Storyteller's Universe // Violent Visions
Safe Haven



I follow after Sebastian into a half-finished building. Seems like the construction work has been abandoned for a while. The entrance we went through was covered in sticky notes, all with a struck-through circle on them. They remind me of the paper spells Carla casts.

We walk further in, reaching a bare-concrete room with no ceiling, there’s a group of people here already, various species. Sebastian throws his hands out.

“My friends!! Sorry for being late!”

Someone from the group shouts “nothing new,” and they all snicker or giggle. The skunk turns back to me.

“It’s safe enough here to do the transfers, sweetheart. It always takes a while, please bear with me.”

They pull an index card and a pen from their jacket. They take a moment to write something on it.

“Want to say anything to Raphy before you see him?”

I stare at them, who is Raphy? I shake my head.

“Shae— Says— Hi—”

With a theatrical stab they dot the end of the sentence, the paper vanishes from his hand. Is that their ability? Where did it go?

“I know it’s not really your cup of tea, but they’re all good, welcoming people. You will be seeing them around all Haven, it’s a good idea to start getting familiar with everyone.”

I feel my stomach sink. I don’t know any of these people besides Sebastian.

“But no pressure. I’ll go talk to them, join when you’re ready.”

They pat my shoulder before turning around and leaving to join the rest of the group.

I sit down against one of the walls and reach for my phone; I accidentally pull out the contact info the Contractors agents gave me along with it. Out of curiosity, I give them a good look.

The business card includes their spiral logo, “Contractors” in bold lettering, “anomalous mercenaries for hire” underneath, and on the other side weird instructions on how to get in contact.

The piece of paper has handwritten phone numbers of agents Damon and Sybil.

Both of these remind me of Carla noticing every recruitment strategy they used on me. They really didn’t want me to join them, not that I particularly want to.

“Alright everyone, attention! We can start, leavers will be first so please stay clear of me, we will do those who want to enter next.”

I spend the next couple of minutes watching Sebastian, as various people appear out of thin air, holding his hand. Some short exchanges of hellos and thank yous take place before leaving, only for another person to appear holding Sebastian’s hand.

A piece of paper appears in their hand and they turn towards everyone in the room.

“Now it’s y’all’s turn, one at a time!”

Then they turn towards me specifically, giving me a wink.

“Shae goes last, Raphy wants to talk to her.”

I bring my knees close to me as everyone’s attention turns towards me. It doesn’t hide me too well.

I watch basically the opposite of what was happening a minute ago — People come up to shake Sebastian’s hand, they say goodbyes and thank yous, before disappearing. They force people to wait a little bit before another person can go. Eventually it’s just the two of us left in the room. They beckon me to come up to them.

As I come up, Sebastian grabs both of my hands, and tries to look me in the eyes, but I avoid their eye contact.

“Take it easy, okay? You have all the time in the world to find your footing.”

I nod, not entirely sure what they mean.

I suddenly find myself standing on a grassy hill, in the shade of a lone giant beech, still holding onto Sebastian.

“It’s good to meet you, Shae. I’m Raphael.”

Oh. I quickly pull my hands away from him and take a step back. My reaction puts a smile on the skunk’s face.

“Welcome to the Haven. I hope it can serve as your new home.”

I turn around and in the distance, on grassy plains and hills, I see a busy settlement. It looks like something straight out of history books, it’s built out of wood, there’s a nearby forest with a lumber mill, a river with fishing huts, farms and windmills.

Down the hill I can see the people that were in the concrete room a moment ago, now making their way towards the houses via a beaten path.

“Let’s walk together. As always, it looks like lil’ Sebby hasn’t filled the newcomer in, I’ll explain everything.”