Friday, August 26, 2005

Ghostopia, Chapter 53: Three Glasses

"Here, have a seat," Nelson ushered Mortie and Darren to some plastic chairs which he just brought out. "Coffee or tea?"
"Water'll do."
"Same here. Get some for the others as well."

"Here you go," Nelson reappeared with a tray. He set it on the table, handed each one of them a glass of water and sat down.
The three drew long sips.
"So," Mortie broke the silence. "How did you meet Darren?"
"I found him pretty much lost in the marketplace right after he came. So I let him stay over at my place."
"I see...so you're his godfather of sorts?"
"Heh, heh, heh." Nelson let out a weak laugh, and Darren followed suit.
"But, jokes aside," Mortie's face turned serious. "Why the keen interest in our group all of a sudden, Nelson?"
"I couldn't help noticing, not after that piece you guys did on the Lower Level Office. It was splashed all across the papers. Nice work."
"Mm hmm. Anything else?"
"Just curious," smiled Nelson. "Have you heard of the escape attempt by Ezisa four years back?"
"Of course I have."
Nelson pantomimed an applause. Mortie smirked.
"You know what happened to them in the end?"
"Yup. All of them died, except for three."
"Impressive," he said. "You know why they died?"
"It's called Exorcism," Mortie leaned forward. "They didn't manage to become human enough."
"So of course, I must ask you this - how do you plan on overcoming that this time around?"
For a moment Mortie didn't say anything, seemingly shocked that Nelson would dare ask something like that. "Excuse me - is that any of your business?"
"Whoops, sorry," he grinned sheepishly. "Got a little carried away."
But Mortie continued glaring at him. "Wait a minute...you suddenly seem very familiar." Then he slapped his forehead. "Why, of course! Nelson 61295, am I right?"
Nelson nodded.
"Of course, of course," Mortie kept muttering. "You're one of the three survivors."

No comments: