Liam held an envelope in one hand while attempting to butter a piece of toast with his other hand. He shoved the half-buttered toast in his mouth and practically flew out of his apartment. The envelope held his admission letter to the School of Design, Eastwood Advanced Education High School, which he had meant to send over two weeks ago. 

Schools in the country of Taplican were different, mainly because Taplican was home to Powered, and was the only country with actual superhero vs. supervillain fights. The schools had 14 years, with middle school having an additional two. But classes there weren't ordinary. While it was a requirement to have at least one math and one English class, most other classes were all tipped to the student’s wants and needs, with classes such as drawing anime, comic design, the study of flowers, and dodgeball. Most students tried to get the dodgeball class on their schedules since the only day you didn’t play dodgeball was Wednesday, which was reserved for learning techniques about how to throw a ball properly. 

But one of the best things about Taplican was the choice students made at the start of middle school. Students could choose to move out of their parent’s house, into a dorm room that got better each year. In 6th grade, food was directly delivered to the student’s dorm, since students couldn’t be trusted with cooking materials just yet. But once you completed at least two years of culinary classes, all of the cooking material could be used. 

Liam was one of the few that liked cooking, even though most of the time it was ramen with a boiled egg and some ham. He smiled as he thought of this, and the toast fell out of his mouth. He cursed loudly in his head but continued running toward the post office. He now wished he had brought a coat of some sort. He also wished he had taken the time to brush his hair, which now was an uncontrollable tangle of bright green hair.

Kat sighed as she switched the tuition letters, changing what school she was going to. She desperately wanted to go to the private academy for police work. Still, Hamilton had put in the letter that the school she was being sent to was suspicious, with many rumors going around about it secretly being a school for crime. 

She was perfect, he had said, she could go directly in since she was a higher honors student, and only the most insane of schools would turn her down. Since the police school had her listed as ‘Amber Martin’, they used her birth name, Katrina Lawson. She was nervous, yet excited, but if what they told her was true . . .  Things would go downhill, fast. 

But what she found the most interesting was how far away dorms were from the actual school. Most schools had dorms on campus so that students could get there faster, but the school she was going to, did not. Eastwood Advanced Education High School had dorms far off campus, about a 15-minute walk, but the dorms were also very close to the woods. Kat liked this fact since the woods provided a great space to relax and unwind, but the trees were unbelievably enormous, and some parts seemed dark enough to disappear from the forest altogether. But one question lingered: How can a school this big and beautiful be a school of crime? 

She put the tuition letter in her bag and set off to the post office. As she left, she placed her headphones over her so no one would see her ears, which were sharply pointed at the top, to ensure that the noise around her was lowered. After all, she didn’t want to be reminded about how weird she was in public. Unfortunately, even the headphones didn’t stop the constant flow of thoughts in her head, and she had heard so many insults over the years, that now she was barely affected when she heard someone think, Why is she dressed like that? or Why would someone wear such bright contacts? It’s such a bright shade of yellow! She was used to stuff like this, but with the headphones, at least the noise was lowered, and only if she was paying attention, could she hear the thoughts of passersby. 

But for now, the only thing that mattered was putting the tuition letter in a postal box, and getting some new stamps. Maybe some chocolate-covered ice cream as well.

Liam was running as quickly as he could, trying not to run into anyone on the streets, but it was hard with the number of people there to begin with. Many people threw him angry looks, but it didn’t bother him. He didn’t have the time for it to bother him. He had less than 10 minutes until the post office emptied the postal bins for delivery, so he tried to quicken his pace even more. He considered making one of his cotton candy balloons for a minute but knew that even more people would turn to stare. 

Liam was also Powered, but not many people had ever heard of a superpower like his. He could make cotton candy out of thin air, and even change it to different flavors! Which he liked, and was surprised that his addiction to the sweet stuff hadn’t yet caused any medical problems. 

One of his biggest questions, however, was who his parents were. He had powers, so what about them? Did they have powers? Was it a genetic mutation? These were the questions that kept him up at night. Liam tried desperately to shut those thoughts down, he didn’t need anything else to dwell on. 

He continued running for a bit until he hit a familiar alleyway, and he sped through it. Thankfully, no one was there to see him trip over his shoelaces. His face hit the gravel with a loud thud, and then he looked up to see what he thought was going to be his death. 

A tall shadowy figure loomed over him, and whoever, or whatever it was, had the brightest yellow eyes he had ever seen. The figure crouched down and reached its hand out to him. I’m gonna die! Please don’t kill me, please don’t kill me, please don’t kill me, he thought as he timidly reached up. 

“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to startle you or trip you, I’m on my way to the post office right now, and this is a shortcut I didn’t know anyone took. My bag was on the ground, that’s what you tripped on if that’s what you’re curious about. Besides, you don’t even have laces on your shoes, so you couldn’t have tripped on those.” 

The voice was feminine, which threw Liam off, as the figure was too tall to be a normal female. She grabbed his hand and pulled him up with a strength that he didn’t expect her to have. Liam now looked down at his shoes, and realized she was right; he didn’t have shoelaces. 

“T-thanks,” he stammered, “I’m also going to the post office, what a coincidence!” He laughed nervously and started to think he was about to die. The girl’s lips formed a smile. 

“Well then, in that case, I’m Katrina, but you can call me Kat.” Liam considered what to do, should he run? Should he say what his name was? Should he just agree to go with her? “You don’t have to go with me if you don’t want to, Liam, but you seem like you need someone to talk to. I mean, you just seem stressed.” 

Liam started to walk with her, the gravel crunching under his worn-out sneakers. “I’m going to assume that the envelope you’re holding is a tuition letter,” Kat said, stating it almost as if it were a fact. “I’m also going to assume that if the former is true, then that’s why you’re so stressed.” Liam nodded, slowly, How can someone figure that out by just looking? Liam swallowed his fears and started walking with Kat.

Kat discovered her mistake as she started walking with Liam. He didn’t say his name. Crap. Kat adjusted her hood, which shaded her gigantic headphones from the passive viewer. Kat fidgeted with her coat strings, praying Liam didn’t notice. 

She was happy since Liam wasn’t sent out to interfere with her mission. He instead was just a student that was too lazy to turn in his tuition letter until the last day. But to Liam’s credit, Kat was doing the same thing, but for different reasons. Kat turned to look at Liam, who was still shaking. Kat didn’t mean to scare him, but it was pretty easy with her appearance. 

“So, what school are you applying to?” Kat asked, breaking the silence. Liam jumped a little, distracted by his thoughts. 

“I, uh, I’m applying to that Eastwood place. I’ve heard that their editing classes are really good.” Liam responded before drifting back into his thoughts. His mind was frenzied, but it was still easy to listen to his thoughts. They have dodgeball lessons, but would I rather have an extra art class? Kat listened to his thoughts, making the corner of her mouth twitch. 

“Dodgeball lessons are pretty popular there. Are you taking them?” Kat asked as they approached an intersection. 

“Yeah, a lot of people do. But since I’m just now turning in my letter, I may not get it.” Kat pressed the button on the pole, signaling the cars to stop. 

“I personally have never liked the sport. Too much noise and clutter. It can get pretty boring after the first semester. Instead, I’m doing stop-motion animation classes.” They crossed the road as cars continued to pull up. To Kat’s surprise, Liam was a lot quicker than she thought. 

“Do those exist?” Liam asked as he made it to the other side of the road. The sidewalk over here was a lot more polished than the alleyway they were just in mere minutes before. Kat nodded, before noticing something slightly pink on Liam’s hands. 

“I can tell that you’d be interested,” Kat said, a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. “Why’s that? Do I have an artsy appearance?” Liam dragged out the word ‘artsy’ while he struck a little pose. 

“You look like you dropped butter on yourself while smearing pink goo on your hands.” Kat laughed as Liam looked down. Liam’s expression changed from happy to panic in the blink of an eye. 

“H-how do you notice these things? The butter marks are so small!” Liam squeaked, while Kat continued to laugh. 

“I notice the little things, rather than the big picture,” Kat said. “The small things might just be the things to save your life in the long run. But that doesn’t matter now, we’re here at the post office.” Liam looked up, not even noticing how far they had traveled.

Liam and Kat both placed their letters in the bin just as the delivery man walked in to collect the bins. The interior of the post office smelled like cinnamon pie, and the decor matched. There were leaves placed on the walls, naming the employees. There was a small tree with greeting cards dangling from the decaying branches. Kat turned to head to the stamp area, and Liam trailed behind. 

“You collect stamps?” Liam asked. “Yeah, I collect certain colors to make a larger picture. It’s a lot of fun, considering it took three years to finish my first one.” Liam was surprised because he didn’t think someone as threatening as Kat would do such a thing. Someone like Kat should be on the cover of an ”Osapian Serial Killers” book. 

Liam smiled, Osapians are dumb. After all, the last Powered that tried to help was shot. He remembered when that hit the news. “Here in Osap, a Powered man named Jerome Greene was shot and instantly killed after he tried to save the President from an assassination attempt. Jerome managed to pull the President to safety, but was shot because the police considered him a threat.” He was drawing when he heard that. When his mother was still alive, she told him “That’s the fastest I’ve ever seen you move your head.” 

“Hey, Liam, I’m finished if you’re waiting for me.” Liam snapped out of his thoughts. “Oh! Uh, were you saying something? I zoned out, sorry!” 

Kat chuckled, “I was saying that if you were waiting for me, I’m done.” 

Liam nodded, “You seem nice! Maybe we could hang out some more! Maybe? Sorry, that’s probably absurd sounding, since we just met and all.” Liam fidgeted with his coat sleeves, embarrassed. How could I have asked such a stupid question? Kat wouldn’t want to hang out with a loser like me! I don’t even have friends! Liam thought to himself as he continued fidgeting. 

“I’m sorry! I shouldn't have-” Kat interrupted him, and Liam braced for the whiplash of his actions. 

“Why are you apologizing? Honestly, you seem like a nice person as well! I can tell by your personality that you’re an honest person. Besides, I don’t have anyone to hang out with, and if we’re going to the same school, then we might as well get to know each other, right?” Liam smiled awkwardly and opened his mouth to speak, but Kat held her hand up. “I think that maybe we should be friends,” Kat said, and Liam’s face broke out into the smile of an excited toddler. “But, to pass the ultimate test, we will see what type of ice cream is best. Basically, in other words, we should get ice cream.” 

The Ice Cream Bazaar was empty, just the way Kat liked it. It smelled like strawberry milk, mixed with the occasional whiff of mint or cinnamon. No one was behind the counter, and 

Liam turned to Kat, “I- I think they’re closed.” 

Kat smirked, “No, they’re not, trust me. Camel dude! You have humans in the bazaar! One must pass the ultimate test!” Kat yelled. Her loud voice echoed off the walls. Pans fell in the back of the shop, and she could hear loud cursing. A small man stumbled out of the kitchen area, tying a bubblegum pink apron onto himself. He brushed his dark orange hair out of his face, something that was useless since it fell right back into his face looking like small metal coils. He flashed the two a grin. 

“I never thought I’d see you with someone else, Kat! Looks like you’re finally making friends!” He joked, putting on blue latex gloves. “I think, I think . . .  I need to get bigger gloves.” He joked, pointing out the fact that the gloves were stretched across his hands, probably cutting off circulation. She tried to block off all the noise coming from their thoughts. Liam’s thoughts were enough to give Kat a panic attack. Everyone thinks, yes, but not as randomly and loudly as Liam did. His mind was like an angry hornet nest. 

“So! I should introduce myself to you, tiny green man. I’m Cameron, but, as you can see, a tall werewolf girl calls me ‘Camel’. Because she doesn’t know English.” Liam snorted a little. 

“‘Tiny green man’! That's a new one! Ha! I’m Liam, I met Werewolf Girl on the way to the postal office.” Liam held up his fingers to quote him. “But, the real question here is, why do you call her ‘Werewolf Girl’?” 

Cameron laughed a little, “Well, first off, I call her that due to those bright yellow eyes of hers. If you read fiction stories about them, you learn about their bright yellow eyes, and how it’s a sign that someone is a werewolf. You can also-” Kat interrupted him. 

“Holy beans dude, Liam didn’t come here for a lecture on the history of werewolves.” 

Cameron signed loudly, “Fine, fine. What’cha two want? And Liam, hey, buddy,” he pretended to whisper to Liam, slightly covering his mouth, “This is the ultimate test, you gotta pass it. Choose correctly, or face the consequences.” Cameron uncovered his mouth, and Liam backed up a few steps. 

“Don’t worry,” Kat said, placing her hand on Liam's hair, “You’ll pass. I hope. Please don’t torture me like this. I can’t just bring a psychopath into the Bazaar. We have standards.” Kat pulled her hand back and brushed it off like there was blood on it, even going so far as to pull out a handkerchief to wipe it off. “But either way,” Kat said, brushing her hair out of her face, “Don’t screw it up. For my sanity.”

Liam practically had sweat pouring from every pore in his body. The ultimate challenge? What the heck is the ultimate challenge? He wiped his sticky and sweaty hands on his pant legs, praying Kat didn’t notice. Liam was facing away from Cameron and Kat, once again hoping that neither noticed how awkward he was acting. He had already dun goofed once, accidentally making a small amount of cotton candy while walking with Kat for the first time. As kind as she was, it was going to take a long time to get used to her intimidating stature and her piercing yellow eyes. He turned around as Kat sat down with a small bowl of ice cream. 

“So! Liam, since you’re new here, I’ll let you have a freebie for just this once. What do you want?” Liam looked over all the options with great curiosity. The only flavors he had ever eaten were chocolate and vanilla since those were the only two that the school offered. The one that caught his attention was a bright blue, with specks of orange, yellow, and white. Mixed into that were huge red globs of . . .  something. Its label read ‘Superhero’. Liam turned to Cameron and pointed to the bin. 

“What’s the superhero flavor? It looks-” Both Kat and Cameron cut her off, “No superhero!” They yelled in unison. 

“That ice cream is a sin and should not exist! The company keeps sending it though! So I have no choice but to display it . . . ” Cameron said, shaking his head vigorously. Liam’s mouth stretched out into a long, thin line. 

“Interesting . . .  How about the mint chocolate chip?” From his peripheral vision, he saw Kat’s face recoil in disgust. “That’s . . . . Acceptable. I’ll allow it. You pass the test with a D minus. Any toppings?” Cameron asked, adjusting his apron. 

“Marshmallows!” Liam exclaimed, his face breaking out into a full-blown smile. 

“That can’t fix this freak of ice cream,” Kat said, crossing her arms, “But I guess it’ll make it more acceptable. Camel said you pass, so I guess I’ll let it slide.” Kat dipped her spoon into her ice cream, making sure to get a decent proportion of sprinkles and chocolate chips.

“So! What type of ice cream are you eating? If mine is considered a sin, what about yours?” Liam questioned, taking Cameron's tiny bowl of ice cream and going over to Kat. Liam pulled out one of the metal chairs, letting it creak as he dragged it across the floor. He plopped down in it, his spoon almost flying out of the small container. Cameron chuckled from across the room.

“Kat, my fellow ice cream enjoyer, I’ll let you explain the concoction of ice cream that we have created here,” he said, scooping himself a large portion of cookies and creme, he placed it into the cone, sprinkled some chocolate on top, and then moved the scoop into a cone. He propped himself up on the counter to stare at Kat, his eyes boring into her.

“Chocolate chip cookie dough, with birthday cake, topped with chocolate chips and caramel. It sounds bad, but it’s actually delicious.” Kat said, scooping the chocolate chips and then nibbling on the end of the spoon. 

Cameron nodded, “She’s right, it’s probably the best mixture I’ve ever created! When she first suggested it, I thought she was crazy for asking! But, turns out, it’s a blessing in disguise, but my favorite will always be cookies and cream.” He smiled, biting the top of his ice cream. A small chocolate chip fell from his cone and hit the ground. 

Liam watched as Kat twitched and shifted awkwardly in her seat. “I got the idea from my mother. She had written down that she put cookie dough on my birthday cake when I was four, and that I had loved it. The day after that, I went down to the store to get some and made a milkshake out of them. But honestly, the ice cream from here just tastes better for some reason, probably because I didn’t get it from containers that have been sitting out open for several hours.” She turned to Cameron, who had shifted his focus to Liam.

“So! Liam, how do you like it? It may or may not have been sitting out for a few hours in open containers, but that’s fine! It’s free so that at least makes it worth it! Right?” His eyebrows curved as his happy smile turned into a nervous one. He placed his hand on his head and brushed his hair with it, attempting to brush it back.

“I mean, even if I do get food poisoning, I still know that it’s better than almost anything that I have at home! Cotton candy and popcorn do not mix well, not without sugar and salt. I know from experience. Trust me! I’m the expert in these things!” Liam said cheerfully, shoving a whole spoonful of minty-green ice cream into his mouth, some of it dripping from his chin.

Kat’s watch beeped, and she looked down at it. 12:55, five minutes until she had to go to another training session. Arguably, the most tedious part of being a Powered in a police academy. Or at least, she was in a police academy. “Sorry you two, I gotta go in a few minutes, but I’d love to come back and hang out with you guys again! I don’t think I’ve ever stayed for more than ten minutes here at once! Liam, can I get your number so we can hang out soon?” She asked, leaning her head slightly towards the window. For me to seem so confident in front of Camel, he thought, I don’t know if I can even talk to her without her scaring the soul out of my body! Should I even give her my number?? Ah, screw it! No one talks to me anyway! I’d love to have a scary friend!

“Yeah!” He responded, and scribbled down a bunch of numbers, seemingly in random order, onto a small notebook. Cameron gasped loudly from behind the counter.

“You have the number for the ice cream shop itself, you’ve known me for two years, and still you ask for Liam’s number before mine?! Golly, if I didn’t know better, you’re just using me for the ice cream! Here,” Cameron grabbed a light pink napkin and jotted down his number, “You get my number as well.” He huffed angrily and gave it to Liam. Liam typed the numbers into his phone and then handed the napkin to Kat. She shoved both napkins into her jacket pocket and started walking toward the door. The small ice cream container that she had been eating out of was thrown into the disposal. The tiny bell atop the door jingled as Kat exited, and jingled again as she walked out of sight. 

“So then, you’ve been watching her I presume?” The shadowy man asked, adjusting his coat to cover his neck. He was barely visible in the small room, with only a flickering oil lamp in between them. The girl sat across from him, shifting uncomfortably in her small chair. 

“Yes,” the girl said, “s-she’s made a friend, I believe. I’ve never seen her talk to someone for this long without any problems.” The man grunted, as in consideration of these facts. Even in the dim light, you could see a thin bead of sweat run down the girl’s forehead before dripping onto the floor.

“I see . . .  Well then, I’m assuming you at least know their name, at least know this one simple thing.” He said, then stood up. “I’d hate to see what happens if you fail us again . . .  It’d be so easy to make an accident happen.” He snickered, his light green eyes flickering. He laughed in a low, throaty voice. The girl wanted to just back away, run away, or just simply hide. She never wanted to be working with him out of all people. No one would believe her if she spoke the truth, so she kept quiet. 

“His name is Liam, Liam Rose . . .  I think. I can’t remember what his last name was. I’m sorry if this isn’t enough information! I really, really, tried my hardest to-”

“Shut up! I don’t care about your stupid, pathetic excuses! I just wanted the job done right! One more chance or there will be consequences!” He slammed his fist down on the table, causing the oil lamp to wobble, and fall over. The flames flickered one final time, before extinguishing. He cleared his throat, “I expect you to gather more information on this Liam. Don’t come back until then . . .  Or else.”

“Y-yes, sir!” She said, trembling out of fear. Who would expect such a powerful person could be so evil? She thought, before walking out the door. She gripped the handle, trying not to crush it with all of her adrenaline. She walked out of the room, but just before closing the door, she saw a light blur run toward the hallway across from her. She smiled a little, and whispered under her breath, “Save us all Kat . . .  Save us all . . . ”

Kat sank against the rigid marble walls, her breath was still shaky, and she still couldn’t see straight. Who were those two? What the hell do they have against Liam? Is it . . .  Just because I’m friends with him? Should I just . . .  stop being friends with him? And save who? How do I save them? Why do I need to? She pressed a hand to her chest and pressed down on it. Breathe in through your nose, out through your mouth. In, out. In, out. Her breath steadied a little, but she continued standing there. She was scared and afraid. What really could she do? How could she help someone that she didn’t even know? 

Her phone buzzed, Director Hamilton had sent her a message. She read it and cussed in her head, she didn’t want to discuss a plan with him again! She already knew what was happening next week! In the next week, she got a new dorm, and she had to arrange classes. Simple. Nothing further is needed. So why did she even care about attending Hamilton’s stupid meetings? Not even Kat knew the answer to that question. She knew she didn’t have to attend if she didn’t want to because it was just a reminder or something she already knew! 

Kat stepped out of the stall to see a small girl gripping the edge of the bathroom sink. She was shaking, and her cheek was red with a slap mark. Kat remembered now: Larisa Thorne, one of the many cadets here that Kat never spoke to. She was hated by most students to begin with, for she had naturally wavy hair, coral in color. Her eyes were a deep aqua, and she was known as the teacher’s pet. rumor had it that Larisa was secretly a Powered, but Kat didn’t know. She never bothered to try to listen to her thoughts. 

“Hey, Larisa, are you alright?” Kat asked slowly, walking over to her. Larisa bent her head down, but it didn’t hide her tears.

“Am I alright?! No! Something terrible has happened, Kat, and there's nothing we can do to stop it . . . ” Her voice cracked, and she sobbed. Tears streamed down her face like a river flowing off a cliff. “Kat . . .  Someone here is hiding something. I don’t know why . . .  But . . .  I wish I could help . . .  But Hamilton threatened to kick me out of the school . . .  I wish a tornado would hit so I didn’t have to worry about this stupid crap!” She said, her loud sobbing calming down a little bit, but not much.

“What?!” Kat gasped, shocked and confused. “Why . . . ” She trailed off, putting her hand in her hair and fluffing it around. She heard Larisa’s thoughts drift through the air. 

I don’t know why Kat. I really don’t. I’m sorry. I just know that I snooped a little too much and now . . .  Now I’ve been taken out. I don’t want to do what I’ve been assigned!  Larisa’s thoughts were broken up and sounded familiar. Larisa left the bathroom, tears dripping down her face. 

Kat stood there, wondering what her next step should be, but she didn’t want anyone to think that something was wrong. She grabbed her headphones and placed them over her ears so that if someone was watching, they thought that everything was normal.

But it wasn’t. Kat’s eyes kept darting around, watching for someone, something, anything that could prove Larisa right. Kat believed her, but she didn’t know what her next move was, or even if Larisa could be trusted. 

She made her way to Directors Hamilton’s room, where he happily greeted her, his warm smile practically melting away her anxiety.

“Kat! Ah! I’m so happy that you actually came! I thought that you were going to skip out on us!” Hamilton laughed, messing with his tie. Hamilton was a short man, with light skin, and curly orange hair. His eyes were a light brown, and his long nose was dotted with light freckles. Most people thought of him as ‘Piggy’, due to his piggy eyes, round body, and his enormous appetite. Kat, however, knew him only as Director Hamilton. 

