The Return

It was a warm spring day in May, and the streets of New York City were hustling and bustling with students and businesspeople. A young man and woman around the age of seventeen walked out of the NYU apartments. They were both holding suitcases and a box in their hands. The young man closed the door behind him, and they slowly made their way down into the subway and got on the F train, pulling in their suitcases just as the doors were closing. For a while, the subway car was quiet, until music from an iPod filled the air and people began talking.

An hour later, the young man and woman got off the train at the Union Turnpike stop and transferred to the E train. As soon as they entered the train, they heard the talking, music, and laughter that filled the air. Moments later, the train door opened and a plump man came into the subway car and sat next to them. The man, one of their college professors, leaned over and began to talk with them. Fifteen minutes later, they said good-bye to their professor and left the train. They slowly climbed the stairs and made their way up to street level. When the Q43 bus came, they boarded, swiped their metro cards, and sat in the back.

After another hour passed, the bus arrived at their stop, so they got off and started walking. Five minutes later, they stopped in front of the Glance of Angels Orphanage. They smiled at each other and made their way up the walkway. Reaching the front door, they pressed the doorbell. Seconds later, the doorknob turned and the door opened. Doris, the orphanage cook, was standing in the doorway smiling at the young man and woman. She hugged them, and the three of them went to the den and sat down.

"Hi, Phil and Calista. How are you two doing?" Doris asked. "We haven't seen you in four months."

"We really missed being here," Phil replied. "And we missed your home cooking."

"Then why didn't you visit for spring break?" Doris asked.

"You know how it is. It just feels uncomfortable being here ever since Alex died," Phil replied.

"How do you think we feel? We all feel the same way," Doris said as tears rolled down her face. "We all cared about him."

"How's Muggsy doing?" Phil asked.

"She's not taking it very well; she started smoking cigars and cigarettes again," Doris began to explain. "And she's been coming home late from hanging out with Toby."

"And Lisa?" Phil asked.

"She's still trying to get over Alex's death, but she's doing better," Doris said. "Go get washed up; lunch is almost ready."

Phil and Calista grabbed their bags and went upstairs. Calista kissed Phil on the cheek and walked away. Phil walked into the boys' dorm and put his bags on his bed. As he glanced at Alex's old bed, a tear rolled down his cheek. A second later, he fell to his knees by the bed and broke down crying. Doris came into the boys' dorm; she sat next to Phil and tried to console him.

"We all miss him," Doris said, tears again streaming down her face. "And there's nothing we could have done to save him."

"There is something I could've done!" Phil yelled. "I could've saved him."

Doris wrapped her arms around Phil and held him tightly. "You couldn't have gotten to him in time, and even if you had, there's nothing you could've done to stop him from dying," Doris said sadly. "Destiny and fate are intertwined, and there's nothing we can do to stop them."

"I'm sorry for yelling at you."

"That's okay. Just get changed and come down to get some lunch." Doris kissed Phil on the forehead and slowly left the room.

Phil got up, opened his suitcase, and began unpacking and putting his things away. He then changed his clothes and left the boys' dorm. He made his way quietly to the girls' dorm and knocked on the door. Calista opened the door, and they walked down to the dining room together. They each got a plate of food, and when they were done eating, they went to the kitchen, put the plates into the sink, and went upstairs to the boys' dorm. The whole house was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.

Suddenly, the front door opened and footsteps running up the stairs echoed throughout the orphanage. The footsteps echoed even louder when they reached the second-floor landing. A second later, Isaiah and Brandon came into the boys' dorm. Isaiah and Brandon saw Phil and Calista and smiled; they walked over to them both.

"Oh my gosh, we missed you," Brandon said.

"How is everything?" asked Isaiah.

"Everything's okay," Phil replied. "How's everything with you guys?"

"We are doing all right; we are doing pretty well in school," Isaiah said. "The two of us, as well as Madison, are graduating in two weeks."

"I'm really sorry that they had to hold you back a year," Phil said quietly. "How's the tutor I set you up with?"

"Lisa has taught the three of us a lot. She should be home from college in about two hours," Isaiah said.

A few moments later, Madison, Stanchie, and Melissa came into the room and hugged Phil and Calista. They all held hands and sat down.

"We missed you so much," Madison said excitedly.

"Hey, Phil, Calista told us that you got a job in the NYU library as a digital media technician," Melissa said. "They must really like you to give you a job like that your freshman year."

"It's a good job, and it's pretty exciting," Phil said as he turned toward Brandon and Isaiah. "We heard that you two and Madison are the new junior commanders of Q.I."

"Well, somebody had to take over and be junior commanders when you suddenly left Quest Inc.," Brandon said softly.

