Despite the lack of clocks, or anything to help tell time for that matter, it felt like I had been sitting there for over 40 minutes before I heard noises coming from the door. The whole time I sat there, I could only focus on trying to remember more about myself, but I couldn’t get anything more than my name.

  The note was still clutched in my hand. Wadded up into a little paper ball. I wasn’t sure what I should do with it and the new clothes I had didn’t have pockets, but maybe it could be a bartering chip. I wasn’t about to throw it away.

  Two men entered, both wearing longer, thick coats, perfect for keeping the cold of winter away. The taller of the two men had a certain way he carried himself, like someone who had given orders and was used to be the authority. His posture seemed to reflect that too. He was about average height, but muscular from what I could make out. I noticed his coat was tan, as he brushed it off with one hand, and he was wearing grey jeans.

  The other man was shorter than the first by just a bit. His eyes kept darting around the room, and each time they came towards me, they quickly moved away to look at something else. It didn’t feel like he wanted to be here. He was a bit more lanky, and both his coat and pants were a darker color. Maybe a dark grey rather than full black.

  The first man, Tan Coat, looked right at me sitting on the bed. Giving me a warm smile, which made me do a double take, he started to move closer. Maybe he’s the nice cop? I thought.

  Nice cop, yeah right!

  I shook my head slightly. These intrusive thoughts were hard to deal with. I have no reason to believe he’s not nice.

  “Hey, glad to see you awake and moving!” His voice was gravely. I noticed now that he was closer that he was on the older side, the roots of his hair were starting to grey. “I told them to reach out to me once you were up and moving. Sorry for taking so long to get here, you wouldn’t believe the traffic I had to get through.” He let out a deep sounding laugh. Despite the situation and uncertainty, that laugh did help with calming me down. He stopped a couple of feet away from the bed, the other man, Black Coat, still hanging out behind.

  “If you’ll come with us and answer a few of our questions, we can get you out of here and on your way. I’ll answer any questions you have as well. I’m sure waking up here was a bit of a shock.” He said with a smile. Black Coat let out a humph, causing Tan Coat to quickly glare at him.

  “Am I a prisoner?” I blurted the question out without a thought. This place truly felt like a cell of some kind. The plain white walls, artificial lighting, and lack of windows, didn’t leave room for any other thoughts.

  Black Coat’s eyes went wide, while Tan Coat just gave me a look of confusion.

  “Is that what you think? Damn, if so then I’m going to need to have words with the Director.” He glared his eyes up at a spot in the room. I followed his gaze but saw nothing of note. A hidden camera? Tan Coat let out a sigh and continued on. “In that case, I’m sure you have many questions about what’s going on. Follow us, we’ll get this all cleared up.”

  Once again, Black Coat let out a scoff, just a little more under the breath this time. I got up from the bed, following both men to the door. As we exited, Tan Coat walked in front of me, while Black Coat walked behind. Not being able to see him made me nervous.

  The door opened without much fanfare, and we were moving down a hall with more doors lining either side of the hall. I didn’t see any guards around, and none of the doors had windows on them. Walking down the hall, we passed about 6 or 7 doors before Tan Coat stood in front of one door. It opened with no interaction from him and we walked in.

  It was a plain room. Smaller than the room I had been in. It had a couch, a table, and a couple of chairs arranged in such a way that the table was between the chairs and the couch, having them face each other. There was a lamp that was placed near the back of the couch, covering the chairs in the shadows of the other objects. Tan Coat gestured to take a seat, and I found myself drawn to the couch. Black Coat made a sound like he was going to object, but Tan Coat shushed him. The couch wasn’t the most comfy, but it was a step up from the bed I had been sitting on. Tan Coat filled up a couple glasses from the sink and set them on the table, as both he and Black Coat took a seat in the chairs across. I did notice that Tan Coat was sitting in the chair closest to the door.

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  “Now, let me start off with the big ones.” He took a sip of his water before putting it back down. “Number one. You are 100% not under arrest, nor are you a prisoner. You have been kept here until you wake up for your own protection so that we can ask you some questions.”

  He gestured to the room “This is not the sort of interrogation rooms we use for people who are under arrest.” He let out another chuckle. “With that out of the way, are there any other questions you need answers to before we dive into our questions?”

  Black Coat seemed annoyed, but was letting Tan Coat take the lead. He leaned back in his chair, picking up his glass and took a sip of the water, while Tan Coat never looked away from me, that smile still present. I finally picked mine up and sipped on it as well. I felt better after seeing both men drink it first.

