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Dec-7-2018 16:55

It could not have been more than a week since they defeated the mysterious Jack, the mastermind behind the Order of the Sphinx, and his dastardly plan to create a "perfect world", a world full of eunuchs making everyone the same.

In that time, Marc made an enemy and then a friend though Edward Carlyle, a soon-to-be disgraced FBI agent. Edward's team died fighting Sphinx, he was held responsible for each of their deaths. But it was Jasper who sacrificed himself to create the perfect distraction.

Marc sat alone in the dark nursing a bottle of gin, reflecting on the past events. He jumped at the sound of a lout rapping on his door.

"It's open!" He called out without looking up.

Riza walked in. "We're heading to the train station. The train leaves in an hour to Karachi. You ready?"

Marc gulped the last of his gin and tossed the bottle behind him, shattering the glass against the wall as he stood up. He heafted his bag over his shoulder and smiled.

"Let's go get our friend."

Dec-14-2018 03:58

Noticing that the sliding doors weren't fully closed, she hugged against the wall to the right and peered through the opening. She could see that someone was lying face down near a desk.

Opening the sliding doors softly, she went into the office and looked around. It was as though a serious fight had taken place; a chair in a corner was overthrown, the couch cushions were ripped and feathers lay all over the ground.

As she walked over towards the desk, she found the button for a desk lamp and flicked it on.

The figure, which laid down near the desk, was most likely her target. The woman's throat had been slit and the blood flowing from the cut had drenched one side of the desk.

"Damn, too late..." Vulkie sighed, as she put her gun away. In the figure's left hand, a dagger was still gripped firmly. Rigor Mortis had set in, indicating that her target was dead for at least a couple of hours, if not a few days.

"Well, I'm not going to get any wiser from you, am I?" Vulkie jested and she began to rummage through the desk and the file cabinets.

She found several interesting documents, but the one that sprung into her eye as most interesting seemed to be a report of some kind.

Browsing through the papers, she quickly began to read: "Subjects ML, RH and JZ are on their way to Karachi. Suspected MM and EC are joining them at one point, if not already on the train. Word sent to our local agents in the region. As to VN or HVV, no solid leads whatsoever... Awaiting further instructions."

The moment Vulkie read the report, her eyes widened with fear. The remaining Sphinx members WERE planning some sort of revenge and had found out where the group of detectives were heading.

Grabbing the report and the other documents, she stuffed them in her bag and made a run for the elevator. Pushing the button frantically, she began to mutter: "Come on... Come on, you piece of junk, COME ON!"

(cont. in next part)

Dec-14-2018 04:09

As the elevator reached her floor, a soft ping once again indicated it had arrived. When the doors opened, Vulkie jumped in and slammed her fist on the ground floor button.

"I was too late..." Vulkie whispered to herself, while the elevator descended. "If only I had gotten this lead earlier, I could've done something..." she babbled on.

When the elevator finally reached the ground floor, she jumped out of it and brushed past the doorman, hailing a riksha and immediately went to her office.

Grabbing a trunk, she stuffed a few pieces of clothes in it and some other necessities for the journey that was awaiting her. Karachi, it seemed, was a few days away. But she would do her damnedest to arrive there in time to help save the group from any danger of the Sphinx Members.

Arriving eventually at the train station, she sent a message to the detective group, hoping they would receive it in time. For if not, she swore that she would hunt down every last one of them and make sure they suffered the consequences.

Before boarding the train, she rummaged through her bag. As she got out the painkiller bottle, she noticed that her other hand had started to tremble.

"Not now..." Vulkie commented, while unscrewing the top and swallowing two pills. She still suffered from the knife wound Jack had made.

As she found her carriage, she sat down and fetched a cigarette from her case. Lighting it up, she could hear the train whistle blow and the train softly started to get into motion, heading towards Karachi.

"Hold on guys." Vulkie whispered to herself, while staring out of the window...