“Yeah, um, I was out with a friend for a bit and wanted to talk some more, but this is always more important,” Kat said, adjusting her headphones a little.

“You? Having friends? Besides someone here at the academy?” Hamilton blew air out of his mouth, “Never. Not you.” He paused, smiling again. “You know, you can take those silly little headphones off. You don’t need them. But, were you able to put the letter in,” he asked, folding his hands together and leaning forward, “Right?”

“Yes, but I’d still rather go here. I know the layout, I know most of the people here, and . . .  it’s just not as stressful.” Kat said, getting a little nervous. If Hamilton knew what I knew . . .  She thought to herself, I’d be killed quicker than it takes Camel to scoop ice cream . . .  

“But this mission is super important, you do realize that, correct? You are a plant in this school to see what is going on!” His grin faded. “I don’t want you skipping out at the last minute, just because you have a new friend doesn’t mean you get to cheat us out. I’m sorry for raising my voice, Kat. I know how sensitive your ears are, even with those headphones, but I need you for this. Please, Kat . . .  I’ll double your payment for this, ok? Will that convince you?”

“Sir, not to be disrespectful or anything, but I was already planning on going there, and I don’t even care about the money! I already work in other places, so money isn’t even a big issue. I’m going to leave you alone, along with your tornado of thoughts.” She smiled a little, stood up, pushed her chair away, and promptly left the room.

Liam’s phone buzzed, and he moved out of bed. His phone buzzed again, and he rolled over to grab it. But instead of holding his phone as he had planned, he rolled off his bed and slammed into the carpeted floor. His face was tickled by the fluffy fiber floor, and then he rolled over again to look at the ceiling. He could hear the wind whistling outside his window.

“All right world, I’m awake.” He said before sitting up. He reached towards his still-buzzing phone to see that it was no other than Kat. “Funny,” he said, unlocking his phone, “I thought you’d never get back to me. Funny how people are.” 

Kat had messaged him asking if he felt like hanging out with her later, to which Liam responded, Where? There are not too many places open at seven in the morning. Liam knew that Kat already had a place in mind, and just prayed that it wasn’t some weird hangout spot, but to Kat’s credit, The Ice Cream Bazaar was pretty amazing. 

His phone buzzed in his hand, snapping him from his train of thought. Kat had sent an address along with a short message, We should hang out later at an arcade. Ghosty’s, to be specific. Not a lot of people go there, and no games are rigged.

Liam’s mind spun, thinking of all the things that he had heard about that place. Some said it was haunted, others said a murder had taken place there, but the most common rumor was that a witch lived in the back area of the arcade. But that was just a joke, right? Witches don’t exist in the real world. Liam grew more worried about going there, but he still wanted to go. 

Suddenly, a red light filled the room, before the dorm speakers beeped to life. The person speaking was frantic; “Students! There is a tornado that is heading this way, move away from all windows and get as close to the main door as possible. I repeat . . . ” 

A loud crash was heard from the other room as small clear shards flew into the kitchen. Glass shards were everywhere, but he couldn’t move towards the door without stepping onto some. 

Liam zoned out and practically saw his life flash before his eyes. Another loud noise snapped him back out of it. Kat was calling him, probably because his dorm was near the tornado. He raced to get up, when the speakers turned on again, and the woman speaking was a little less nervous now, “Students, the tornado has changed direction and is now heading towards the outskirts of town. Stay away from all windows and keep your blinds shut. I know I was rushing you a minute ago, forgive me, but you are now safe. If any damage has been done, call the main building.” Liam practically deflated with relief. 

“I’m alive! Yes! Ha! Take that life! I can actually survive! I am unstoppable!” He yelled into the empty room. 

His phone chimed, and he laughed at the suddenness of it all. It's been less than 30 minutes, and there's been so much crap that has happened! He thought to himself, grabbing a pair of hard rubber boots and putting them on. He stepped through the room, glass crunching under his feet. It concerned him, as he feared that one of the shards would pierce through his boots. 

He saw the cause of the glass explosion: A large box had flown through the window, shattering everything in its path, but somehow not destroying the box itself. He grabbed his phone and sent a quick message to Kat, Is it alright if I stay at your dorm for the night? My window just got demolished. He then dialed the main building. “Hello,” he said nervously, “I need window repairs.”

Kat drove slowly, taking her time to make her way through the streets. A strong 190 KPH tornado rolled through the city just a few minutes earlier, but so far, no deaths had been reported. According to the radio station, the tornado seemed man-made, with no major buildings getting hit, and nothing flying into the air. Kat was shocked to hear about the last part, she had expected at least something to get thrown into the air.

Her ringtone went off. Kat wasn’t surprised, if her plan had worked, then the academy should be in absolute chaos by now. She had already missed 18 calls from Hamilton alone, and seven from her teachers. Kat didn’t care. She had more important things to think about what had happened. 

Her phone buzzed again, and Kat finally picked it up. “What do you want?” She practically yelled into the phone. “I don’t know who’s calling, but you’ve been spamming me for the past 15 minutes! I am in traffic and do not have the time nor patience to deal with you.” She said, moving her rearview mirror to see behind her.

“Katrina Lawson, I’m sorry for calling you so many times, but do you have any idea what happened while you were gone?” Kat almost groaned aloud, she had hoped she had picked up a call from the front desk. Instead, she had to deal with Hamilton and his annoying ranting. “That tornado? It struck the building. Everything, poof, destroyed, just like that. I’m glad you weren’t here, Kat. Do me a favor though, I need you to keep an eye out for Larisa. She may have a hand to play in all of this.” Hamilton said, the quiver in his voice apparent.

“Larisa?” Kat questioned, “Creating a tornado? Seriously? I know that you’ve disliked her for the past year but how could she have done something like that? She’s timid as a chipmunk, if she somehow had a play in all of this, it’d be obvious. I honestly hate to disagree with you, Hamilton, but there’s no way she’d be able to do something like that.” Kat could hear a sigh from the other end. 

Kat turned her turn signal before swerving into the nearest parking lot and putting her car into park, she leaned back, pressing her head against the seat. She removed her ring, and most of the stress withered away instantly. Her shoulders felt lighter, the pressure from the ring was gone.

“Kat, listen,” Hamilton sighed again, loud enough for Kat to hear without her ability. “I still don’t trust her. We got into a little . . .  predicament earlier, and even if she didn’t create the tornado, she must have gotten assistance creating it.” Kat pondered her next words carefully. She didn’t want to reveal something that needed to be hidden. Like her ring. But even then, she felt like she had to agree with Hamilton if she wanted her plan to work.

“Who? Who in this city is a Powered, and hasn’t been tagged already? No one in our records has weather control! It must have been some sort of freak accident or something because if someone had weather control, we’d know. You’re the first to alert me on these things, and you haven’t said anything, so it must have been an accident.” Kat said, reaching over to grab her phone from the passenger seat. “Listen, there’s something else that I need to take care of, one of my friends needs help. Their window broke, or something.” She closed her eyes, breathing in the minty air of her car. She opened her eyes again and then spoke. “We can talk about this tomorrow, somewhere else. You have an assistant director for a reason, you know. You don’t always have to spam me.” 

“Yes, but-” Kat hung up on Hamilton, squeezing the phone more than she intended to. She inhaled slowly, trying to calm down.  She scrolled through her missed calls and deleted them all one-by-one. Her hands shook and clicked on Liam’s contact. She pressed the ‘Call’ button and waited. I don’t want Liam freaking out because I’m on edge. But he’s probably already freaking out if something broke his window.

“Hey, Kat! I didn’t actually think you’d call me back . . . ” Liam paused, and Kat put her ring back on while waiting for Liam to finish. It sounded like he was putting clothes into a bag, but she couldn’t be sure. “Um, I guess you need my address, don’t ya?” Liam could be heard nervously laughing.

“Sector 11 apartments. I already know.” Kat said, putting her car into drive. She plugged her phone into her car’s speakers and started pulling out of the parking lot. “I’ll be there shortly. Look for a light green minivan. There are lightning bolts on both driver and passenger side doors. Trust me, you’ll know it when you see it. It’s pretty obvious.” 

Traffic had mostly calmed down now, even though Kat had been in the parking lot for less than 30 minutes. One thing she noticed was the car beside her, which looked vaguely familiar. Dark red with a bee antenna. Then it hit her: that car belonged to Larisa, but . . .  Larisa wasn’t in the car. Some older man was, and he was looking directly at her.

Liam sat on the steps outside of his dorm building, waiting for the car. I hadn’t told Kat where I lived. How did she know? I wouldn’t say something like that to someone I just met, right? Liam doubted himself, wanting to believe that he actually told Kat where he lived. It felt like Kat could read minds, always knowing what someone was thinking, and said whatever was in their head! But . . .  that would mean that Kat was Powered. It made sense in Liam’s mind. Kat had unnatural yellow eyes, was abnormally tall, and was stronger than she should be. Most importantly, she knew what to say and when to say it. It’s finalized, Liam thought, Kat is a Powered that can read minds.

A loud honk threw him off his train of thought. Kat wasn’t kidding when she said her car would be obvious. The color of the car almost matched his hair color, and he already liked the car. The window rolled down. Kat was driving. Kat shouldn’t be driving! She’s my age! She’s gonna be a freshman this year!

“Um, you can put your stuff in the back and sit up front if you want. Or just chill in the back all by yourself. I was gonna get something to eat if you want something as well. For some reason, the tornado committed destruction and then kinda destroyed my workplace. So yeah, I’m free for the next week until school starts.” Kat says, motioning to the seat beside her. Liam threw his bag into the back and sat up front. He put his hands on his knees, now clammy from stress. How is Kat able to drive? He thought, buckling up his seatbelt and re-adjusting his posture. 

“How . . .  Are you able to drive . . . ?” Liam said, not turning to look at Kat. It was hard to keep his mind clear of his accusations. He knew that if Kat really could read minds, she’d know to hide it if he thought about it. Kat turned her head for a brief moment to look at him, her glaring yellow eyes piercing through him. “I-I mean, it’s just that-”

“Yeah, yeah, I know. I’m driving. I started taking classes when I was 13. I’m 17, so I can drive. Most students don’t start until their freshman year of high school, so they start driving when they graduate. This car was left to me by my parents, but I did the car a favor and painted it. Liam, trust me if you would have seen what this thing looked like before I fixed it, you likely wouldn’t have gotten in.” Kat continued driving through the traffic, somehow not even flinching whenever someone honked their horn. “It’s a cacophony of noise out here, ain’t it?” She asked, rolling down her window to let a breeze in.

“Um, I hate to sound dumb, but what does ‘cacophony’ mean?” Liam asked, turning his head to look out the window. Kat chuckled a bit but didn’t respond. “Hey! I don’t read much,” he lowered his voice. “I don’t read the dictionary as you do.” 

“Hey now, I only read the dictionary for five hours a day,” Kat replied, and the two burst out laughing. “Cacophony just means a lot of noise, to put it simply. But hey, I’m almost at the restaurant if you’re hungry. Nothing special, I should add, but I come here a lot. Would you rather eat inside or go through the drive-through?” 

“Drive though? I don’t know. I don’t eat out much.” Liam responded, attempting to shrug before realizing that his seatbelt was preventing it.

“Let me guess,” Kat sighed, “you’re one of the kids that has everything delivered to their dorms since they don’t know how to cook. The classes for culinary were so easy, the easiest A plus that I’ve ever received in a class. In the first year of it, you just have to identify basic safety and cautionary issues. Don’t put oil on a fire, turn off the stove when you’re done cooking, and stuff like that.” Liam’s eyes grew wide. “Yeah, pretty basic stuff. They also show you how to cook basic things, like eggs, box cake, macaroni, and cheese . . . ” Kat trailed off. “I think you get the point.” 

