"Mother fucker!" I yelled at the last number 15 bus, as it pulled away from the stop.

I now had to walk 7 city blocks north, through the projects at sundown. Around 8 minutes into my not-so-magical voyage, a white van with a pizza company logo pulled up next to me. A blonde young man in his late 20's, wearing a Greek symboled hat, rolled down his window.

"Hey dude, need a ride?" The blonde man said.

"Mmm no thanks, Stranger Danger and what-not... y'know?" I answered dryly.

"Ya sure? I just finished my delivery and it's no prob dude." The driver asserted.

"So your delivery was nearby? You just dropped off?" I turned to the driver and took a step back.

"Uh yeah. sure. Why?" He sounded uneasy now.

"Because your college town pizza shop, doesn't deliver to the city. I shrugged that off though, assuming you might be here to buy drugs or something." I looked the van over and continued, "Now that I look at it, this van is a little too clean... like you recently washed it before you put that logo sticker on."

Just as the imposter pulled his hat down and slunk back in his seat, the side door sprung open and two men in dark clothing rushed towards me. I swung my fist at the first one, but missed as he lunged forward tackling me to the ground. The second one was approaching with several zip-ties in hand. Panicking, I extended my legs with all my strength, and to my surprise sent the first attacker flying into the second one. The two collided hard and I got to my feet as fast as I could. I sprinted down the alley and jumped a few fences, until I came to a discarded bicycle. I had ran from police and gangsters before, but I never moved this fast. Jumping the fences and running had never been easy for me, until now. I lifted the bike from the pavement, then took off down the back road as fast as I could. I arrived at my apartment building after a few minutes. Placing the bike near the backdoor. Entering the building I ascended the two flights of stairs until I came to my apartment door, finding it broken and ajar. I used my foot to push the door open, keeping my hands free and ready. Giving the room a quick look over, I noticed all my belongings were either missing or out of place. I saw no one as I cleared the small apartment with a baseball bat I kept near the door. After I was sure I was alone, I began to pack clothes and other necessities in a bookbag. The only missing things that I cared about, were my games and consoles. They may have been replaceable, but stealing my games made this feel intolerable. The last item I grabbed was a bottle of beer from the fridge, before I opened the window and exited via the fire escape.

"One for the road, I guess." I muttered to myself.

-----

I was in the dark. The smell of dampness and mold filled my human nose. My flat soled shoes squelched against the moist stone floor. I reached my hands out but felt nothing in the cold empty abyss before me. I reached in my hoodie pocket and found my cigarette lighter, then flicked it to produce a small flame, that danced slightly to the left as it illuminated a small diameter of the jet black emptiness directly around me. I could just barely make out bookshelves along the walls of the large stone room I stood in. Several thick wooden tables were partnered with crude wooden chairs nearest to me and wooden rafters supported stone ceilings above me. On the thick wooden tables were piles of books and an antique candlestick. I picked up the candle stick and lit the wick with my now overheated lighter. The candlestick projected a somewhat larger diameter of light, allowing me to notice the lack of windows and doors in the room I stood in. I looked up again and found that the ceiling and support beams I had spotted were actually a balcony that extended two-thirds of the room. Straining my eyes in the poorly lit room allowed me to see another row of bookshelves up upon the balcony. The candle flickered slightly to the left as I heard a barely audible whisper. I am not alone, I thought. I refused to call out something cliche like 'Who's there?' and give away any chance I had at remaining undiscovered. Instead I used my hand to partially cover the glow of the candle to limit the distance I could see, but more importantly the distance I could be seen from. I crept through what I was calling the 'abandoned library' with all the stealth my dimmed candle and squelching shoes could offer me. This time I could almost make out the whisper when I heard it again:

"...! You... out..." A disembodied female voice hushed.

I decided to make my way right since my flames we being pushed left earlier, by what I hoped was a natural airflow. I glanced at the time-worn books on the table and hesitated when I realized I couldn't read the language. A few of the book covers had illustrations that were warped and indiscernible. The more I progressed right, the more my candle fire flickered and danced. I heard the voice a little better now:

"Hey...! You have...out of..." The disembodied voice seamed panicked.

Seconds after the whisper I caught some movement in my peripheral. I ducked low as I shifted quickly in the direction of the movement. I crouched behind a dusty old table, removing my shoes and peeking over the books. I saw a shadow whip across a bookshelf, and I leapt out in silent pursuit. As I came to the corner of the bookshelf my hand inched a little closer to the candle flame only letting out a few streams of light between my fingers. While I was peering around the corner carefully, my hand was too close to flame and I felt my flesh burn in my palm. At the same instant as the unhindered light erupted from the candle it illuminated the face of the white haired Elven woman standing inches away from me. I choked back screams of pain and terror, as she shouted:

"Hey. Wake up! You have to get out of here!" The soft voice shouted from behind icy-blue eyes.