Dec-14-2018 05:39

(FYI, the whole "swore thing" is meant again Sphinx members) :)

Dec-17-2018 17:47

The Bhedyia looked at the photograph of his next target, then looked back to the lady in the compartment across from his. She wasn't beautiful, but she was lovely. A pity, he thought to himself. He pocketed the photograph and waited. He would strike when the timing was right.

Nightfall came slowly but surely. The Bhedyia watched as Vulkie tossed and turned, unable to sleep, until she finally stood up and swallowed a handful of white pills and stepped out of her compartment.

The timing was now or never as he quietly followed her, carefully keeping distance so as not to be seen. Like a wolf stalking its prey. He followed her through the next train car and outside into the cool, night air.

"May I?" He asked pulling out a lighter as she pulled out a cigarette.

Without a word, she accepted the offer. "It's beautiful out." The Bhedyia said after a moment of silence. Vulkie nodded in agreement.


"So..." Bhedyia said trying to get a conversation started. "you have business in Karachi?"

"I'm looking for someone,". She said after another moment of silence. She stubbed out her cigarette and walked back inside. Perfect. He waited until she was in the next car before he made his way back in and once again he stalked her back to her compartment.

He waited until she closed her compartment door before he approached and knocked.

"What?" She demanded opening the door.
He thrust his arm forward, grabbing her by the throat, just hard enough for her not to make a sound.

With a few hand gestures and a whispered phrase into her ear, he had her hypnotised. "You are my puppet now. You will do exactly what I say, when I say," He said with an evil smile.

Dec-18-2018 06:09

‘What do you mean he never showed up?’ Molly clicked as the attendant leafed through his record for the sixth time.

‘Mr. Edward Carlyle, correct? C-A-R-L-Y-L-E. I’m so sorry Madame, but the private jet never arrived. I am still waiting for the telegraph to confirm if the plane ever took off from Shanghai.’

Even Joseph was able to sense that Molly’s irritation was about to flare again, and everyone in the group kept quiet. ‘How can a plane just go missing? I’ve arranged this private flight for Mr. Carlyle myself. He is supposed to be here at least 2 hours ago!’ The team indeed came directly from the train station to the Karachi air strip, knowing Ed may have been waiting for them for a while.

‘In truth, Madame, planes do go missing. A while back an American woman pilot has lost contact since their plane left Calcutta, and on-going search has reaped nothing.’ The attendant replied politely, but the way he uttered “woman pilot” sounded as if he was about to spit.

Joseph noticed Riza was going through the staff bulletin board pinned with the latest communications. He walked up next to her and started raking through the notes as well. There were a few fading updates on the American pilot Amelia Earhart and her Lockheed Electra 10E Special. Many radio voice signals on 3105 kHz, as well as Morse code messages via 6210 kHz were reported in Central Pacific but the analyzed post-loss signal reports determined most of them to be hoaxes.

So many hoaxes? Joseph asked himself, but he never voiced out his queries, especially not to Riza, who seemed to have given him the silent treatment ever since they left the train. Was he missing something again?

Dec-18-2018 06:10

Another half hour pass and a telegram reply was finally received:
FOUND PILOT IN SHANGHAI STOP
HE WAITED FOR MR CARLYLE FOR HOURS STOP
CARLYLE DID NOT SHOW UP STOP
PLANE NEVER LEFT SHANGHAI

Molly remained uncharacteristically quiet for a full minute. She then took a deep breath and concluded, ‘Well, one missing person at a time. We deal with Anais first. Ed and Shanghai will have to wait.’ Molly turned with determination and strode back to the Jeep she purchased for their search in Karachi. Joseph started the truck and the four rode silently back to the city.