The car eventually pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant. Kat turned to get into the drive-through, only to see a small sign placed overtop of the speaker.

“Microphone broken?” Kat groaned. “Darn, I was really hoping I didn’t have to speak to anyone else today. Well, I guess I’ll just have to take you to the place behind here.” She drove around the building again and pulled into a parking space in the building behind them. She pressed her head against the back of the seat.

“You have social anxiety too?” Liam squeaked, “You don’t seem like the type of person to have social anxiety. And also . . .  before the question leaves my mind . . .  Why is putting oil on fire bad? I mean, wouldn’t that just put the fire out? Isn’t that what you-”

“You’re kidding, right? This is just some sort of joke, right? There’s no way that you . . . ” Liam was shaking his head. “How. Do. You. Not. Know. About. This?” Kat’s eyes were wide. “You know what? Nevermind. I’ll explain later. Let’s just go eat something.”

Kat held the door of the restaurant open, letting Liam inside. The smell of freshly-baked bread filled the air.

“Kat! Kat! Look! There are so many little thingies everywhere!” Liam exclaimed, running from one side of the room to the other. “You didn’t say that this place had a store as well! This is amazing! I don’t see how I’ve never been here before!” Liam was smiling from ear to ear, picking up a small fox figurine.

“Yeah, this is arguably the best knick-knack store that you’re gonna find, and you haven’t even tried their food yet.” Kat’s eyes landed on a small cat plush and made a mental note to buy it later. “You coming?” Kat asked, starting to walk up to the counter where a bored-looking boy stood.

“Just two?” The boy said in a quiet, monotone voice, not looking up from his phone. I just want to get on break so I can see my sister again. Please go away. Kat tried not to react to his thoughts and motioned for Liam to come over.

“Yeah, just the two of us today,” Kat replied, smiling a little. The boy bent down to grab the menus and utensils for the two of them. He stood up and looked at Kat. That’s when things made a turn for the worst. A chill ran down the boy’s spine, and he was frozen in fear. Kat almost reeled back at the sound of his thoughts. Almost all of them were internal screams or profanity. 

The boy fumbled with the papers and then gestured toward the dining room. “R-right this way,” he faltered, sweat dripping down his face and neck. “I h-hope you two have a pleasant evening.” He hurried away, practically leaving a trail of dust behind him. Kat sat down, placing one leg over the other. Liam looked around, dumbfounded.

“This place is beautiful, how often do you come here?” Liam asked, mouth hanging open. A small flower fell out from behind his ear, and he went to pick it up. His face bloomed with red splotches. “I-I like collecting flowers. I have a big passion for them.” He laughed awkwardly, looking away.

Kat grinned, “Then I guess you’ll love my place, there’s a big garden out back. My mother used to tend to it, and now it’s my job. Don’t be embarrassed about liking flowers, alright? Unless you’re eating them, I won’t have a problem.” Kat flipped through the menu, “I don’t even know why I look at the menu. You get whatever you want. I’ll pay.” 

Liam was still flipping through the pages, not knowing what to order. I want the chicken, oh! But I also want the cheeseburger! It looks so good! Kat almost snorted out of amusement.

Someone walked up to them, a boy about their age, with curly black hair that bounced whenever he moved. “Hey hey! Kat! I see you’ve brought a friend! How are ya doin’ little buddy?” He asked, holding out his hand for Liam to shake. “I’m Markus, but you can call me Mark. Everyone calls me Mark, so just do that. Hopefully, you’ll be the first to break Kat here out of her reclusive shell.” He said, pulling out a small notebook from his pocket. 

“You already know what I want, Mark,” Kat said, gesturing to Liam. “You know what you want?” She asked him, and Liam froze. 

“I- uh, ah. I-” He babbled, flipping through the menu pages to find the drink section.

“He’ll take the cola with a shot of vanilla. And Mark, please add the vanilla to mine this time.” Kat interjected, watching as Mark comprehended the accusation. 

“Hey! Kat! You know that vanilla is cheap!” He lowered his voice and turned his head, “It’s not my fault the employers are dumb.” He mumbled something else that Kat wasn’t supposed to hear, but with all things Kat isn’t supposed to hear, she listened.

Kat crossed her arms. “Right, I’m the dumb one.” She glared at Mark, who had swiftly made an exit from the table. “If there weren’t as many people, I’d yell at him.” Liam snickered and continued to look through the menu. 

“So what do you think about the chicken plate? And the cheeseburger? What about that?” Kat could hear the indecisiveness in his voice as he weighed his options.

“Go with the cheeseburger dish. I’ve never tried it, but it’s this restaurant’s pride and joy. I’m getting the alfredo dish.” Liam tilted his head a bit. Kat sighed, “Alfredo is a pasta type. Cheesy white sauce on top of some really soft noodles. I’m practically drooling thinking about it. But you get the cheeseburger platter. It comes with an ungodly amount of fries.” Kat winked at Liam as Mark came over with the drinks. 

Mark walked elegantly, acting as if he were serving the most famous people in the world. He took another stride forward when his foot caught on something. The small tray used to carry the small drinks flew out of his hand and sent the glasses careening into the air. Kat flew out of the chair, and her hands shot out to catch the two drinks. The cups landed safely in her hands, ice jingling in the process, making a quiet melody.

Liam was dumbfounded, and his eyes were wide. His glasses fell off his nose, and he bent down quickly to grab them. “How . . . ? How were you able to do that?” Liam asked, resettling in his chair as he took one of the drinks from Kat.

“You just come to expect it. If you allow an idiot to sashay, then expect accidents to happen. Besides, he’s done this before. Only last time, I wasn’t aware and the cup landed on my head. He screwed up one of my favorite shirts.” Kat looked away, grabbing the roll of utensils and putting everything to the side as she wiped her hands off. “Gosh, it’s already making my hands sticky.” Kat exaggerated a frown.

Mark was still staring at Kat, amazed at how she had managed to grab the drinks with split-second precision. “Yeah, um, sorry about that, Kat. I’ll take your orders now.” Mark closed his eyes and laughed nervously, putting his hand behind his head. “Just don’t tell the boss about that, please.” 

Liam patted his stomach a few times and smiled. “I don’t think I’m gonna be able to eat for the rest of my life.” 

“To be expected,” Kat said, reaching for the bill. “I always get the same thing here, so I know just about how much I can eat to leave room for dessert.” She stood up and pushed her chair in.

“Wait, wait! How much is it?” Liam asked, grabbing an old-looking flower-themed wallet out of his pocket. He snatched the piece of paper out of Kat’s hand, and his eyes grew wide when he saw it. “Kat!” He gasped, “It’s over 75 bucks! Oh my goodness, if I knew . . . ”

“Shut it. I took you here, so I’m paying. That’s how it works in my book.” She took the slip of paper back. “You browse around the store and I’m going to pay.” Liam opened his mouth to protest. “No, Liam. I dragged you here, I’m paying.” Kat reached into her purse to pull out a wad of cash and placed it under one of the glasses. 

Liam raised an eyebrow and tilted his head, “What’s that for?” Kat turned her head to Liam, it looked like she was going to break it off because she spun so fast. “I’m supposed to know this as well, right?”

“It’s a tip, you idiot. You tip someone when you dine-in, or order something to your door. I can’t believe that I have to explain this. Have you ever ordered pizza or something to your door?” Kat’s pitch grew higher, just enough to signify to Liam that he was an idiot. It was all Kat needed to get across to him. “Just . . .  go buy something, look around, I don’t know what to say to you anymore.” Kat sighed and went up to a register to pay.

Liam fidgeted, staring at Kat before awkwardly shuffling off. Many things caught his attention, including a small hamster plush, a bundle of figurines, and several other toys and stuffed animals that he wanted, but knew he didn’t need. Something glinted in the corner of his eye and he went over to look. A small wallet, decorated with cartoon flowers, and glitter, and when he opened it, he knew he had to get it.

“Liam, did you find anything?” Kat asked, holding a small box, but she held it in a position where Liam couldn’t see what it was. She also placed a few small packages of candy on the counter. “Whatever you’re holding, I’ll pay for it. It can’t be too expensive.” 

Liam flipped over the wallet, and inhaled sharply, but handed it over to Kat in the end. “Yeah, I found something. It’s a bit pricey, but-” 

“It has pockets, many pockets. I’d hate to have to steal this from you due to said pockets.” Kat laughed, “Kidding, you need a new one anyway. Your wallet is more torn up than some of the old rugs that I have.” She winked and paid for the items, handing Liam the wallet when she was done. 

Liam kept staring at the box in her hands. What is that? Is she trying to hide it from me? He thought, turning his head to quit staring. He fidgeted a bit more with the wallet, getting some pink on it. Kat looked at it suspiciously but didn’t say anything if she wanted to. 

“You ready?” Kat asked, holding the handle of the door. Liam nodded and inhaled. He didn’t want to leave this place. The shop part smelled like autumn trees and marshmallows, which to him were a very comforting mix. Kat held open the door, and Liam stepped outside. He liked the smell here as well. It still smelled like autumn trees, but the air also held a hint of maple and lemon. “Liam, are you good? You keep zoning out and it scares me since it looks like you might have a seizure at any given moment.”

“Ah!” Liam jumped, surprised that Kat said anything. “Yeah, I zone out a lot. I like the smell of here.”
Kat chuckled, “Yeah, me too. But we should go ahead and get a move on before traffic picks up. No one likes that.” Liam nodded, and before long, they left.

Kat adjusted her rearview mirror, hearing Liam play a song in his head. She recognized the tune, as it was from a video game that she once played. Someone honked beside her, and Liam jumped. What are they honking for? Liam yelled in his head. 

Kat groaned, “I hate traffic. There is nothing in this world that I hate more than afternoon traffic.” Liam picked his head up a little and turned his head to look at her. 

“Even pineapple on pizza?” Liam asked, smiling. Even pineapple and chocolate syrup on pizza? 

Kat’s lips formed a scowl, “I take it back,” she said slowly, “There is nothing in this world worse than . . .  the disgrace that is pineapple on pizza. They just don’t go right together.” 

“Is it because pineapple is a fruit? Do you think that fruit doesn’t do on pizza? I’m actually allergic to pineapple, so I don’t know if it’s actually as bad as people like you put it out to be.” Liam looked back down, placing his finger in his mouth and chewing on his nail. God, I’m so nervous that I can’t even control-

A loud honk was heard in front of them, snapping both Liam and Kat out of their train of thought. Someone was coming from the right side, and they were about to blaze through a red light. A car across from them didn’t seem to notice and kept driving.

“That car isn’t going to make it in time!” Kat yelled, her eyes growing wider and wider as each half-second passed.

The two cars collided, sending large pieces of glass flying all around them. Kat regretted being the first in front of the red light, as she got a front-row seat into madness.

“He’s coming towards us! Kat! Kat, back up!” Liam yelled, pulling at his own hair, leaving behind huge globs of what looked to be cotton candy.

Kat’s eyes were glassy and had small tears in the corners. She slammed her foot on the gas, going to the right of the car that was heading towards her. She wasn’t quick enough. The car slammed into the driver’s side of the car, shattering the front window of the car, and bending in her car door. But Kat had a lucky break: She could still reach the gas pedal. The airbags pressed against them and made more glass fly. She again pressed the gas pedal, and the two of them shot forward. Liam pressed his eyes closed and whispered something. One of the shards of glass pressed against Kat’s arm and sliced it open. Small beads of red dripped down, staining Kat’s light jeans. Kat flinched but kept driving until they reached a parking lot.

