Archan

  Chapter Three

  The cold night air brings Archan back to a slight consciousness, but he still finds it difficult to stay awake. He finds himself laying on the rooftop with Chee-Chee's back to him. Brick and Jin Jun are near the edge of this hundred-story building along with the other bound man. Even with death seemingly unavoidable, Archan finds his mind preoccupied with trying to figure out just what exactly is Chee-Chee supposed to be. He's the size and build of a two-foot teddy bear but has a monkey like tail that behaves likes a cat's tail.

  Chee-Chee turns around to see Archan staring at him. Chee-Chee's eyes are almost completely black and seem twice as big as they were inside the building.

  "You're dead! Since you're probably still wondering what I am, I decided to tell you what you are. Dead! Idiot!"

  "So our visitor is awake, huh?" says Katsuya. "Good, it's your turn."

  Archan then notices, that the other captive is nowhere to be found. Katsuya notices him looking around the roof, "Oh, your employer? He's waiting for you downstairs. Don't worry you'll be joining him soon enough. And with the impact your body will land, you two will be 'joined' pretty good." Katsuya laughs and Chee-Chee joins in.

  Realizing this is the end of the road, Archan tries to muster a fight but the combination of the broken bones, blood loss and a bout with dizziness renders him pretty much helpless, but Brick delivers a backhand for good measure. Archan can barely keep his eyes open as Brick lifts him overhead and carries him over to the edge of the roof where Katsuya is standing. On Katsuya's cue he tosses Archan off the roof.

  As he falls, he thinks to himself, “at least the pain will stop on impact, especially from this height”. Archan zones in and out of awareness, when he manages to open his eyes he notices that his hand seems to be glowing. "A white light this soon? Not exactly what I expected." Archan closes his eyes involuntarily; he manages to open them once again. Now he notices the rooftop is no longer visible but something seems to be approaching fast from above. It appears to be a white dot getting bigger. The wind and pain makes it tough to focus.

  Archan closes his eyes in effort to fix his vision but finds it extremely difficult to re-open them. He thinks to himself, "Two white lights? Is this really happening?" He uses his last strength to open his eyes and what he sees manages to scare him and unbelievably takes his mind off his certain death. With his vision still blurred, he can make out wings at least 8 feet wide, fangs that look like a bear trap and a tail. "What in the world?!" is his last thought as he finally slips completely unconscious.