  “Who are you? What is this place?” I asked, almost blurting it out with how fast I asked them one after the other.

  Wrong. Confidence.

  What is with this damn voice in my head? I can’t think straight.

  “Good questions.” Tan Coat took another sip. “My name is Keiji Sugino. This, is my partner.” Tan Coat, or Keiji Sugino now, gestured towards Black Coat. “His name is Andree Pyotr. We’re detectives who has been hunting down a very troublesome killer. This place we are in is the NDI headquarters, located in New Impetus. Until you awoke, I could think of nowhere safer for you to be.”

  NDI. New Impetus. The way he said it, I feel like I should know these names, but I didn’t. Now I had even more questions than when this started.

  “NDI… What is that? And a killer… what does this all have to do with me?”

  Wrong questions. Exit.

  I could feel my eye twitching in annoyance. This voice was driving me crazy. Once again, Detective Keiji, gave me a look of confusion.

  “The NDI is The New Dawn Initiative. They support hero teams of Exalts that help in times of crisis. These include natural disasters, or even going after Exalt villains and murderers.” He took in a deep breath. “As for what this has to do with you, I’ll let my partner handle. He is the one that found you after all.”

  Exalts. Villains. Even more terms without a clear answer. Heroes, like super heroes? And Black Coat is the one who found me? That threw me for a loop. I looked at Black coat, Andree Pyotr, again. He found me? Does that mean that he knew about the note, or the weird crow?

  “Tell me, have you heard the name of The Reaper?” Detective Andree asked. His voice was harsh, almost like that of a chain smoker.

  “No. That’s not familiar to me.”

  Confidence. Better. Exit now.

  Detective Andree let out a grunt of annoyance before continuing. “The Reaper is the guy we have been chasing, Keiji and I. Our boss wants… him brought in. The Reaper has been causing havoc for the last 6 months. His pattern is the same. He leads a group of people from different backgrounds, with no relation to each other, to an abandoned building. Then… Well you saw what happens next.” Detective Andree gave me an off putting grin, before leaning back in his chair. “Then he calls the cops and gives them an address. So far, there have been no survivors, until I stumbled across you in that building. That building marks the 24th incident. Now, can we get on with our questioning, Keiji?”

  I took that all in, turning the information over in my head. 23 other incidents similar to what I had seen. How many people in total had lost their lives due to this man? Also, were there other people like me who had managed to walk away? Keiji’s voice brought me out of my thoughts.

  “I think we can. Can you start by telling us your name?”

  “I believe it’s Raymond Ingram, or at least… That’s what popped in my head when I saw my face in the mirror. Still, it sounds like such a stupid name I hope it’s not. I honestly prefer the sound of Ray.” I was rambling, but Keiji nodded in understanding. Andree had a strange look in his eye.

  “You believe? What do you mean?” Andree barked at me.

  “It’s the only memory I can recall before waking up in tha- that building. That room.”

  Better. Need exit.

  Andree let out a groan of annoyance while Keiji pinched the bridge of his nose. “Amnesia. Tell me, Ray, you don’t remember anything before waking up there?”

  I shook my head, the words falling from my mouth quite quickly. “No, I don’t. I… think I still have general knowledge of life from what I can tell? But then, things like where I’m from, why I was there, I- There’s a blank there. Anything specific to me it seems, or some more specific knowledge… If you put a gun to my head and told me to remember, I wouldn’t be able to.”

  “Well, that’s going to make answering our questions difficult.” He let out another sigh, his head hanging down as he rested his forearms on his knees. He sat like that for a little bit, almost like he was thinking on what to do next.

  “You know about The Reaper now, and how we are tasked with trying to find him. Well, that includes using anything we could link to him as a way to locate him. You were supposed to be the missing piece, given you were actually still alive. Just a description of him, or a reasoning for why he left you alive would be great.” He let out another long sigh as he pinched his nose.

  “Well, It can’t be helped.” Andree said with a maniacal grin spreading across his face. “Since you don’t have any information for us, I don’t really see much of a use for you anymore. Damn. We really needed to meet this Reaper. Our boss is going to throw a fit!” He stared at me, with cold eyes. I was terrified. My eyes went wide as he pulled out a gun.

  “Andree…” Keiji spoke. He didn’t move to stop the man from pointing the gun at my head.

  “Now then, what was that you said about putting a gun to your head?” He let out a cold laugh. “Such a shame you chose the couch. I’m gonna have to throw it out since it’ll be covered in your blood. Much more expensive to replace than the chairs.”