“Oh my . . .  Kat!” Liam unlocked his seatbelt, gripped the door handle, and flung himself outside. His breaths were frantic, and the frigid outside air only intensified his anxiety. “I’m alive!” He yelled, punching the air with his fists. He spun around in a small circle, humming a small tune. Kat pried her door open, which Liam thought was forced shut. 

Kat now looked dead, or at least, halfway dead. Her eyes were now wide, wider than they should have been, and there were tiny cuts all over her. The largest cut on her left arm was pouring blood. Her jeans now had a murky shade of dark crimson, with small strokes of blue.

“I . . .  Yeah, I can’t believe we’re alive. Holy crap.” Kat said, panting and clutching her left arm, trying to stop the blood flow. She sat down on the gravel, pressing her head against the passenger side door.

“Are you ok?” Liam asked, going to sit down beside her. He could hear sirens in the distance.

“I hope they don’t give me a ticket for taking up three parking spaces.” Kat chuckled sadly. “Yeah, I’m fine. A bit dizzy, but otherwise, I’m fine.” 

After some time, an ambulance arrived on the scene. Liam waved one of the officers down. The officer that came to them was short, a round man that looked exactly like a stereotypical officer. 

“You two were involved, weren’t you? I need to know exactly what happened.” He said in a deep voice. To Liam, it was obvious that he blamed them for causing it. 

“I have dashcam footage,” Kat said, not looking up. “I can give you the drive. I didn't cause the crash, I tried to avoid it. Otherwise, they would have hit us straight on.” She shakily stood up and pulled a small box out into her car. She turned to the policeman to hand it to him, and her eyes went wide. She didn’t say anything as the policeman examined the small box, which Liam assumed was the footage. 

One thing was clear to Liam: Kat knew this man from somewhere but didn’t want to admit it. Liam tried his best not to let his mind wander with questions, but it was challenging not to. Kat said something to the officer, but Liam was too deep in thought to hear her.

The policeman signaled the paramedics over and one of them, a girl with curly coral hair, came over to help. 

“Kat!” She cried, “What the hell have you done? I thought you were the most careful of the bunch!” She said, crossing her arms and pouting. Kat’s expression changed as she continued to stare at the girl, who was getting a medical kit out, filled with so many different things that Liam thought he might pass out due to the stress of it all.

“I’m here to get medical treatment, not a lecture,” Kat said, smiling a little. “Liam, I should introduce you to one of my co-workers. This is Larisa, an aide to ambulance workers.” 

Larisa smiled shyly, “Nice to meet you, Liam. Are you injured?” She asked, wrapping Kat’s arm with gauze. 

Liam shook his head, and Kat laughed. “You know she can’t see you, right?” Kat turned to Larisa, “He is not injured, and if it is, it’s not major.” Larisa was deep in concentration, going so far as to write down specific instructions for Kat for her arm to heal.

“So how long have you been doing . . .  this? I don’t know the right word for it. Healing people and helping people. I-” Liam got cut off.

“It’s volunteer work. One of my passions is medical work, so this is kinda a demo of what I’d be doing. It’s just less stressful. My supervisor just had to take someone to the hospital, one of the people in the crash. Have you two seen the damage yet?” Larisa questioned, tilting her head a little bit, allowing waves of her coral hair to fall down, dangling in the air like spaghetti noodles. 

Liam’s eyes widened, “How bad is it? You said someone got sent to the hospital! Did anyone . . .  did anyone die?” His eyes caught on the words, he didn’t want to see the wreck, but at the same time, he was morbidly curious, “No, I haven’t seen it yet. Can we?” He asked, the tremor in his voice notable. 

Larisa nodded, taking them to where a bunch of officers had gathered, examining the scene and redirecting traffic. Liam gasped when he saw the aftermath. One of the cars was upside down, and black marks could be seen where a fire had broken out inside the car.

The other car was in just as bad shape, with its front completely busted. Kat walked over and examined the wreck as well, she came over to look at the other car, and she gasped. Kat pressed her hand over her mouth and Liam could tell that she was trying not to vomit. 

She’s buying me time. Larisa, run! Kat tried to warn her but knew it was too late. Hamilton was acting as the head of the police department, but no one saw through his facade. The car in front of her was Larisa’s, and the little bee on top of her car had been flattened and burned after the accident. I have to get Liam out of here! She thought to herself, turning to get Liam. 

“Are you alright? You look-”

“We have to go, now. There’s something off here.” She said, a shakiness to her voice that worried Liam. She sprinted to her car, and Liam followed, sitting back in her seat. Liam’s seatbelt was now coated with a dry, cracked pink goop. She reversed as quickly as possible and pulled off. Liam tried cleaning it off, but instead, he just smeared it even more into the seatbelt, now turning it into an abstract art piece.

“I’m so sorry! I don’t know what that is!” Liam shuddered, shaking his hands in nervousness.

“Liam, stop. I know what you are. You’re a Powered, I get it. You don’t try to have to hide it. There’s a person there who knew what you were, and wanted to kill you.” Kat exhaled a shaky breath.

“They . . .  They were going to what?” Liam asked, the color draining from his face. Kat’s face was just as pale, and her fingers were ice-cold to the touch. It wasn’t even that cold outside, but she was still freezing. “W-Why would someone want to hurt me if I’m Powered? It doesn’t make sense, does it?” Can I even trust Kat?

“First off, yes, they were going to hurt you. I don’t know why. I tried to get as much information as I could, but . . . ” Kat trailed off, inhaling slowly, “It’s incredibly hard trying to get information, mainly the right kind if you can’t force people to expose their secrets. Liam, where I work, is at a police station. Got that? Cool, so the thing is, you should be able to trust people in a police station because they’re police. Makes sense. But when those officers turn out to be bad guys trying to kill people that you’re friends with, things start to get a little complicated. One of those people there, one of the officers . . .  was going to shoot you.” Kat spoke quickly, but quietly. She didn’t want to scare Liam any more than she had to.

Liam was practically vibrating at this point, and Kat felt terrible. I’m going to die, aren't I? Liam thought in his mind, only making Kat’s guilt worse.

“Listen, Liam, I’m sorry for not alerting you earlier, but I just found out earlier today that you were directly in harm’s way. And I know what you’re thinking: Larisa and I never spoke, how would I have information?” Liam nodded his head in agreement. “Your accusations about me being a Powered are correct.”

Kat went silent, allowing Liam to process this information. Kat didn’t try to unscramble what Liam was thinking, mainly because many questions and thoughts were flying through his head that counting them all would be like counting all the stars in the galaxy.

“I knew it!” Liam said, reveling in his victory. “I knew it! You knew my name and I hadn’t even introduced myself! You even knew what I was thinking, and said things I wanted to hear! You can read minds!”

“I wish I could read minds, but that’s a whole different thing that I’ll get into in a minute. I heard your suspensions when I went with you to get ice cream, and when I came to pick you up. I can’t read minds, I hear them. That’s a whole lot different. I can hear stuff through military-grade soundproof walls, and to say how insane that is, just know it’s flipping insane. I can hear thoughts, all of them, without even trying. But . . .  I found a way out. And that’s how I’m going to save you.”

After another half-hour of driving through farmland, the two made it to Kat’s house. Liam had practically fallen asleep, but instead of imagining sheep going over a fence, all he had to do was look out of a window. It was very boring, in his opinion.

“Your house is huge!” Liam yelled, taking everything in all at once. “I don’t even know if huge would describe it! I think it’d be more like jumbohugemaximus!” He said, getting even more excited as he flung the back door open, grabbed his backpack, and slung it over his shoulder. “I thought you had a small house or something, but oh my goodness, Kat, this is incredible!”

Kat pried her door open, groaning as she once again surveyed the damage. “This is going to take forever to fix.” She grumbled, starting to walk towards the house. “Do you . . .  want a tour of the outside or something?” 

Liam jerked his head towards Kat, and a smile bloomed. “Yes! I want to see everything! I’ve never seen a house this big unless I’m watching anime!” He spun around for a few seconds, and then stopped abruptly to catch his breath.

“I don’t own any farm animals or anything, but it is planned for next summer. I don’t know if I could juggle a new school, work, and other hobbies on top of caring for extra animals. But either way, this is the building shed.” Kat led Liam to a large shed, covered in vines and moss. 

The exterior was blue, with paint starting to flake off, revealing the wood beneath it. Kat opened the door, and Liam was immediately overwhelmed with excitement. Many desks and tables spread about, each filled with some sort of project or topped to the brim with supplies. It smelled like sawdust and paint, and the wood beneath them creaked with each step the two took, sending small amounts of dust flying into the air.

“Are these doll houses?” Liam asked, pointing to one of the desks, holding what looked like a small version of Kat’s house. Kat nodded, not moving forward as Liam rushed from desk to desk, table to table, exploring what each one contained. “These look so cool! Can I keep one? How do you even make these? How long does it take? Do you sell these?” Liam berated Kat with questions, but she didn’t answer. “Kat?”

Kat jumped, shaking her head. “What were you saying, sorry, I . . .  I was thinking about something else. Can we go for now? All of the dust here is starting to give me a headache.” She turned and started to walk out of the shed.

“Wait! I mean, I’m coming, I just want to know why you make these,” Liam said, following after Kat and closing the door. 

Kat’s face darkened and the yellow in her eyes was the only thing visible. “I used to make those for the kids or siblings of people working with me. I . . .  I like making children happy, and . . . ” Kat trailed off, turning to look at Liam. “I just want other kids to have what I couldn’t.” She smiled, leading Liam to the front doors of the house. 

“Do you mean like a bunch of toys or something? I didn’t have that growing up, and I don’t build dollhouses.” Liam asked, trying to match Kat’s footsteps.

“No, I had a lot of toys, don’t get me wrong. I just want other kids to have a happy childhood. At least one parent alive, not having to constantly worry if their dad is going to come home drunk and beat their mom.” 

Liam’s eyes widened, and his mouth dropped. “Oh my gosh, Kat, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean . . .  I didn’t mean for you to have to relive that.” He looked away, ashamed.

“Don’t be sorry, if it weren’t for my childhood early years or whatnot, I wouldn’t have been able to be where I am now. I’ll explain more when we get inside, but . . .  may I ask you a question?”

“Yeah, sure?”

“How did you figure out what your powers were?”

Kat slowly walked towards her front door, wondering if she had made the right decision. She’d never told anyone about her past, other than Director Hamilton, but that was required when she signed up to be there, and even he didn’t know about her obsession with building dollhouses. He’d just assumed that Kat had bought them from a toy store or thrift store. Liam sat down, adjusting his backpack.

“I first figured them out after my aunt died, but that’s something else I kinda don’t wanna talk about. But I’ll just say that I never knew my birth parents, I don’t even know what they look like. All I know is that they died under mysterious circumstances. That was the only thing that my aunt was willing to tell me. I was eight by then. But . . .  I heard people yelling outside, and I remember my aunt giving me a hug and telling me to call the police. She said she’d be right back . . . ” Liam’s eyes were cloudy, and he inhaled deeply. “I called them from our house phone, but I didn’t know what to tell them, I just remember telling them to hurry, because there were bad people outside. Then, while I was still on the phone . . .  I heard a gunshot. The lady on the phone told me to hide somewhere, and wait for help.”

Kat sat down beside him, folding her legs up to her chest. “Hey, if you don’t want to go into it, you don’t have to. Alright? I don’t want to pressure you or anything.” 

