Real world.

A small single engine airplane touched down lightly on the dust covered runway, surrounded on all sides by seemingly endless Savannah. As the ramp was lowered a young woman appeared in the doorway, she was dressed in jeans and a tee shirt with a baseball cap on her head. Slinging her backpack on her shoulders she began to descend the stairs smiling as she took in the scenery.

Evelyn was shocked that she had finally made it to Africa, after the incident on the subway three years ago she wasted no time getting into school. She took on an extremely heavy workload, completing a degree that usually took four years in three. And now she was working on her master’s degree, she had come to Africa to work on a wildlife preserve where she would learn things she never could have in a classroom. Touching the dusty ground Evelyn lifted her head to look for the person she was told would meet her and take her to the wildlife center.

'You have done wrong again.'

'There is another who has broken through.'

'You have met in the past.'

'She will seek to destroy your domain.'

'She will seek to destroy you first.'

'Find her.'





Darkness. Darkness and silence.

The man hated this part of his job so very, very much. He hated the drifting, zero-gravity feeling as he was held in that zone which no man had traversed, waiting to hear the voices of his superiors calling, sending him away on another "errand". He preferred to have hard ground beneath his feet, not empty vacuum. This senseless drifting through an endless black void was not fun in any sense. It only served to fuel his rage, which he then took out on the foolish lower beings that stood in his way, or stood near his way, or generally just tickled his fancy. His superiors had learned that last bit when he was called away from the Tunnel. And he was just beginning to enjoy himself, too...

And then this happened. Apparently the gap between his domain and the domain of his superiors had been bridged once again. Normally this wouldn't merit the man's presence - such breaches were small, and occurred every day, going unnoticed. But this one was very special for two reasons.

One, it was a very large bridge.

And two, someone had succeeded in crossing it.

And so the man was tasked by his superiors with taking whatever had Crossed Over back into his home realm. It was often a tricky job, but usually that point wasn't stressed by his superiors. And apparently he'd had some sort of past with this one... Odd. He'd had 'pasts' with many demons, what was special about this one?

Unless...



The man blinked as darkness was suddenly replaced by blazing sunlight and scorching heat, neither of which affected him too particularly much. As far as the eye could see was rolling grassland, occasionally broken by a low hillock or rambling streambed. A telltale hum from several yards away at first indicated the gap where the Other had Crossed Over, but when he glanced over, it was just an aircraft -

He narrowed his eyes and looked harder at the passenger disembarking from the aircraft.

Her.

Evelyn; the girl from the Tunnel. Something in his chest throbbed, causing a slight ache. He suddenly realized that he was painfully exposed, and that being seen by her could be disastrous for the both of them - at the moment, anyhow, his presence being unknown to the Other, and anyone else, was essential. He made for the shade of a low, gnarled tree, and threw himself beneath it, becoming nearly invisible, his beige overcoat blending seamlessly with the dried earth of the savanna. Slowly, he raised himself to a crouch beneath the shade of the tree and observed the landing strip, quietly.

Evelyn sighed gently as she looked around; she figured that in all this open space she wouldn’t have a hard time finding the person picking her up. But she supposed life out here must be unpredictable, and something must have held up the welcoming comity. Taking off her cap she ran her hand through her light brown hair, she had let her natural color grow out while in school.

As she moved to put her cap back on a shiver went down her spine, she looked around suspiciously. Before shaking her head, deciding she was just nervous in this new place. Once she had calmed herself she noticed something shiny in the dust beneath her. Curious, she bent down to examine the object finding a little silver pendant half buried. Picking it up she discovered it was a silver wing about the size of a silver dollar hanging from a delicate silver chain. “hm I guess somebody must have dropped this” she muttered to herself.

Unknown

The man remained crouched in the brush around the tree, wathing. Evelyn crouched, and retrieved a small pendant from the dirt. The man squinted harder, searching for the shape of the pendant. It looked to be a fairly expensive-looking piece of jewelery, but what was hanging from it? Moments passed as the man stared fixatedly at the little pendant. Eventually, he managed to make out the shape.

It was a wing.

The man's eyebrows slowly quirked upwards. So it was her...



Bryce Evers

A Jeep of obviously outdated make came bouncing across the savana, following a rough path that had been travelled by many vehicles of this type throughout the years. At the wheel was a man, possibly in his mid- to late twenties, rolled over the potholes with ease that betrayed his having come this way many times. The jeep bounced to a stop on the airstrip, where it slid to a stop in the loose, dried soil.

The man swung himself out of the drivers' seat, holding up a beaten piece of paper. He was dressed lightly, in a white t-shirt, a khaki safari vest, brown cargo pants, the cuffs of which were tucked into a pair of tall combat boots, mirrored aviator sunglasses and a black trucker cap. Around his right wrist was tied a red bandanna, and both hands were sheathed in black knuckle-gloves. He turned his well-tanned face towards Evelyn and smiled.

"I 'spect you're the girl I'm supposed t' bring ta the preserve, then?" He intoned in a South African accent. "I'll be yer driver an' guide. Name's Bryce Evers."

Evelyn smiled as she saw the Jeep making its way towards the landing strip. She smiled back at the young man who jumped out holding out her hand to him in a friendly manor “I suppose I am, I’m Evelyn It’s nice to meet you Bryce. “ Without thinking about it Evelyn stuffed the pendant into her pocket. She had done it unconsciously, as though some force had compelled her to. “I’m sure you know already, but I’m here to work with Dr. Marks, and especially to work on the breeding program so when I go back to the states I can be the centers connection with the zoo’s and wildlife centers there.”