They continued to talk for about an hour. Afterward, Madison, Brandon, Stanchie, Isaiah, and Melissa left the dorm, leaving Calista and Phil alone. Calista leaned over and whispered something into Phil's ear and then got up and left the room. Phil took a pair of swimming trunks out of his dresser and changed into them. He then went to the girls' dorm, where he met with Calista. She was wearing a red-and-white-striped swimsuit. They held each other's hands and went downstairs and out to the backyard; the yard was strangely quiet.

A gentle breeze was blowing through the warm spring air. They got into the pool and began swimming and playing around in the water. After a while, they climbed out of the pool and sat down on two lawn chairs. They eventually got up and went inside. When they reached the second-floor landing, Phil went to the boys' dorm and changed into his dry clothes.

Phil sat alone in the dorm just thinking. He realized that the reason he was around people all the time was to fill the emptiness inside him. His parents had left him in death when he was a young child, when he was only three years old. There was a void in his heart from not being hugged or kissed by his parents, and he filled this void with many good friends.

A lot had happened to Phil these past two years. His last remaining living relative, his grandpa Buzz, had passed away, leaving him a large amount of money. His grandfather had also left him a legacy of the secret organization Quest Inc. Phil's grandfather had created Quest Inc. to help in certain difficult situations. The only way to gain access to the Quest Inc. headquarters was through a secret lift in the main office; access was only permitted to Quest Inc. members.

Like Phil, most of his friends in the orphanage had lost their parents and loved ones. And like Phil, his friends in the orphanage were members of the secret group, Quest Inc.

Alex, his lifelong best friend, had died due to complications from a bad injury months after the last Q.I. mission he was on.

Phil went to the computer desk; he turned on his work laptop and sat down. He put a USB memory stick into the laptop, opened up the NYU website, and began to edit it.

Moments later, there was a loud knock at the door, and he called, "Come in." Lisa walked into the room and went over to hug Phil. She pulled up a chair and sat next to Phil.

"Hey, Phil, how is everything? What are you up to?"

"I'm doing well. My supervisor asked me to reformat and edit the NYU website. How is Adelphi University treating you?"

"My course advisor put me into advanced classes, and it's pretty fun tutoring Isaiah, Brandon, and Madison."

"Thanks for tutoring them for me. How are you?"

"I'm doing okay, I guess." As Lisa replied, her voice cracked and tears began rolling down her face. Lisa and Phil held each other and started to cry. A couple of minutes later, they broke apart and wiped the tears off their faces.

"I have to go tutor them now. I'll talk to you later, Phil."

"Okay, I'll see you at dinner."

Lisa left the dorm, and Phil continued to work on the website.

A little while later, Phil picked up his head. He realized he'd been sleeping at the computer desk. Everything seemed fuzzy and unusual. He got up from the chair and collapsed onto the floor. His legs felt numb, and he was queasy. The room and everything around him seemed really far way. He carefully made his way to the second-floor landing and went downstairs to the dining room. The atmosphere of the orphanage was strangely eerie and quiet, and the dining room felt creepy. He walked into the kitchen, grabbed a glass out of the cabinet, and filled it with ice-cold water. He'd just begun drinking the water when he suddenly dropped the glass, shattering it.

Alex was standing in front of him in the shadows as he slowly walked into the light. Alex's eyes were a pale gray, and he had black drooping bags under his eyes. The skin on his body was drooping and peeling away, and there were bald patches where his hair had been. He let out a loud and long groan.

"Phil, please help me from my eternal damnation. Only you and Quest Inc. can help," Alex said, letting out another long groan. Alex reached out for Phil with his long bony fingers, and they stared into each other's eyes. At that moment, Phil jolted awake.

It was only a dream—a bad nightmare—but it had felt so real. Noises and voices from the other kids echoed through the house and filled the air. He saved his work to the memory stick and then put the laptop away. He tiredly looked at the clock. It's only seven o'clock, he thought sadly.

He went downstairs to the dining room and got a plate. He dished up his food, sat down, and began eating. Lisa, Calista, Isaiah, Madison, and Brandon soon joined him, and they began talking. As Phil was eating, he was staring into the air with a blank look on his face. Brandon asked Phil a question, but Phil just continued to stare blankly.

He felt so alone, as if nobody knew how he felt. But how could anyone know how he felt? So many bad things had happened to him in the past two years. Phil got up from the table and went to the kitchen to put his dishes in the sink. He slowly returned to the boys' dorm, and lying on his bed, he began to cry. A couple of minutes later, he heard kids in the hallway, so he wiped the tears from his face. A group of boys came into the room and sat around Phil, starting to talk to him. A little while later, the boys said good night to Phil and left the room. Moments later, Calista came and gave him a kiss good night before returning to the girls' dorm. Phil crawled into his bed, pulled the covers over himself, and fell asleep.