Liam smiled, pushing his glasses up. “You’re fine, I’ve never actually told anyone the full story, and it feels good getting it off my chest. But continuing on, I had a bad habit when I was younger, to stick my hand knuckle deep into my mouth, and I’d just suck on it. But I shut myself in one of the cabinets that we had, and I waited. After a while, I could taste something sweet, and I thought it was blood. I’d never tasted blood, so I didn’t know what it tasted like. I pulled my hand out, and honestly, I didn’t know what to expect, so I pushed myself out of the cabinet, falling to my knees. I pushed myself up and I saw something weird, and I remember almost screaming because I thought there was something deeply wrong with me. On the floor, there was a huge smear of something light pink, and it was all over my hands. I couldn’t wash it off either, it just kept coming back every time I’d start to make significant progress in cleaning the gunk off. Is it alright if I don’t go any further into this? Sorry, it just makes me very uncomfortable going back into it.”
“Holy crap, Liam. Jeez, I didn’t think you discovered it like that. But to be fair, we both discovered what we could do because someone in our life died.” Kat said, standing up and extending her hand to Liam.

“What do you mean?” Liam asked, grabbing Kat’s hand, and pulling himself up. 

“Exactly what I just said. You figured it out by your aunt dying. I figured it out with my mother dying.” She paused, looking into the fields surrounding her. “I mean, I knew it from the beginning, but I thought that it was what everyone could do. Hearing someone talking word-for-word across the house, someone tapping away on a keyboard, stuff like that. I thought anyone could hear that, and when I asked my mother about it, she just smiled at me and said things like, ‘I have no idea what you’re talking about, it’s just a bad dream.’ and then she’d give me a little shoulder pat like I was an idiot or something. But let me tell you, I always knew what she had on her mind, so I knew whatever she said wasn’t meant to be taken seriously since she was never really thinking about little ol’ me.”

“So could you also hear her thoughts?” Liam asked, tilting his head.

“Yeah, that’s how I knew she never really meant what she said. It was just a passing comment you weren’t ever really supposed to think about. But her thoughts were always filled with anxiety, or thoughts about my dad. Some weird experiment that I never knew about. Something my boss never knew about, and something he never will know about. Turns out, I’m perfect to carry on my parent’s work, but a lot nicer than they could. Ah, listen to me ramble, time’s wasting away. I need to show you the house.”

Liam followed behind Kat as she pushed open the doors, letting sunlight pour into the entryway. It looked like something out of a storybook, with two monumental staircases leading up to the second floor in a huge ribbon-like twirl. Doors and hallways were everywhere, with signs on them to tell what each room was meant for. Most signs were blank, but as Liam kept walking down the left hallway, there was one door marked ‘Library’ and Liam stood in front of it.

“Wanna see inside?” Kat asked, raising her eyebrow and smiling. Liam nodded his head aggressively. “Alright, but first, stop doing that. You’re going to snap your nerves in two.”
Liam chuckled, “It’s a nervous habit. Just like attempting to eat my own hand.” He laughed again, and Kat’s smile grew wide. “Come on, I know you liked that one.”

“It’s a self-burn, I guess I’ll allow you to take that much credit. But what I’m smiling about is this.” Kat opened the door slowly, allowing Liam to only see a small bit inside the room. Kat sighed and flung the door open the rest of the way.

Kat skipped to the center of the room, smiling widely. “You really, really like books.”

Kat pinched her thumb and pointer finger together, “Just a little.” She spread her arms out and her booming voice could be heard echoing off the walls, “And this, my friend, is the library!” 

Towers upon towers of books could be seen, lining every wall within the room. The library was also two stories high, with more spiral staircases leading to the top. Ladders were attached to most bookshelves, able to be slid around for people to grab what they want. From where Liam stood, it made him feel small like he was a small ant compared to a checkerboard.

“This feels so fake . . . ” Liam trailed off, still in awe, continuously spinning around, like he was afraid of missing something. “I feel like I’m dreaming, or in some childhood fairytale.” He spun around a few more times, running over to a pair of large fluffy chairs. He flung himself onto one, draping his arms over the side. He squealed, “You live here? How? There are just so many books! Is there manga? Fiction? Sci-fi? Graphics?” Liam jumped out of the chair and ran toward the stairs.

Kat stood still, watching Liam. “I’m disappointed I didn’t decorate.” She remarked, “You remind me of when a kid finishes trick-or-treating and they go crazy with their sugar intake. But yes, each area is labeled, and the shelves are different colors to mark what each one holds. There’s a guide somewhere . . .  I know where everything is by heart, so-”

“Oh my goodness! Kat! You have the entire collection of Golden Sapphires! How?” Liam was trying not to pull all the books down out of excitement. “This is like finding a pot of gold inside a dump!” He squealed again, spinning around from the top of the staircase. 

“Do you want to know the real reason I have those?” Kat said, grinning. “You see, I know this very creative person who gets bored all by herself, and writes books. Lots of them. I see her every day, every time I look in the mirror.”

Liam’s mouth hung agape. “You’re kidding! There's no way that you’re the author of these books, right? The author is Amber Martin. You’re Katrina . . .  something.” Be grabbed one of the books off the shelf, and sped down the stairs. He stopped abruptly, “Unless . . .  Amber Martin is a pen name . . . ” 

Kat nodded and pulled the sleeve of her shirt nervously. Crusted blood flecked off of it, and she recoiled. “Oh, right. I kinda forgot about that. Hey, um, you’re right on the whole pen name thing, but let’s go ahead and finish up with the whole tour thing because I need to change and fix up these wounds. I don’t want dried blood in the library.”

“Yeah, me too. Can you just show me where I’m staying or something, so I can get rid of these damp things? Nervous cotton candy sweat, you know?” He chuckled nervously, blushing profusely as he recoiled. “Yeah . . .  please forget I said that.” 

“Said what?” Kat smiled and led Liam out of the room. “This is where you’ll be staying. Sorry for the little bit of clutter, I haven’t had guests in quite some time, and normally they stay in the other rooms. I mean, like, the living room and playroom. I’ll show you that later. My door is in the next hallway. You’ll know it when you see it.” Kat said, showing Liam the guest room. She left him to his business and continued walking down the hallway.

Kat heard tiny footsteps could be heard behind her as she left her room the following morning. “Hello there, lil’ Muffin,” Kat said, turning around to see her cat. She crouched down and tilted her head. Muffin purred and trotted over to Kat’s outstretched hand. The small black cat reminded her of herself, with gleaming yellow eyes, and was always aware of someone else’s presence. 

Kat sighed and stood up. She continued walking down the hallway, going right to the intersection. She stared at her door and reached to grab the doorknob. Her hand was shaking, and she turned to the cat, now rubbing against her leg. “Do you think it was a good idea, Muffin? I’m starting to regret ever talking to him. I don’t want him to get hurt . . .  Should I just . . .  I don’t know . . .  tell him everything? My past, present, and future? The fate of this town is in my hands! If he spreads the information to Hamilton, everyone here, and in the world is going to die, and I . . .  Muffin, what should I do?” She said, turning the knob and going into her room. 

A simple meow was all she got in return. Kat groaned, “Muffin, you’re not helping.” She smiled a little, putting her purse down on the bed. She stared at herself in the mirror, and her reflection did not help to soothe her nerves.

She saw a broken, bloody girl, covered in cuts and bruises, along with medical gauze that Larisa applied. She inhaled sharply as she looked at her arms. The bandages were mostly soaked in blood, and they were starting to fall off. Her pants were mostly unharmed if she didn’t include the fact that she would never be able to get the bloodstains out of her jeans. She sighed and went into the bathroom. “I should have dealt with this last night.” She grumbled as Muffin followed her into the bathroom.

Her hand trembled as she went to remove all the bandages. She closed her eyes and started peeling them off one by one. Each one hurt worse than the last, and new droplets of blood started to show. She then reached for the gauze, and carefully removed it, fidgeting with it in her fingers. The air felt dense, and it felt hard for Kat to breathe. Each breath was a struggle, and it felt like there was something on her chest, putting pressure on her.

Kat couldn’t focus, and her vision blinked in and out. The stress was finally getting to her. She didn’t know what to do anymore, she felt like everything was going wrong. Her plan was going to fail, she couldn’t save Liam, and Hamilton was going to kill her-

“Meow.” Kat opened her eyes; she was laying on the cold bathroom floor. Did I pass out? She thought to herself, sitting up and looking around slowly, trying not to overexert herself. She closed her eyes again and tried to calm down. She felt something wet poke her face, and something fuzzy touched her nose. 

“Meow, meow.”

 “Muffin . . . ” Kat let the creature curl up in her lap, coating her already-stained jeans with black fur. She looked up and gasped. “What happened?” She said, pushing herself up, and making Muffin jump off her lap. Everything had fallen down, and when she looked in her bedroom, the results were the same. Small trinkets had fallen down all around the room. “It’s like an earthquake hit-” Kat gasped, and looked down at her hands. The cloudy gray and brown ring was still on her hand. She had caused the earthquake.

“KAT!” Liam yelled, pulling his shirt down over his head, trying to get out of the room as quickly as possible. The ground continued to shake in the aftermath of the earthquake. He ran down the hallway, tripping on his own feet. His face planted into the ground, pushing his glasses into his face. Something stood in front of him, but it wasn’t Kat. It was . . .  a cat? It pushed its shadowy black paw into his hair and meowed. 

“Yep, I’m fine. Thanks for checking. What’s your name?” Liam asked, and then immediately felt dumb. “Right, you can’t talk to me.”

“Her name is Muffin.” Someone said in a dry and raspy voice. Liam flung himself backward, pushing himself against the wall. Liam closed his eyes, bracing for what was to come. “Are you ok?” 

Liam finally opened his eyes and realized that the voice was Kat. Her wounds were freshly bandaged, and she had changed outfits. She wore a mint green shirt and leggings, both covered in cat fur. He snickered a little.

“I didn’t expect you to be a cat person,” Liam said, breaking into a smile that stretched from ear to ear.

“Oh, haha, so funny. I didn’t have time to change out of my night clothes, and I fainted right before the earthquake. I’m not good with stress, so . . . ” She cut herself off, rubbing where the wrap was. A small pin in the shape of a crescent moon held it together. “I just need something to drink, I sound like an old woman. After that, we’ll watch the news since luckily, the power didn’t go out. Then I’ll show you the other main things of the house.”

“Other main things?” Liam asked, trailing behind Kat and Muffin.

“The playroom, pool, my hidey-hole, and something you may or may not love,” Kat replied, leading Liam to a modern-looking kitchen, with white polished counters and tall stools lining what might have once been a bar. 

“How rich really are your parents?” Liam asked, running his finger along the smooth countertop. “I mean, this alone has got to be worth at least five grand.” He stared at the rest of the room. A large silver fridge beside a clean stove and oven. Everything looked perfect like it was the front stage for a popular cooking show.

“I inherited all of this, but . . . ” Kat trailed off, staring blankly at the ground. “My father did a bit of illegal business. He experimented on Powered people, but for a good reason. He said it was to remove their suffering. I can’t ever know if I believe him, but I’ve certainly learned a lot. I’ll show you in a minute.” She grabbed a glass and filled it up with water.

“Was he like, evil? Experimenting sounds pretty harsh.” Liam said, sitting down on a fluffy cyan couch. 

Kat downed her drink and considered the question. “In a way, yes. He started out humane when I was born, and after years and years of doing his business . . .  he started to slip into madness. He hurt my mother every time he finished his work for the day, but he never hurt me. He’d go and beat my mother, and the next minute he’d be picking me up and calling me his sunshine. He never knew what I could do, though. He never knew that I was aware of his abuse.”

Liam sat there, considering what to say back. His eyes were wide, and he stood up quickly to get a can of soda out of the fridge. “I never even got to meet my parents. There was always my aunt. Or at the very least, someone who called herself my aunt.” Liam laughed nervously and sat back down on the couch.

