Origins: Snapshots In Time 144

Isaac was beginning to think he'd run up against yet another dead-end. Every lead he'd followed so far seemed to take him out of the U.S. and into another country, and then the trail would just abruptly stop. No warning, no explanation, just nothing more to follow. So far he'd been through Korea, Russia, England, Scotland, Norway, Sweden, Spain, Japan, and currently he was in the middle of China; Shanghai to be exact. And just like all the others... this trail had abruptly come to an end.

At least, it had until the first shadow had separated from the surrounding buildings and launched itself at him.

Isaac found himself embroiled in a fight right there in the middle of Shanghai's streets. Where he half expected the Chinese authorities to come walking by and throw him in a jail cell, instead everyone on the street seemed to be looking the other way. No one wanted to be involved, and no one wanted to be a witness. Even the few Chinese police he'd spotted in the area during the fight had made themselves scarce. They didn't want to deal with it either.

The fight wore him out more than Isaac Keller would have liked to admit. He stopped on the steps just long enough to reload his weapon, and take a half a second to catch his breath. Something told him then, to turn around.

He wasn't quick enough.

Sergeant Isaac Keller turned his head just in time to see a six year old in dark clothes with some unrecognizable bladed type of weapon in in her hand launching herself right at him. The sunburst went off in his vision first as the girl's mind entrenched itself into his head and unleashed what felt like someone ripping his head apart. The second thing - and last thing - that he felt was the bite of the blade sinking into the side of his neck.

She must have had the blades laced with something, because somewhere in between the unhappy surprise of finding a little kid attacking him and actually dropping to the pavement, he noticed that telltale foggy, muffled sensation settling in around him.

Isaac was out cold before his body had even hit the stairs beneath him. And no one was around to see what had happened. And those that were, conveniently forgot that they were.

No one would be talking about this one.