-----

I woke up from every librarians nightmare of moldy books and damp stone, on the cold concrete loading dock of a Blockbluster video store. The rain was rolling off the enclosure of the dock, while a lady in a Blockbluster uniform shouted at me to leave before she called the police. Was that a dream? I thought to myself. I rolled my thin blanket on the bookbag I had been using as a pillow, then placed it on my back. I then tipped my hat to the lady in thanks for not calling the police right away. Then I walked swiftly down the back street towards the bus stop. Fortunately for me the 6th street bus stop was enclosed and could keep the rain off me while I waited for the bus that would take me to the outpost. Giving some thought to everything going on, I decided that the creepers in the pizza van were most likely operating at some one's orders, who couldn't make a move while I was on-site. This means the safest place for me to piece all this together was at the lab. Assuming I got there in one piece.

"I don't think Ms. Nylons would send a van to grab me, she and the outpost goons already had me completely vulnerable while they transported me." I muttered to myself."The three bosses would have sent a killer, because why kidnap someone you already own legally?"

I pondered the new circumstances and kept my eyes searching around me for anything unusual until the bus came. I boarded the public transportation and scanned my bus pass at the ticket kiosk, then took my seat in the back. After 5 city blocks I was at the small outpost office, smiling a false smile to Ms. Nylons before a few goons in black suits met me with a small briefcase in tow.

-----

I sat on the dorm bunk with my head in my hands. All this bad spy movie drama was giving me a headache. Power struggles and subterfuge belonged in novels and soap opera's, not in the life of a fat gamer kid from the Wilmington projects. I looked around for the two assholes that jumped me in PvP, but they were nowhere to be found. They were most likely in-game or off-site I guessed. I wondered if they were petty enough to order my kidnapping over a game dispute, but then I remembered how the world works. I once played a 5 minute match in a FPS and was the victim of 15 minutes of death threats and other forms of verbal abuse. If they had tried to kidnap me, why break into my apartment. Were the apartment and the kidnapping attempt related or separate incidents? I was losing focus and stressing out. I had a few suspects and a safe place to think, but too little information to process. While I was stuck in a theory loop, Ms. Raven Leibowitz approached me and offered a welcome distraction.

"You're oddly quiet. Not that it's a bad thing, but I'm hoping it's not a 'quiet before the storm' type of situation." She spoke in her sweet, honey-like voice.

"Is it possible you're hoping for a storm, to save you from the mundane and boring weather you currently have?" I faked a sly grin.

"No! Far from it actually. Fair weather allows me to be more productive and it's easier to get along with." She answered coyly.

"I never met a girl who wasn't at least a little turned on by storms, for real though." My grin was authentic this time, "But the reason I'm quiet is because when I got to my apartment yesterday, It had been broken into. So I've been preoccupied."

I didn't truly suspect Ms.Raven. On the other hand I also never fully trusted anyone, a side effect of a drug addicted parent. So I kept some details to myself, and observed her reactions and her body language.

"Oh. That's awful! Did you call the police?" She looked me over, examining my well being.

"Girl the police are the second suspects after the drug addicts! The dealers and the Gangsters have nicer things than I do. None of the local junkie's even know I exist, so why rob an unknown.. y'know?" I noticed her look of surprise turn to a look of skepticism as I continued, "Police get wrong addresses, and after they bust in the door they try to find something to cover their own ass. If they tear up your shit and don't find something, they trash the stuff to cover their own asses. That's ghetto 101. That being said I don't suspect the police ...This time."

"Not that you should, but why not?" She rolled her eyes.

"Well, I'm no detective... But I suspect the robbery part was just for looks. I had a few hundred dollars hidden under my couch, the couch was searched but the money was still there."

"If the money was still there... how do you know they searched it?" She asked.

"It was slightly askew from the carpet indents, where the legs usually sit. There were a few other minor details, but who's counting?" I chuckled.

"I need to file a report about this. I know you didn't have any company property in your home, but they want these things on record. Also I'll have an intern call in to the police as a concerned neighbor." She informed

"I'd be disappointed if you didn't." I replied sarcastically.

Criminal masterminds don't usually document their crime's, so she checks out.. I guess. I thought to myself.

"Ok. There was an update yesterday, if you want some notes stop by my office. Goodbye." She waived her hand as she exited the room.

"Later." I replied as she was rounding the corner.

"I think I'll grab something to eat, then check out her notes." I said out loud, to no one at all. "Then it's game time."