Dead Redemption/Lost Years

Ch 1 - Kramer
I carefully unpacked my suitcase in my room. Adelina smiled while dressing Kristina in a soft gray dress with black dress shoes as usually.

"Vhy don't you go play vith Xena and Samantha?" I muse when she walks over near me.

She grins.

"Okay, papa!" she yells, running out of the room and down the hallway.

I nod to Adelina.

"I have to go to vork. I love you." I say quietly.

"I love you too." she replies, working on fixing the compartment up.

I walk quietly down the hallway myself, fixated on the tile floors and the white walls.

I hear bickering around the corner, near where Xena's watching wide-eyed, Samantha clutching her hand tightly.

"Vhy don't I get to vork on ze Bell project?" my best friend, Richtofen, is snarling.

"Kramer is going to be in ze advanced sciences instead. You get to coach ze amateurs." Maxis spits back.

The two are yelling loudly.

I blink, fixing my glasses which have slid slightly when I was stunned.

What!? Richtofen has been here longer than me, and worked harder on this, probably. Why am I getting the promotion?

My friend's eyes narrow into fury.

"You shwienhund! You traitorous rat! You vill regret zis, and delaying ze Wunderwaffe!" he finishes, walking away.

Maxis shakes his head.

I walk next to him.

"What's wrong with him?" I ask quietly.

Maxis whips around, face reddish from yelling so loudly.

"I'm sorry, Kramer. Richtofen's been in a teleporter accident last week. The damn spies got him. And now he's been infected with what I call 'Voice Parasites.' Don't tell him that. He's been through a lot and he's slowly being, in bluntly, possessed by those things." Maxis sighs.

My eyes widen.

"What are those?" I ask, astonished.

Damn, no wonder he's so furious. He's being killed from the inside!

"They're an alien life form that infest the brain area. As soon as I find a cure, he'll be back to normal, I can assure you. He won't even talk to his daughter now that they've done this. Why don't you talk to him for me? He won't listen to me anymore." Maxis groans.

I nod to my boss.

So much happens in one day.

I knock on Richtofen's door lightly.

"Edvard?" I call quietly.

"Vhat, Maxis!?" he snaps back.

"It's Kramer." I chuckle.

He opens the door swiftly.

"Zorry. You're lucky you veren't here last veek." he puffs out. He looks frail and strained, and he's got stiches on his forehead and arms.

"Vhat...happened to you?"

"Erm, uhhh, funny shtory. And anozzer reason I hate Americans." he growled.

For once, I thought I saw Edward from when we were both kids.

Funny, smart, able to make jokes even when angry.

But that Richtofen's gone. And Maxis needs to find the antidote to revive him.

I blink and follow him in. He sits down, so do I.

"Sorry you weren't picked for ze project. I didn't vant ze job if he vasn't going to be fair." I remark quietly.

"You zink I'll forgive him for zat? He's stuck needles in my vorehead against my vill already. Ze stiches vere unessecary, but I'll be fine."

I want to tell him that he's not fine.

That he needs some serious help from Maxis. And that they're there to keep the parasites from causing pain.

But I don't. Maxis' words echo in my head: Please don't tell him!

I shake my head.

"Yeah, I know, Richtofen. How's Lilith doing?" I muse.

I bite my lip as soon as I see Richtofen's cold, shocked expression.

He leans back in his chair, deep in thought.

"You okay?"

I remember Lilith very well. The highschool popularity queen. Pretty, smart, but she wasn't for Kramer. He was more of the sweet, intelligent, clever type, like Adelina.

But Richtofen and Lilith were happy together. Which was fine with Kramer.

"Zhe's...not here anymore." Richtofen chokes. He doesn't look at me. He's staring into space, as if trying to consume his grief.

No wonder he won't talk to Xena. When I first saw his daughter, I thought, She looks just like her mother!

Which is exactly what my friend is thinking.

I shake my head again and rest my hand on his shoulder.

"You need to talk to Xena again, you hear me? If you don't, zhe'll feel like no one loves her again? Are you listening, Edvard?" I suddenly, outragingly hiss, shaking my friend's shoulder hard. He gulps and slowly nods, emerald eyes still fixated into nowhere.

"I'll try and talk some sense into Maxis, but only if bright and early tomorrow you're talking to Xena again, is that clear?"

I couldn't imagine what would happen if I lost Adelina and ignored Kristina.

That'd be like, the end of the world for me. But somehow, Ed's still alive.

But he won't be for long if he keeps on acting this way.