Who Are All These People?

"No, No, No... He's Not Ready!," A heated Male voice argued.

"I Agree.," Replied a second Male voice.

"It doesn't matter what we think... The Long Night must end... it is inevitable.," A third voice stated in a detached, almost insanely rational calm.

"I find your Placidity rather disquieting B̵̧̛͙̹͖̹͇͚̓̈́͒̀̌̽̇͝ͅy̷̝̣̖͙̎̍̔̿̉̏̑̑ȑ̸͔̪͖̼̳͌͒͆͂ô̵̘͙̮̂̈́̇͗̀ṉ̸̱͍̰̉͋̕̚.," Came a fourth and obviously displeased voice.

"Enough! He's awake."

Aaron awoke with a start, feeling the cool night air on his bare chest and his first thought as he looked around his darkened room was., "Who Are All These People?"

An odd question to ask oneself I admit especially when the only other person in the room was Sydney who was still **** from the firefight earlier but as Aaron looked around the room he saw no trace of Sydney which might have concerned him if not for the people gathered around his bed. Some were sitting in chairs that seemed to have been ripped right out of different eras of history while others stood behind or to the side of those seated.

There were more than a dozen people gathered around him and what's more he had already kinda of met a few of them. There was The Priest, The Pirate, and even Dark-Skinned Woman with white hair from before but there were even more that he hadn't met yet. It was a strange sensation but Aaron felt as though he knew all of them somehow. He could even almost recall each of their names.

Aaron let his gaze drift from one person to the next as he scanned the room. On his right was a Man dressed in western-style clothing and a long duster coat smoking a Cigarillo while holding a .44 Caliber Remington 1858 New Army Revolver with an extended barrel in the grip of a Desiccated almost skeletal hand.

Next to The Cowboy was another Man but he was dressed in a ripped and bloody prison jumpsuit, tapping his fingers on the armrest of his chair... only the tips of his fingers were gone and all that was left were sharp bones jutting out of the burnt flesh. His face was little more than charred bone, the eyes were gone but in their place were two yellowish gold flames and blood slowly trickling from the otherwise empty sockets.

Aaron was shocked but not by the appearances of the two Men if you can believe that but by how familiar they all seemed. Aaron wasn't disturbed by how ghastly they looked partially because he had already seen alot of really strange and what most people would consider madness-inducing things but mainly because he felt comfortable... like he had been here before... like he had seen these people a hundred times before.

The Cowboy smiled, pushing up the brim of his hat with the barrel of his gun as Aaron's gaze shifted to the foot of his bed where two more Men sat. These two actually made Aaron feel a bit nervous. The first Man had long, shoulder-length hair the color of spun gold with eyes to match and pallid, almost bloodless skin but neither of those things were as unsettling as what he was wearing. Aaron's heart started to race, his chest tightened and he was short of breath seeing the black suit, black gloves and a pin with the symbol for the letter Psi from the Greek alphabet affixed to the lapel of his suit jacket. He was a member of Psi Corps... An organization of Telepaths who Police other Telepaths. The thought of it gave Aaron goosebumps.

Amongst all the various types and sub-types of Supra-Normals that were know to exist Telepaths were by far the most feared because of their ability to touch the mind of others but not simply to touch the mind but for those with the power, they could control, rewrite or even destroy the minds of others. Its mainly because of the fear of Telepaths that all Supra-Normals are required by law to be registered, monitored, and reported. It may not be fair but those with power were like loaded weapons walking around at least that's the excuse Politicians and Religious Fanatics use to justify the passing of laws to restrict and even condemn their friends and neighbors.

"No Need To Worry Aaron I Won't Read Your Mind If You Don't Want Me To.," Aaron heard a sharp metallic screech in his head as the blond Man projected his voice into Aaron's Mind.

Aaron found the blond Man's jovial attitude and unnerving smile somewhat disconcerting, Almost as much as his habit of reaching up above his ear and twisting his right hand as though he were turning the valve on a oxygen tank or something. What's more every time he did that the aura of emotion Aaron sensed from him fluctuated wildly, ranging from cold apathy to burning anger and from mindless joy to manic depression but no matter what emotion radiated from him his expression never wavered. It was like he was trying to be several people all at once. It was very confusing.

