I shifted nervously in my seat, unsure of what to do. Finally I decided to follow him. I grabbed my coat and followed Dr. Zabil.
I stepped out onto the horrid, grey streets of San Francisco and cursed as I felt the rain drop on my head. It stung a little and I quickly flicked up
my hood in order to shelter myself from the acid rain - the gift we had gained from the selfishness of our forefathers.
As I had suspected, Zabil turned to walk toward the site where it had happened. I was still confused about the happenings of the previous day.
Alchemists were extremely rare these days and any alchemist of the high skill a transmutation required would have been recruited by the government
long ago for a tidy sum.
The neatness of the job also showed some outstanding skill of the only recently ressurected art of alchemy. I don't know much about it, but I know
that transmutation (especially to blood shadows) can be an extremely messy business, but the Alchemist seemed to pull it off with an air of expertise
and experience.
I rounded the final corner, following Zabil, into the alleyway in which I had stood less than twenty-four hours ago. He was there, on his knees in
front of the horrific blood shadow, no more than a red, smeared angel on the wall - arms outstretched. Zabil was sobbing, ignoring the rain burning
through his trousers. Really, I was unsure of what to do. How did I handle this? This wasn't just a death - it was murder. What do you say to
someone? Should I have even let him know I was there?
Just then my train of thought was cut off. I heard a slight shuffle at the other end of the alleyway and my head snapped to, just in time to see a
shadow of a figure slinking down the alleyway toward Zabil.
Without second thought, I launched myself down the alleyway. At that moment Zabil stood up and faced the slinking figure. A bright light flashed from
somewhere and the next thing I knew I was lying on the ground trembling. Soon darkness claimed me and all was quiet.
A woman screamed. I looked around in the madness of the earthquake. There she was - hair as golden as the sun (which seemed very strange, since
blondes had become exxtinct at least two decades ago) and brilliant blue eyes. She was crying, reaching out. She seemed to be looking at me. I was
about to cry out to her, for reasons unknown to me, but I was cut off. She released a deathly shriek as a slab of concrete fell on her, finishing its
hendred-storey plummet. Darkness again.

