.
Abel Michaelson born 23 May 1623 should be allowed to enter the archives of Truth to obtain any and all knowledge otherwise not forbidden to the Order of the Hidden Walkers.
He must be trained and ready to become a fully fledged walker by the end of the solar year.
This Order has been given by a direct divine Revelation of the Goddess herself and must be taken with the utmost seriousness.
This command was unheard of since the founding of the Order. Not many who joined the Order were allowed to become actual Walkers. It took a minimum of three years of intense training and checks in order to let anyone become a full fledged member.
Freya looked at the statues of the Heraldim and sighed.
Just in that brief second, some of the statues moved their heads to face her.
She looked back and stared at them before nodding.
"Mother's will be done!"