Out of Body Universe
Part One
Copyright © 2016 Martin Chu Shui
Chapter 1
“What’s his name?”
“Nathan, Nathan Jenkins.”
“Are you sure he’s an OBU virgin?”
“Yes, he is.”
“Okay, keep a close eye on him. Let’s hope he is the one the prophecy predicted; if he is, we hope to finish this soon.”
“Let’s hope so.”
***
Nathan sat there alone, pretending to watch the girls’ show, but his attention was really on the guy that he thought was a girl, a very attractive one that he just couldn’t get his mind off. Nathan was sure that he had seen her real face, together with all the people around her; surely if he did it once, he should be able to do it again. Nathan concentrated and focused his mind’s eye once more, but saw nothing different when he opened his eyes. Anyway, he kept watching her, and he noticed that she was glancing at him as well; each time Nathan looked at her, she quickly moved her gaze somewhere else. It intrigued him: why would a girl, disguised in a man’s mask, be interested in him, a stranger? Nathan really wanted to confirm that he had seen that she wore a guy’s mask; otherwise, he would have a series problem on his hands.
A group of around six young men walked into the bar, talking loudly, and headed towards the girl’s table; there was nothing unusual in such a group moving in and out of bars, but the unusual thing was that Nathan could sense their hostility; he somehow knew that they were going to hurt or kill someone. He had no idea how he could know such a thing, but looking at their bulging clothes, he guessed they had weapons concealed underneath.
Soon the girl and her group also noticed the upcoming group; from their reaction, Nathan immediately realized something was going to happen and sure enough, at the same time as the newcomers withdrew their concealed weapons, the girl and her friends also jumped to their feet, lifting up their chairs and bottles; a mass fight was about to burst out in the crowded bar.
The people sitting near the girl’s table were screaming and trying desperately to get away. The sounds of shouting, screaming, swearing, and glasses and bottles smashing filled the bar. Nathan never took his eyes off the girl who was in the centre of the struggle. It was apparent that the girl and her mates knew how to fight, but their enemies were better trained and equipped, armed with knives, daggers and short swords. Before long the girl and her friends were all sporting stab wounds or slashes, and there was blood everywhere; it would not be long before they were all killed.
Nathan looked around and noticed the wall of people watching the fighting from a distance, but nobody was willing to get involved. The police were nowhere to be seen, although he had seen people ringing the authorities on their mobile phones, and they’d be too late to save the girl if they didn’t turn up soon.
The girl was thrown to the ground not far from Nathan, and for a split second she looked up and her eyes met with his. He could see her plea for help in her piercing blue eyes; she was looking right at him, so there was absolutely no doubt. Nathan didn’t know how he managed it and would not be able to figure it out afterwards, but in that moment he launched into action.
It was almost like his body knew what to do without any assistance from his mind; one attacker leaped forward with his short sword out, trying to stab the girl, who was in the process of getting to her feet. Nathan’s arm flashed out, gripping the attacker’s wrist, and he pulled, twisting the man’s arm; from the pained scream coming out of the attacker’s mouth, Nathan was confident that he had just dislocated the attacker’s shoulder, elbow and wrist joints, but he had never done that move before and hadn’t known how to do it. He heard a sound burst out of his own mouth: “Tai!”
Nathan’s body lurched forward at high speed; he twisted his body, just in time to allow the next dagger to miss him narrowly. Still in the turning motion, his elbow jutted out, cracking the guy’s rib cage. He lowered his body, landing gracefully on the floor, and kicked at the next attacker; the unmistakeable sound of bones cracking indicated the attacker’s leg would be out of action for a long time.
He almost felt like he was watching himself carry out all these amazing stunts, like an out of body experience. In less than sixty seconds, Nathan had beaten every one of the attackers to the ground, leaving them painfully screaming about broken bones and dislocated joints.
“Don’t move! Put your hands over your head! Otherwise we will shoot!”
Nathan looked up; a group of police officers had arrived, and all of them had their guns pointed at him. Glancing around, he saw that the girl and her friends were nowhere to be seen. Nathan slowly put his hands up.
The police officers moved forward, handcuffing Nathan.
“Nathan, what happened?” Gary shouted. He walked towards Nathan but a police officer pushed him back.
“This must be a mistake, Officer.”
“Back off.” The police officer put his gun up, forcing Gary to step backwards. And then Nathan was pushed out of the bar, into a police van, and driven away.
In no time at all the van pulled into a high walled yard, but Nathan wasn’t surprised; he had to remind himself that this was still OBU. Wordlessly, he was dragged out of the van and pushed into the building, along a long corridor, and then into a room.
Nathan was forced into a metal chair, and his hands were cuffed behind his back; from the restriction he felt, Nathan assumed that the cuffs were attached to the chair as well. He tried to move the chair, but realized that it was fixed to the concrete floor.
Without a word, the escorting police officers walked out of the room; with a clunk the heavy metal door closed, leaving Nathan inside the isolated, cold, and highly secure cell. He scanned the room and deduced that he was inside an interrogation room, where a few people would presumably be watching him from behind the large one-way glass window on the opposite wall.
Nathan could not believe what had happened in his life recently. As he stared vacantly at the glass window, his mind went back to only yesterday, according to his memory, but fifteen years ago according to everyone else.