“This is too awkward. We’ll catch up on this later. I need to watch the news.” She grabbed a remote that was sitting on a table near Liam and sat down on the other side of the couch. She pushed a few buttons and the TV flashed to life, displaying the city.

“It’s estimated that at least 2,000 are without power, and a few have already been injured. The chief of police is with us now. Mr. Hamilton, would you care to explain the situation?” The news reporter asked, turning the camera to the man beside him.

“Well, Jonathan, today has been quite a mess, three large crashes, an earthquake, and the tornado that hit this morning! I do quite honestly believe that this all is the work of a Powered trying to mess with us. And I think I’ve already caught them.” He said, smiling wide as the camera turned to a thin girl in handcuffs, with a mask over her eyes.

“I didn’t do anything! I swear! He’s framing me! Hamilton is trying to hide the-” She was cut off abruptly by a gunshot.

Kat would recognize that voice anywhere. Even with the mask over her head, that was surely Larisa. Kat gripped the edge of the couch so tightly that her knuckles were white, and felt as if they were on fire.

“That was Larisa, right? Did they just kill her on national television?” Liam said, his voice as shaky as the camera that was broadcasting the news. The camera panned back to Hamilton, who had his gun in his hands pointed at a mysterious figure.

“This is all a setup . . . ” Kat said in almost a whisper. She bounced off the couch, pointing to the man. “That’s Officer Larrs, one of Hamilton’s closest friends! He probably had him shoot Larisa since she was going to expose them all!” Her jaw was twitching rapidly, and her lip trembled. “I couldn’t help her . . . ” A tear rolled down her face, and she felt just as vulnerable as the day Hamilton found her.

“Kat . . .  I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean . . . ” Liam said, trying to speak. Kat could tell he felt bad but didn’t know what to say to her.

“Don’t apologize, it’s not your fault, ok?” Kat said, sitting back down on the couch to look at him. His eyes were full of worry. “Wanna see me cause chaos?” Kat said, smiling evilly, her eyes glassy. Liam nodded, and Kat stood up. She motioned for him to follow her.

“Where are we going?” Liam asked, watching as Kat led him to the library. 

“The lab, of course. I can tell that you’re curious, and I figured you should see at least my special box of special things.” Kat went up the winding stairs of the library and pulled out a book. 

Liam stood behind her, watching in confusion. “Is this how we access the lab?” 

“No, this is a product of it, and how I’m about to make Hamilton regret ever killing an innocent.” She opened it, and several rings could be seen. Each one held a small stone with swirling colors. “These little things are magic at their finest,” Kat said, taking out a ring with a dark green stone in the center. “This one is focused on plant growth. You’ll see.” 

“I wanna mess with one! The orange one looks like fire!” Liam said, eyes widening every second.

“That one does actually have the ability to control fire, but it’s a tricky one to get used to,” Kat said, putting on the ring. “Come on,” Kat said, putting the box back and going back into the kitchen.

The television was still on, still focusing on Hamilton explaining how the Powered behind the chaos was now dead, and how tragic it was.

“He’s such a fake, how can people believe him?” Liam asked, his face covered in disgust.

“The same reason he believes me, they trust him, as he trusts me to be this little obedient puppet that does whatever he wants me to do. He’s wrong.” Kat closed her eyes and focused, channeling the energy of the ring into herself. The small succulent on the coffee table grew a tad bigger, and now covered the rim of the pot.

“What was that?” Hamilton yelled, almost as if he was now accusing the poor news reporter. He fell backward all of a sudden, green vines wrapping around his leg, pulling him offscreen. “You stupid kid! Help me!” Hamilton yelled, gripping the leg of the newsboy, making him fall as well. 

Kat opened her eyes and removed the ring. Sweat now lined her eyebrows, and she could feel the wetness in her hair as well. “Well then, I think we’ve had enough fun with this little thing.” Kat placed the ring in her pocket. “He’s wrong, by the way. No other Powered had a hand to play in this. The tornado was me, and so was the earthquake. I accidentally passed out still wearing the weather ring. Just know, I didn’t mean to break your window. I tried to make the tornado as docile as possible. Of course, when it reached the target area, my workplace, that’s when it turned deadly.”

Liam didn’t say anything, and he didn’t know what to say. He tried to form sentences to say, but nothing happened. “You . . .  did all of that?”

Kat looked away, placing her hand behind her head nervously. “Yeah, I’m sorry. I didn’t know how you’d react. I don’t want you to be mad or anything . . . ” Kat said, fiddling with one of the kitchen doors.
“That’s amazing, Kat! I wish I could do stuff like that! Make tornados, summon earthquakes, and grow plants from miles away! Anything but . . .  this.” He held out his hands and inhaled, making a large puffy cloud of cotton candy. “I used to get so excited over this, but after a while, it started to get annoying. So, I started wearing gloves. You know, the leather kind that weird biker people wear. After one whole day, I tried to take them off. Let’s just say that I had to get scissors to get the gloves off.” He blushed, embarrassed. He had never told anyone about that before, and couldn’t believe that he was actually admitting to it.

“They got stuck?” Kat asked, pulling a large container out of the pantry. “I’m scared to know how much you’re actually able to create.” She opened one of the cabinets and pulled out a ceramic bowl. “Do you want some chips? They’re cheddar cheese flavored.” 

“First off, yes, chips sound amazing. And yeah . . .  my hands got stuck, and it was a tedious process of sticking my hand in warm water and trying to cut the leather off bit by bit. I’m surprised I didn’t cut a finger off in the process!” He laughed and walked over to Kat. Kat handed him the bowl she had already filled and poured some chips into another bowl. 

“Did you just . . .  eat all the cotton candy?” Kat asked, staring at Liam’s hands, which were only slightly stained pink. 

Liam abruptly set down the bowl and ran over to the sink to wash his hands. “Yeah, yeah, I ate it all . . .  But it’s really good! I can make it any sweet flavor I want! Even though I’ve only been able to make five . . .  Regular flavor, apple, blue raspberry, lemon, and pineapple. I really don’t know how I made pineapple, considering I’m allergic to pineapple. Found that out the hard way.”

Kat stared at him as he dried his hands on a towel. “Who would ever want lemon-flavored cotton candy? Who? Liam, why would you even try to make that? I know you were wanting to make different flavors to see what all you could do, but lemon? Seriously, Liam?” She crossed her arms, narrowing her eyes.

“Meow!” Muffin leaped onto the counter, almost knocking Kat’s glass off. The cat trotted over to where Liam was drying off his hands.

“Hi! What are you doing, little one?” Liam was asking, reaching over to pet Muffin. Muffin dodged Liam’s hand and walked past it towards the bowl of chips. “I wanna pet you!” Liam whined, puffing his chest out angrily. 

“You better watch out for that one. She likes to steal things.” Kat said, holding her bowl of chips about a foot away from the counter. Muffin leaped across the sink, landing in front of Liam’s chips. The cat seemed to smile as it bit into one of the larger chips, hopped off the counter, and trotted away happily. “Told ya,” Kat said, smiling.

Liam stared at Muffin, who was now eating its victory inside a small cat house, decorated to look like a pumpkin. “Did you carve that as well?” Liam asked, not looking over at Kat. He could hear loud crunching noises from the house, making everything seem more awkward.

“Yeah, it didn’t take very long though, compared to the other things I’ve carved. But it was still fun nonetheless. Especially since Muffin goes in there every time I’m in here. If I’m eating, however, she sits on my lap to get snacks.” Kat popped a chip into her mouth and set the bowl down. “I’ll have to introduce you to someone I know. Remember how I said that my father did experiments removing people’s powers?”

Liam immediately turned his head to look at Kat. “Yeah, what does that have anything to do with a cat who steals chips? The cat of a Kat?” Liam chuckled at his own joke and turned back to Kat.

“I just remembered it. The little collar that Muffin is wearing was made by her. Let’s just say that my friend kinda has all the powers. She’s survived every single of my father’s trials, and even now, she still comes by to test out new serums. It’s kinda weird to be honest, considering she doesn’t hate me, considering what my father did to her.” She trailed off, turning her head slightly, making her wavy hair conceal her face. Kat exhaled slowly, and even from where he stood, he could tell she was stressed.

Liam got an idea. “Hey, Kat, you said you’d tell me why oil wasn’t good with fire. You never told me. Why can’t you mix oil with fire?” He asked, a smile spreading across his face. 

“I thought you were kidding about that!” Kat yelled, snapping her head to look at Liam. She grabbed her hair and pulled at it. “How, how, how, do you not know why you can’t put oil on fire?” Kat let go of her hair and groaned, making Muffin come out from her pumpkin house. Muffin jumped onto the counter and Kat scooped her up, putting her face on the cat’s fur. It was smooth and silky to the touch, which helped Kat calm down. Kat sighed, “Oil makes fire spread, spreading fire is bad. So oil doesn’t go on fire. Got it? Ok, cool, great, fantastic.” 

“You yelled,” Liam whispered, and Kat realized that Liam had actually backed away when she had yelled. “That was . . .  unexpected,” Liam said, grabbing a fistful of chips and shoving all of them into his mouth at once. Surprisingly, he didn’t drop any. Instead, a shower of crumbs fell from his mouth onto the floor, making Muffin leap from Kat’s arms so it could lick them up. “Also your cat is adorable,” Liam said, mumbling with all the chips in his mouth.

“I know. Sorry for yelling at you, I get stressed very easily sometimes, even with the hearing ring off.”

“The what?” Liam asked, eyes wide.

“Let’s just say that after my father passed, I extracted the superhearing power from myself, turned it into a ring, and I wear it whenever I go out. But all of that doesn’t hide this.” Kat pulled back her hair to reveal her ears.

“You look like a fairy,” Liam said, smiling widely. “That looks amazing! Why didn’t you show me? This is Taplican, after all! You could have shown me!” Liam spun in a small circle and then walked over to Kat, poking the tip of her ear.

Kat was slightly annoyed since this happened every single time she decided to show someone her ears. “Please stop,” Kat said, making Liam back up for the second time now. “This is why I don’t show people my ears.” 

“Sorry! They just look pretty freaking cool, doesn’t mean I really want pointy ears, but they still look amazing!” Liam said, attempting to pull his hair behind his ear. He failed, his fluffy green hair going back into his face as soon as he moved. “So what again about this mysterious person that has all the powers?” Liam asked, trying to pull his hair out of his glasses.

Kat’s eyes flickered. “Oh, right. I’ll introduce you to her in a minute. For now, let’s go get you some gel or something. There should be some in your room, as a matter of fact. I’m going to go get my bag from the car, the one from the restaurant. You go look for some gel, and I’ll be back in a few minutes.” Kat said, pulling her hair into a low ponytail. 

She walked out of the kitchen area, and into the living room. Liam had already walked to his room to find some gel, but Kat still felt terrible. It’s my fault his apartment got wrecked. All because I wanted revenge. Then Larisa had to pay the price. Kat thought, dwelling on her actions. Larisa was going to die anyway, Hamilton wanted to get rid of her, so this just made it a little easier for him. Kat thought, trying to calm herself down. It failed, making Kat only freak out more.
Kat walked quicker, then broke out into a sprint. She burst outside and didn’t even go to her car. Instead, she ran around the house a few times, then stopped, panting. She felt better now, considering she was gasping for breath. She walked over to her car and opened the trunk, grabbing a plastic bag containing her earlier purchase. She walked back inside, where Liam was watching a cartoon on the couch, with a bowl of chips and a cat both on his lap.

“I found gel!” Liam said excitedly. He looked at Kat’s exhausted face. “You alright?”

