The House of Grey- Volume 4 (16 page)

But there was no need
. Monson should have caught the hint when his counterpart remained
quite calm, if
distinct
ly annoyed, as he watched an
individual
emerge from the trees
.
Without even realizing how,
Monson instantly recognized
him.

The owner of
the cold voice
stared at Monson.

Monson felt the strange rush of the familiar as he watched the wild one, his
thick black hair hanging long and tousled over a dirty white robe that was ripped in several places. 
He grinned maliciously,
a
sadistic credo manifesting
itself
in every crinkle of his skin.
S
i
l
ver eyes that were
both cold and calculating
bore down on Monson
,
suffocating
him
under their immense pressure. Monson found it hard to breath
e
. 

The man
stalk
ed towards the pair of Monsons and
spoke as he neared
them
.

“How entertaining
,
I didn’t miss him
.
” He squared up to Monson
,
staring with unblinking eyes. In an unexpected turn, his hand shot out as if he wanted to shake Monson’s.

“
This is a gesture for greeting in your world
,
is it not?”  The man proffered his hand more poignantly
.
“I’m
—
”

“Not yet!”  The other Monson ran over
,
interposing himself between Monson and the wild
-
looking man. “You know it
i
s not time for that
.
H
e does
n
o
t
yet
have the experience to handle it.”

The wild
-
looking man
grew angry
. “What would you know about it? You have an abrupt spell of consciousness and all of
a
sudden
,
you think you can order me around. I, who have always been here
.
”

The other Monson gave him a cold look. “And look what happen
ed
to him under your care. If he dies, you die also. Do not be a fool.”

“Better he die th
a
n remain weak.”

“Back down. He is not ready
and you know it!
Allowing him access in this state is just idioti
c. The marks are still in place and I am still here.
He
has to come to
you
. You know this.
”

“I warned you
,
intruder,” said the wild
-
looking man in a loud voice.
He drew
himself into an
en garde
stance
that closely resembled
Casey
’
s fist-based fighting
stance.

“I thought you might act this way. Therefore, I invited some help
.
H
e should be arriving about now
….
”

What happen
ed
next was very strange
.
I
t was a sensation that Monson did not entirely know how to describe. I
t
felt like the rushing of the wind but it was as if he was feeling it inside of him instead of on his skin.

Monson’s
clone
gestured towards the river
.
“
S
peak of the devil.”

A
second man
now
stood on the
river
bank radiat
ing
pure
,
raw power.

His
physical appearance was
incredibly
like
that of
the wild one. He had the same penetrating silver eyes
, the same hard jaw and nose.  He even
wore the same style of
robe, but th
at
is where the similarities stopped. His over
all
countenance was
for lack of a better work -- perfect, with a
bearing
like that of a mountain
,
calm and established. Light rained down on
his
most striking feature
, his hair,
which was p
ulled back in a ponytail that
hung
past
his
shoulder
. It was
completely silver
,
just
like
his
eyes
, and
shimmered
as if each of the strands were made from molten metal
. Before long
he
was standing near the others.

“Enough of this
,
K
eeper
.
Hearken
unto the guide or we all shall surely
perish
. Such happenings are unprecedented in our world and we have naught
of
the skills to deal with them.”

The wild one ignored his silver
-
haired twin. Monson
saw a sudden, blinding flash of light and
felt
an immense
pressure
,
which caused him to
fall
to
his knees just like he did when Casey
was fighting the MIB so many months ago
.
Sharp gesture
s
coupled with inaudible words played preamble to a beam of lighting
-
like energy. The wild one turned a hateful eye towards
t
he regal
silver-haired one, who
spoke
.
“
His
skills have not
all
been lost
.
T
he inner aquifer of knowledge may
yet
flow
,
but only if given time.”

The wild one’s look of hatred intensified
.

“So what shall it be?”
asked the regal one.

The wild one finally relented
.
“I will concede this once, but only if you eject the intruder.” 

The
silver-haired man
spoke to both Monson’s
counterpart
and the wild one. “Listen well
,
my brethren
,
as I shall not
repeat myself
. This is no time to be fighting among
st
ourselves
.  Time remains of the essence and our topic
s
are
vast.  This simple venture is
wrought
with danger
,
as my awakening
,
coupled with the markings
,
could destroy us all.
Simple e
xplanation
shall be given
and restraint used
,
else he make a mistake
and
become the harbinger of disaster.”

To their
credit,
the other two looked slightly ashamed of themselves after their scolding. They muttered whispered apologies
without
looking at each other
,
then
turn
ed
their attention back to Monson. The
two brothers
stepped forward.

“Master Grey
,
” said the
silver-haired man
in a gentle voice
.
“
I would like to introduce myself but I must ask you to
utter
neither
m
y name
n
or my brother’s
aloud
.
”

“
OK.
” Monson looked at him confused
.
“
B
ut why wouldn’t you want me to say your name out loud?”

“I
a
m
truly
sorry
.
”
He gave
a small bow
.
“I know it
i
s a great deal to
request of you,
yet
right now we
require
you to trust your instincts and listen.”

Monson
sighed.
H
e absolutely
hated
it when people said things like that. This
was not
some bad soap opera. Just tell him what
was
going on!
But
Monson saw the urgency in the man’s eyes
and
knew
he
had to trust him.  This
was
where the instinct kicked in
. He
nodded
his head
.
“I will not repeat
your names.
”

“Very
well, then.
I should say that I have been waiting a
long
time to meet you
,
Monson Grey
.
My name is Yari.” He smiled broadly and bowed again. Monson,
sensing
the
significance of the
event
, actually bowed back.

The wild
-
looking man grinned in anticipation as he stepped forward
,
closely watched by the other two.

“We’ve actually met, though I don’t expect you to remember. I hope you will call on me again when you
’
re in trouble
….
”

The rest of
his
words
were
drowned
out by
very loud “ahem”
s
from
the other two
. The wild
-
looking man turned around
,
his malicious grin reattached. He spun back to face Monson again.

“You can call me Gi
.
”

“Nice to meet both of you
.
”

“
Very well,
” said
the other Monson.
“
N
ow that
we are finished with
introduction
s,
we have a few things that we
must
show you.
T
hings that you must know before you can
—
”

“Wait just a second
,
” interrupted Monson
.
“
T
hat’s it? You’re just going to tell me your names?
”

The other t
hree just looked at him
,
their confusion apparent.

“
N
ot that having your names isn’t great and everything, but I still
have no idea
who you all are. It’s hard for me to trust someone I know nothing about
.
” When
no one
object
ed,
he
continued. “Look at it from my point of view
:
I get sucked into my
mirror
by
myself
,
taken to a forest
in the middle of nowhere,
then I have to s
i
t here and listen to my mirror
image
and two random people talk about heaven knows what
?
Oh, and l
et
’
s not forget
that
the last
time
I caught a glimpse of you all
,
I’m pretty sure you were
in the middle of a
stress-induced cage match. Now
?
N
ow you
’
re asking me to trust you
?
How about
you
trust
me
and tell
me
what the
HELL
is going on?”