Around one o'clock in the morning, the door of the dorm slowly swung open and someone came into the room and walked over to Phil's bed. The person gently shook Phil. He pulled the sheets off his face, blinked, and stared at the person with a blank look on his face. The person moved out of the shadows and into the moonlight; it was Muggsy, who is in charge of the orphanage. Muggsy looked the same, although there was a slight gray streak in her hair. The aroma of cigars and alcohol were heavy on her clothes and breath.

"How is everything, Phil? I missed you so much."

"Everything's okay, and I've missed you too. I see you broke your promise and are still drinking and smoking."

"Right now it's very hard to keep that promise I made to you. Besides, I have no motivation to quit when I want to die myself."

"You know what your motivation is? Me. Me and all the other kids you promised to take care of."

Tears rolled down her cheeks as Muggsy began to cry. Phil held her tightly and tried to console her.

"If you don't want me to be your motivation, fine, but don't quit on those children that are still here. And do it for Quest Inc."

Muggsy wiped her face dry and softly smiled at Phil. "Do you realize that Q.I. hasn't had a mission since Alex passed away?"

"You must be kidding me," he said. "Well, is Quest Inc. still getting sponsored?"

"Yes, it is, and the money you gave us is really helping too. We're just not getting any missions. Go back to sleep. We'll talk in the morning."

As Muggsy left the dorm, Phil threw the sheet over his head and went back to sleep.

The Ooze

In the morning, the sunlight broke through the closed blinds and slowly filled the orphanage. Muggsy walked into the boys' dorm and opened the shades, allowing light to pour through the room. The other boys jumped out of their beds and began hustling and bustling around the room, but Phil merely yawned and stretched. He got out of his bed and left the dorm. He went to the dining room, got a plate of food, and went to a table to eat. When he was done eating, he quickly left the dining room and made his way to Muggsy's office. He knocked on the door.

"Come in," she called.

Phil went into the office and sat down.

"Phil, guess what. We have a Quest Inc. mission," said Muggsy.

"What? Who's it for?"

"Well, you remember the strange earthquake that we had three day ago. Even though it was a small one, it made a crack in front of Our Lady of the Snows Church. So the monsignor called me and asked if we can take a look at the crack because there's something oozing out of it."

"Do you have any idea what it could be?"

"I have no idea, but it's probably nothing."

"When are we going to do this thing?"

"As soon as Ryan comes and gets his gear," replied Muggsy.

"Just let me know when he comes. I'll be in the game room."

Phil went upstairs and made his way to the game room. The room was empty; it seemed desolate, as if it hadn't been used in months. He slowly looked around the game room and remembered the last time he and Alex hung out together. He went over to the pool table, racked up the pool balls, selected a pool cue, and started playing by himself. A couple of minutes later, the door to the game room swung open and Ryan walked into the room. Ryan's usual straight hair was now puffy and shaggy, and he looked slightly older than the last time Phil had seen him. Ryan had dark bags under his eyes as if he hadn't slept for days, and he was wearing the Quest Inc. suit.

"Are you coming with us?" Ryan asked. "We're leaving now."

They left the game room and went downstairs to Muggsy's office.

"Hey, Phil, are you going to suit up?"

"No, Muggsy. I don't feel comfortable being in it right now. Who's coming with us?"

"Nobody. Just the three of us are going."

Muggsy got the keys to the Hummer, and they left the orphanage. When they got into the Hummer, Phil looked in the trunk, where he saw radios and other equipment. Muggsy put the key in the ignition and started it up. The Hummer quickly pulled out of the driveway and sped down the street.

The Hummer wove down the street between moving cars, and a couple of minutes later, they reached Our Lady of the Snows Church and parked in front. As they got out of the vehicle, the monsignor greeted them. Ryan got the equipment from the trunk, and they followed the monsignor. He led them to the crack, and they began to set up the equipment. Ryan pointed to a test tube and a tool that looked like a pencil. Phil handed them over to him. A little later, Ryan stopped working and went over to the monsignor.

"There are no signs of radiation or other harmful materials, but there's one more test I want to run," Ryan said.

Ryan walked away, and a couple of minutes later, he returned with equipment that Phil had never ever seen. It was a Sony UX microcomputer connected to a Sony P series computer, with a liquid measurer, test tube, and a microscanner attached to it. Ryan turned it on and set it up. He then scooped some of the ooze out of the crack and put it into the test tube. It began to scan the ooze, and a couple of minutes later, it started to beep and words appeared on the screen.

"It found small traces of ectoplasm residue and genetic residue in the ooze. But it's probably nothing," Ryan said.

"What do you mean by ectoplasm residue?" Phil asked.

"It means spiritual after matter," the monsignor said.

"There's only a tiny trace of it, so I don't think you have anything to worry about," Ryan said. "Do you mind if I take a sample of this for further testing?"

"Of course you can," the monsignor said.

As Ryan began scraping ooze into a test tube, the monsignor took Phil aside.