NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter 1.2
When the Baine's finally returned, they looked different than what I remembered. They were stronger and taller than in the past, darker. There was something in their eyes that was full of life, of inner will. I almost didn't recognize them.
They were all dressed tight fitting female business suits. A few of them even had a few scrapes and bruises that had been treated with band aids or stitches.
The oldest one and the head of the family, Bryce Baine, was a tall, brooding woman. She looked like she was in her thirties and even through her clothes, I could see she was packing some serious muscle: the kind you get from years of weight training. She had cheek length midnight black hair, and penetrating blue eyes that gleamed like crystals.
As for her daughters, two of them were adopted. Jasin looked even more dangerous than Bryce. There was a feeling of barely contained anger about her. She glared with her grey eyes, her hands crossed over her chest. She had long black hair, with a shock of white hair that swooped down and to the side. Vick, on the other hand, was much lither and less muscular than Jasin and Bryce. She was also more joyful, sporting a surprised grin. She also had long black hair, but with some blue die mixed in.
The last one, Davian, according to the papers, was the only one of them that was biologically tied to Bryce. She was much younger, and looked like an arrogant, bratty kid. Her short black hair was messy and spiky.
The first one to speak was Vick. She came rushing at me and enveloped me in a crushing hug. "Holy shit, you are alive!" she gushed, looking at me with affection, "After…what happened, I- we all thought you died. I am-"
Her mother put a hand on her shoulder, silencing her. The both of them exchanged a look. "Vick, allow me to speak with your friend for a moment." Bryce turned towards me, scrutinizing me, "I'm sorry if I come across as suspicious, Avery, but it's not every day someone comes back from the dead. You should know better than anyone that no one could have survived the injuries you sustained. All of this leads me to deduce that you have either manifested some metahuman powers that allowed for your revival or you were brought back by a supervillain in order to steal from the legendary Baine fortune. That is why I must ask to run some harmless tests before anything else."
The information they gave me made my head swirl. I was beginning to realize that the reality bomb I got hit by might have done more than return me to Gothic City. I might just be in an alternate reality. After all, the Baines seemed to know me on a name basis. Also, I had been apparently murdered here, which definitely did not happen to me ever before.
I didn't need to perform the tests. I could just leave. But perhaps there was some merit in staying and asking them some questions.
"What are you thinking so much about?" came the arrogant, mocking voice of Davian, "Don't tell me you are scared of a little testing."
Jasin slapped her in the head harshly. "Shut the fuck up, pipsqueak."
"Behave yourself," came Bryce's cold, authorative voice, "You are in the presence of a gentleman."
Vick looked at me and made a helpless expression, as if saying 'see what I have to deal with?'.
I cleared my throat and said, "Look, before we do the tests, I must come clean. I woke up in a grave not so long ago and my memory isn't the best. I barely recognize who you all are."
My words had an instant impact on Vick and the butler, making them sad. The other three had pocker faces that were impenetrable.
After that, they ran me through the gamut of all the classical tests: tests for hypnosis, mind control, parasites, etc. I expected the possession test to turn out positive, but perhaps due to inhabiting the body of my alternate self or my original body changing, it came out negative.
Now satisfied that I wasn't a ticking time bomb, the Baine family began asking questions about my amnesia, what I remembered, what I didn't.
They informed me of what really happened to previous "me": by all accounts I had been raped, my limbs cut off, my throat crushed, the list of injuries and monstrous deeds was as long as it was horrifying. The worst part: they never caught the culprit.
It could have been Last Laugh, Phobos, or any of the other demented maniacs that made Gothic City their home. Or it could have been someone close to me, someone with deep grudge against me.
In any event, one thing that still bugged me was the fact that I was buried in the Baine's graveyard. When I asked them about this, Vick was the one who replied.
"When you died, the police couldn't find you in city register. You never went to school, you had no government ID, nothing. All they could find was my contact on you phone. That's why we buried you here. You were-are very dear to me. I could think of no better place."
"You should feel honored to be buried among the members of our family!" said Davian.
Jasin ignored us, typing on her phone.
"Changing the subject for a moment," interrupted Bryce who had been thinking deeply, "What are you going to do from now on? If you return to your previous life, whoever killed you might find out you are still alive and try again. Of course, as a friend of Vick, you can stay here as long as you want."
I found it strange that I wouldn't have a family, or ID, or anything on the system. That was definitely not the case before. I have- I mean had a mother, two sisters, and a father, the whole shebang.
Perhaps some investigating was in order. I could check the adress were my family lived in the previous reality and find out more. After all, the Baines could be lying.
Still, for now I decided to accept their offer to stay. It was simply to risky to stay elsewhere until I knew more about the killer or this world.
"Alright," I said, vocalizing my decision, "I'm sorry, but it seems I'll have to take your offer. I'll make sure to-"
I couldn't even finish before Vick pulled me out of my chair and gave me a suffocating hug, "That's great! This is gonna be so, so good!"