I wake again, this time feeling clearer of mind than before. The sun still leaks in through the window. Nobody’s here right now, but that’s to be expected-I shouldn’t expect the others to just stand on ceremony for me if I’m not even guaranteed to make it through. The memories of my dreams come back to me, a slow and steady advance, an imperfect reconstruction, but powerful all the same.

A pang of sadness strikes me as I realize one of the central messages of the dreams. Death had set me free, but then it rejected me like a high school crush way out of my league. I’d hazard a guess that this realization was one that would be sticking with me for a very long time. This realization emanated with an almost eldritch quality; it was the kind of revelation that should’ve remained concealed, but once uncovered assaults the mind with the sheer horror of its nature, as they can’t un-see it ever again.

Turning my focus away from a crushing reality, I end up exchanging it for another: I could really use a drink right now. The dryness grates at my throat like sandpaper as I try and summon the might and focus necessary to pull the sheets off myself. My movements are still clumsy, but vastly improved since my last awakening, as I try to force my back up and my head off the pillow. Afraid of what I’ll find, I bring a hand up to the back of my head. I feel something sticky, and a nasty set of creases where my skull broke open, though covered by fabric, as I press against my own skin despite the pain that comes when I do so.

Slightly revolted but mostly satisfied with my findings-knowing that my skull won’t fall apart suddenly-I fully stand up straight, finding no major changes to the room I was in. I get off the bed and wobble slightly, taking a moment to focus on my balance, before moving to the door.

I step out of the door and into the hallway, and down it to the central room, finding a small gathering of students running through an iaijutsu drill, with some socializing mixed in. I stumble slightly weakly over to the water fountain, slapping the trigger and having an admittedly somewhat sloppy drink.

I notice the students have gotten a little quieter as I’m drinking. I feel a lot better now, but I’m not quite alright just yet. I turn around and notice a few of the students staring at me in awe. I’m guessing they thought I was deader than disco. I turn and walk back to my room, closing the door and dropping myself back into bed. I pull out my phone again to see a few of the bandmates being concerned for me. I don’t know how to explain my injury without outing myself as a hard-ass that fights on behalf of an organized crime group. I simply text them back that the recovery is going well, and leave it at that.

Not too long later, Lenny finally shows up at my room. “How you holding up, trooper?” He sounds softer than normal. Probably some misplaced guilt from sending me to my metaphorical death.

“I’m… getting better, but I’m not quite right yet.”

“Anyway, I wanted to say, ah… my apologies for sending you in on your own. Nick told me what happened. I shouldn’t have done it, you were too green.”

“Too green? I just got unlucky. And sloppy, apparently. It could’ve happened to anyone.”

“Not if you were with others-actually...” Lenny stops to ponder the issue at hand. “I think you might have a point on that. There’s always that one in a million chance things just don’t end up going your way.”

“Indeed.”

“Anyway, I think Sigmund would like to have a word with you.”

“Oh, great, and all I wanted to do was just go back to the damn dormitory already.” I roll my eyes, realizing I’m in a little worse of a mood than normal.

Lenny frowned. “Honestly, I think he’s just concerned about your condition.”

“Whatever it is, I don’t wanna hear it right now. I just need to finish sleeping this off...”

“Fine.” Lenny turns, and then pauses before chuckling.

“What is it?” I raise an eyebrow. I can feel I’m losing my patience.

Lenny offered up an almost incredulous half-smile, looking over to me. “Your honest reaction to getting hit in the back of the head with a sledgehammer is to sleep it off. Just wait until Nick hears about this.”

A breath in, a breath out. I slowly smile. “You know what, you have a point there, Lenny. Fair enough.” I stumble towards the door. “But I still wanna go to the dormitory to finish my recovery before I face the old man again.”

“Alright, I get it.” Lenny nods affirmatively, as we step out of the room together, and then out of the church, heading further down the path. “Say, where are my swords?”

“You’ll be pleased to know Nick was a good enough sport to bring them with him as he was also dragging you along. It certainly wasn’t easy for him, he was almost gassed out by the time he got far enough for me to see him. I helped him the rest of the way and we got you back to the dormitory. Our medic said you were in mostly stable condition but that your odds were next to zero, so we took you to the church. Apparently, the old man wanted to say goodbye to you, or something.”

“More like he wanted to make the body disposal easier on himself.” The words came out suddenly, spurred on by sheer agitation, but I couldn’t entirely discredit myself as being wrong on this point.

“Oh, come on, I don’t think he’s quite that cold-blooded.”

“I don’t have any reason to believe otherwise.”

“Well, suit yourself.” Lenny finally makes his way to a black sedan, unlocking it and stepping in the driver’s seat. I drag my feet along to the opposite side and board on the passenger-side. “Figured I’d drive you back since you’re feeling so off-balanced today.”

“Thanks...” I realized there was a rather curious kind of pain developing in my stomach. “Hey, on second thought, how many fast food joints do you know of nearby?”

“Seriously?” I chuckle at the incredulous look on Lenny’s face. “Actually, that kind of makes sense. I know that there’s this Mexican-style chain that has a location nearby.”

“Sounds like a bad trip on the way out, but sure, I’ll take it.” The car begins moving as we navigate the streets of Halych. “Hey, I’m kind of curious, Lenny, how’d you end up in the Haracrein?”

“Well, I ended up taking one to the head-again, apparently-in my really old job as a bodyguard and losing most of my memories. I remember I had finally had enough, so I got out of that business and tried to live a life of my own without losing all my damn memories, which eventually led me to the city of Halych.”

“Huh. Who were you a bodyguard for?”

“Some government officials over in another country, I barely remember who at this point. Anyway, I had some trouble finding work until a nightclub was out looking for bouncers. I figured I had the right training and talents for it, and I eventually find myself in a management position. Apparently, I was so effective at my job that I started getting a reputation, which is where Sigmund comes in to approach me, try and recruit me. Now, I made it extremely clear that I’m not a hitman and that I won’t be killing anyone, and that I wasn’t really one for abducting people that for just looking at someone funny.”

“Did he try to offer you extra to do those things?”

“No. Shockingly enough, the old man completely respected my terms, and as it turns out he didn’t want me as just a muscle, but as his middle management. I accepted; the pay was pretty good and it was a change of pace from being a nightclub manager.” From what Lenny’s been telling me, perhaps Sigmund wasn’t as coldly calculating as I thought-though I still doubted him.

It’s not long before we pull up, parking at the curb and going inside. I look at the menu before ordering an amount of food that would likely leave me shocked in hindsight. The bag I get it in is much larger than I’m used to, a perhaps not-so-subtle reminder that I might be over-ordering, but my stomach doesn’t know any better right now.

It’s not long before we’re on our way back to the dormitory. “Sure you can handle all that yourself?”

I look down at the bag, thinking a little harder about my decisions. “Guess I’ll find out soon enough.” A few minutes pass, and a question finally crosses my mind. “About Nick getting abducted… do we know who did it?”

“We were too busy making sure you and Nick got clear to grab anyone to interrogate.” Damn it. If only I hadn’t decided to go soft on him... “That being said, I’m pretty goddamn sure that this is connected to that hideout raid we had to deal with a while ago-we’re just not sure who.”

We soon arrive at the dormitory, and I step out, heading to my quarters. Shockingly enough, I managed to eat the entire $15 order before shambling into bed and dozing off.