Dec-30-2018 19:09

As the hot desert sun beat down relentlessly well before its zenith, Anais took a moment to wonder, sipping her hard earned water, if Amelia had been able to get her warning to her friends. She knew she had been duped. She had made sure Amelia knew the trap that had been set for Anais, and the new trap waiting to be sprung on her friends. She had been so blinded by her hubris that she thought herself to be more intelligent than O Lýkos. The situation was helpless. She knew she would never see her daughter or her friends again, even if she managed to live, which seemed doubtful each passing day. The Wolf had punished her severely when it was found she had passed a message, but she had escaped, eventually. Escaped and, by a fortune Anais still could not believe, stolen the map from Bhediya. With the amount of time that had passed, she was sure her friends had respected her wishes. It gave her a measure of peace that they would not be in danger because of her stupidity. Anais scrabbled at the rocks, desperate to make it back to the cave she had found to hole up in, to survive in, before the sun rose even higher. It was too risky to venture out to the ancient well at night, too cold and too many predators. The only cave she had found big enough took an hour to travesre safely up the rock from the well. She had no canteen. There was only food she had left was what she was scavenging. Wild roses were particularly good. And after awhile, eating tarantulas had become second nature. All her life was good for now was to guard the map.

Jan-10-2019 18:46

Edward finally arrived in Karachi. He stepped off the train with the sick feeling from missing the plane that Molly arranged for him. The sickening feeling only grew with each moment as he feared seeing her face. No doubt she was angry with him, and she had every right to be.

"Oh, God," he whispered to himself as he beat himself up in his thoughts. The sick feeling only made him long for a drink even more. Something he'd have to get used to fighting.

As he collected his bags, someone caught his eye, standing in the station. Vulkie? Edward blinked and wiped his eyes to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. He ran into the building to greet her. She noticed him and motioned for him to stay back.

"What?" he mouthed to her.

She shook her head and waived her hand at him, again, motioning for him to stay back. Edward sat down at the nearest seat and grabbed a magazine. He held it up as if he was reading, but peaked over the top to watch. A large man walked up to Vulkie and reached to grab her arm. She moved quickly throwing something into his eyes. He screamed and grabbed his face.

"Run!" she yelled at Edward as she ran past him. Without thinking about his stuff, he got up and ran, following her into the crowded street.

Jan-11-2019 01:19

***The following morning, before arriving at Karachi Station***

As Vulkie softly opened her eyes, she could feel a burning sensation around her throat. As she grabbed her pocket mirror out of her purse, she looked it over; it was all reddish and at the mere touch, Vulkie winced.

"Someone played a bit rough yesterday," Vulkie pondered, remembering the mysterious man who had asked what her business in Karachi was.

Immediately alert, she grabbed her Colt 1911 and checked it. The mysterious man had removed the clip and even the bullet loaded in her chamber, leaving her unarmed.

As he stept into the train car with two cups of coffee, Vulkie aimed her gun at him automatically, but then recalled she had no bullets.

"Don't bother dear; that won't help you at this point. To be fair, I doubt you'll ever get rid of me," the man confidently said, while handing her a cup over.

As she examined the cup and wondered if it was poisoned, the man smirked. "Don't worry; it's not poisoned. No, I have great plans for you. But drink up; we're almost at Karachi Station." he confessed, before taking a sip himself...

***Karachi Station***

"You stay right here. I'll be back shortly." the man whispered, while walking off. Vulkie looked around, scared but determined, to hope someone would help her.

As she was about to make a break for the streets, she noticed Ed Carlyle rushing into the station, with a slight wave of his right hand. From the corner of her eye, she could see the mysterious man return.

Immediately, Vulkie waved Edward back, trying to tell him to stay away. "What?" Ed mouthed.

Again, Vulkie repeated the same signalling and Ed understood; he needed to lay low for a while, as Vulkie planned her escape from this man.

"I'm back dear. Now, we will continue our journey together. Shall we?" the man spoke, before trying to grab her arm...

(Cont. next part)

Jan-11-2019 01:21

Looking around, Vulkie saw a man sipping a cup of coffee. "Karma" she thought to herself, as she grabbed the cup and swung it right into the mysterious man's face.

The man grabbed his face and screamed in agony, as the hot beverage burned him temporarily.

"RUN!" Vulkie yelled, as she sped past Edward, who had been watching from a distance.

Edward immediately got up and gave chase to her into the streets of Karachi.