As alarming as the blond Telepath was the Man sitting next to him was even more distressing. He had short dark hair, pale skin, and golden glowing eyes but Aaron was getting use to all that, what really stood out about him was how dazzlingly handsome he was. He had the face of an Angel but the horns jutting out of either side of his forehead seemed to dispel that notion right off the bat and what's more every time Aaron looked back and forth from The Angelic Man in The Black Suit to the blond Telepath beside him the horns protruding from his skull were different. At times they were straight... At others they were curved... They were short... They were long... It was peculiar to say the least but also this Man seemed the most familiar of any of the people that were gathered around him or that he had seen in The Howling Dark.

The only word Aaron could think of to describe what he felt when he looked at him was., "Brother."

Aaron found the next words coming out of his mouth without him even thinking., "You-You're Joh..."

"Shhhhhh!.," The Horned Stranger smiled, touching a clawed finger to his lips., "Don't ruin the surprise."

Aaron's mouth immediately snapped shut mid-sentence without his permission. Aaron could taste blood and he was sure that at least one of his teeth were chipped.

"Apologies.," The Horned Man said softly, extending his left arm out beside him where it came to rest on the crown of a polished skull. Aaron took in the sight and it was unique to say the least. The skull was a glossy bleached white and polished to a high shine, it also had blood red flames smoldering in its eye sockets and large up and lower canines but what's more is that the skull was part of a guitar. It was a sinister and very ironic looking instrument with a skull as the literal head of the guitar, the neck was an actual spine, the strings were hair from a hanged Man which despite being more than 300 years old were incredibly strong and razor sharp, and the body was made from the bones of a human torso with the sternum cleanly cut down the center and what could only be described as a grinning ribcage stuffed with squirming wires and writhing guts... a truly macabre sight but also beautiful in a odd sorta way if I'm being honest.

For whatever reason Aaron's first thought was., "Cool.," As cliche as that sounds.

"By the way I saw your moves in The Hospital... Not bad... and you sing pretty good. Sorry to put you through that but it seemed the best way to get your attention and help you at the same time."

Aaron wasn't sure exactly what to say to that but before he could finish fully processing his thoughts a strange darkness cast a shadow over his soul and a fog clouded his mind. Aaron's body relaxed and he smiled widely before speaking in a voice that made the air around him vibrate., "**** Was Looking For You."

The Horned Man's own ever present smile was replaced by a grimace that slowly gave way to a knowing smirk., "She always was a bit too clingy for my tastes but then again **** is like that after all... She follows us all from the time we're born to the time we die and... even in an empty room she is always as close to us as our own skin. Of course, For us it a bit different but you'll learn that for yourself in time."

Aaron shook his head to try and clear his mind before trying to ask a question., "But I..."

"Shhhh!." The Horned Man gestured with a finger on his lips again then with the same finger pointed to Aaron's left.

Aaron looked where The Horned Man was pointing and there were two other Men. The first was perhaps the most common looking one of the lot with scraggly black hair, golden irises and white almost grey skin. He was barefoot with black wool trousers with the pant legs rolled up, suspenders, and a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows. On his left forearm was a long black scar that kept appearing and disappearing at random intervals. Judging by his appearance, The word that came to mind was "Rural." Aaron also noticed something else, While his other senses weren't as acute as his sight and hearing his sense of smell was still above that of a natural born human and he was getting a strong whiff of ****. Resting on the right armrest of the chair The Man with Disheveled Hair was Sitting in was a quart jar nearly halfway full of some clear liquid.

Next to him was a younger looking Man dressed in a black Japanese school uniform except he was clearly not Japanese. He had black and white hair and pale skin but there was something off about him. Aaron noticed that there was blood dripping from his right ear, there was even blood in his eyes which glowed only faintly and there was a series of hair thin deep red and throbbing black veins making there way up the side of his neck to the right side of his face.

"Who Are All These People?," That was the thought that kept repeating in Aaron's head.