“Yeah, I ran a few laps around the house. It’s a good way to de-stress.” Kat said, undoing her hair and letting it drape down past her shoulders. Kat had always thought of her hair as a type of veil, hiding her from the world around her. “So, you said you wanted to meet the gal with all the powers?” Kat asked, putting the box down and leaning against the wall.

“Yes! I wanna meet her! I promise I won’t be mean or anything, but I really want to meet her! I’ve only ever known people with like, one or two powers.” Liam smiled.

“Alright, her name is Zyerina.”

Someone now stood behind Liam, but he didn’t turn around. He froze in place, scared of what or who stood behind him. Hands slammed down on his shoulders.

“Hi!” A high-pitched voice said from behind him. “I’m Zyerina!” The girl sang, spinning around on her heels. “You probably didn’t expect me to appear from thin air, so let me explain: Kat knows what people are thinking, I know whenever people are talking about me, like saying my name,  and then I know their location! I don’t know how or even why, it just kinda happens.” She smiled, floating into the air just to spin around again.

“I’m Liam. Hi?” Liam said, still unsure of what to think of the girl. She was also somewhat tall, but not as tall as Kat, maybe a little over five feet tall. She had long yellow hair that bounced whenever she moved. Her lime green eyes seemed to bore into Liam as she stared at him.

Zyerina giggled, and then teleported into the kitchen, and teleported back holding a bowl of chips. “I’m sorry, I get really energetic when I’m excited.” She dropped the bowl, making Liam dive for it, but instead of catching it, it levitated slightly above Liam’s hands, floating back beside Zyerina. “Telekinesis is really fun if you know how to work it,” Zyerina said, making the bowl float over to Kat.

Kat took a chip and held it for a minute. “I know you’re in a good mood and all, but I’ve got some bad news.” She said, going over to one of the chairs, and sitting down. Her oversized minty shirt fell over the side of the chair, swaying slightly as Kat crossed her legs. Kat turned her head to where Liam couldn’t see it, but he could see a small drop fall down her cheek.

“Hm? I bet you ate all my chocolate wafers, didn’t you?” Zyerina asked, snapping her fingers and floating back into the air.

Kat inhaled shakily. “You know how I’ve been saying that Hamilton wanted to get rid of Larisa? He finally did it. Larisa is dead.” 

Zyerina laughed, “No she isn’t, she survived the gun blast.” Her voice darkened, which threw Liam off. He wasn’t expecting Zyerina’s voice to change so quickly. “I was able to patch her up, and she’s at my place. I think she’s still sleeping, but I can’t be sure. Hold on.” Zyerina disappeared from the room and didn’t come back for a minute.

“She’s fun,” Liam said, playing with the flower clip in his hair.

Kat nodded. “Yeah, she’s like this. I’m curious to know how much coffee she drinks daily.” She snickered, standing up. “I’m just glad Larisa is still alive.” She exhaled deeply, wiping one of the tears from her face.

“Yep! She’s still sleeping.” Zyerina apparated into the room, scaring Liam half to death. “Also, I don’t drink coffee. Or tea. How rude of you to assume that I drink the nasty stuff.” Zyerina stuck her tongue out.

“You seem like the kind of person to drink a gallon of coffee a day,” Liam said, picking up Muffin, who was rubbing her fur against Liam’s leg. “I’m not really into coffee, but tea, however, is my favorite.” 

“Pbbt! Whatever, I’m going to go check on Larisa, you two have fun. Then I’m going to the store to get more of my chocolate wafers.” Zyerina vanished again, leaving Liam and Kat alone with a purring cat. 

“Does she always know where we’re at?” Liam asked, stroking Muffin’s fur. Muffin purred loudly, burrowing itself into Liam’s shirt.

“Only if we say her name. She’s weird like that.” Kat said, going into the kitchen to get something.

“By the way, what are all of her powers?” Liam asked, rolling up his sleeves slowly, trying not to make Muffin jump off.

Zyerina once again appeared behind Liam, making him scream. Zyerina burst out laughing, and Kat rushed back into the room, holding a can of cola. “Ha! Sorry, Liam. Kinda sorry. But hey, Larisa wanted me to say she’s doing better, and Liam, I heard you wanted to know what my powers were?” Zyerina tilted her head, making her ponytail pounce to the side.

Liam nodded. “Yeah, I was just curious, since I haven’t seen what all you can do, and Kat said you had all the powers.”

Zyerina flew into the air. “She’s not kidding! As you can see, I can fly,” she floated around the room, careful not to hit anything. “I can also teleport, no need to demonstrate. Same with telekinesis, you’ve seen me do that. I can shapeshift, which is like changing appearance but I can shapeshift into animals. Ice manipulation, super strength, super speed, and many others but those are boring and I’m not going into the diverse physics of controlling the growth rate of crystals.” Zyerina inhaled. “Phew! That was a lot. Bye-bye now!” 

“I’m so sorry you had to deal with her alone,” Liam said to Kat.

Hamilton sat in a darkened room, waiting for one of his officers to return. He had already tricked that idiot Larrs into believing Larisa was a threat, but, like most people, he had failed to see the truth. Someone knocked on the door, which surprised him. The knock was gentle, almost as if the person knocking was nervous.

A voice like butter could be heard on the other side of the door. “Mr. Hamilton? Sir? Agent Nevo sent me to deliver these.” 

Hamilton sighed. “That lazy little-” He muttered under his breath. “Come in,” he said, taking a sip from his black coffee. 

The girl that came in was no older than 18, with light-blue hair pulled into a set of twin braids. She wore a black dress and held a folder filled with what Hamilton assumed to be papers. “Nevo said that the body was gone. I don’t know what it means, he just wanted me to relay the message.” She said, putting the papers down on his desk and walking out of the room, closing the door behind her. 

“It can’t be gone. She got shot in the chest, she shouldn’t be able to move.” Hamilton repeated to himself. “It must be a joke, a miscommunication, something.” He muttered, opening the folder and then immediately slamming it down. “Aaron! Come here at once!” He yelled, his voice echoing throughout the small room. 

The door flung back open. “Sir?” 

“Officer Aaron, at least you can be bothered to come here, instead of sending some newcomer as Nevo did,” Hamilton growled. “Explain how the body couldn’t be found. Larisa was shot in the chest and should be dead. Explain to me where she is. Now.”

“Sir . . .  Nevo never showed up for his second shift. I believe you are mistaken, he nor I sent one of the new recruits down here. It’s against protocol.” Aaron said nervously, sweat dripping down his face and neck. 

“Explain, Aaron, if Nevo wasn’t here, how would you know whether or not he sent someone here?” Hamilton said, scowling. I’ve got him now. He thought to himself, trying not to smile at his newfound victory. He thinks I’m too dumb to figure out he’s covering for Nevo. “Let’s go check to see if you’re right. He should have been working alone in the computer lab, correct?” Hamilton asked, standing up and tightening his tie.

“Y-yes, sir.” Aaron stammered, following Hamilton as he left the room towards the computer lab. Surprisingly, the basement levels of the facility were barely touched, with only the north and east wings standing. Unfortunately for Hamilton, the south and west wings were where all the important things were. His research, his office, and all four of the hidden rooms in those areas. 

Hamilton grabbed the handle of the computer lab door, but it didn’t budge. “Nevo, I’m only going to tell you once: Open this door right now, or else,” Hamilton said through gritted teeth. The door unlocked, and Hamilton grinned. They’re right to be scared of me. He thought, opening the door only to see darkness. He flicked on the lights, but nothing happened. He then grabbed his flashlight and flicked it on. “Finally.” He muttered to himself after the flashlight sputtered and then flashed to life. He drove the light through the room, not finding anything. 

Aaron followed behind slowly, fear drilling through his veins. It didn’t feel right to him. Giggling could be heard behind them, and the door slammed shut. Hamilton pushed Aaron aside and went to grab the door handle, but to his surprise, it wasn’t there. Someone had locked them in.

“So, what’s really going on?” Kat heard Liam ask as she went into the library. 

“Many things, big and small,” Kat said, not answering the question. “You know how Taplican was created to be a peaceful place where you can trust anyone with your biggest secrets and whatever? It’s not. After my parents died, I fell right into Hamilton’s lap, where he believed that I was dumb, that I couldn’t figure out his stupid little master plan.”

Liam wondered what to say next, taking his flower clip out of his hair to fidget with it. “What do you mean, by master plan?” 

Kat sighed, motioning for Liam to sit down on one of the couches. Kat climbed the stairs, going onto one of the ladders to grab a book, throwing it on a basket that automatically lowered itself onto a table a floor below. “His little plan is to get rid of all Powered in Taplican. He’s afraid of them for whatever reason. But of course, Powered people are, well, people, and I feel like I’ve got to take a stand in this.”

“But then, why would he hire you?” Liam asked as Kat descended the ladder and stairs.

“Good question. The answer is simple: If Hamilton has a loose end that tells on him, he can point to the few workers that have powers. That way, he can have less suspicion put on him, and he looks fine.” Kat took the book out of the basket and set it back to its starting position. 

 “So kind of like those weird scam call places that you see on TV?” Liam asked, watching as Kat flipped through the pages of the book. “By the way, what is that?”

“It’s a book. And those scam call centers that you see on TV are real, by the way. But I guess you could compare this to one of those.” Kat pulled out a bookmark and started messing with the edges.

“I know it’s a book! What else would it be? The entrance to the lab I’ve heard so much about?” Liam said, raising his voice. One tiny strand of hair puffed in his face, and he blew it away before sneezing.

Kat smiled, “No, hiding a contraption in a bookmark would be way too simple for a secret lab. The bookmark would have to be the keycard in that case,” Kat said, dramatically shrugging as she peeled away half of the bookmark, revealing a small card.

“You weren't kidding, were you?” Liam said sarcastically, folding his arms and watching. He pretended to be annoyed, but it was obvious that he was curious about what the card actually was. “That’s an actual keycard, isn’t it?” Liam asked, unfolding his arms and following Kat as she walked over to another end of the library.

“You see, when my father had this place built, he was very cautious about people stumbling into the lab by mistake. So what he did was add a secret bookcase that slid over, into a personal office, and then from there you actually can start looking for the lab.”

Kat went into the more dusty area of the library, the history section. She heard Liam groan as they walked into it. The air was filled with dust, and the floor creaked with every step they took.

“I bet the reason no one ever found it was because it’s in the most boring part of the library.” Liam jokingly said, sneezing again.

“I actually like learning about some stuff here. The wars are what always intrigued me the most, even though I’ve read these books before. But the Powered Wars were what always made me think.”
“Why?”

“Because of people actually being free to use their powers. Think of that one time, when a man was shot because he saved the president from another country. People were afraid to show who they really were back then, considering what some people could do was life-saving. But during those wars, people got so angry over the wars that they came out of hiding, and went to use their powers, despite the fear and hesitation they had over it before.”

“That’s pretty deep. I can understand all of that, but even now we’re hesitant to show what we can do, out of fear-”

“Fear that someone is going to use it against us.” Kat finished, stopping at the end of the corridor. She grabbed a book called ‘Osapian History’ and pulled it out, smiling as a loud creaking noise could be heard from in front of them, even though nothing but a large bookshelf was there.

The bookshelf split in two, sinking down into the floor below, revealing a small room. A small desk sat in the center of the room, surrounded by bookshelves. 

“This is . . .  not what I was expecting,” Liam said, underwhelmed. “I thought it would be a little cooler, with like, large chandeliers and bright burning candles.”
Kat stared at him. “Really, all of the other chandeliers and candles aren’t enough?” She asked, still holding the card. “Hopefully, this will suit you.” She jabbed the card into the side of the chair, making the floor below them descend. The bookshelves that had once revealed the area to them closed behind them, sealing them below the library.

“Someone! Open this door immediately or else!” Hamilton yelled, pounding his fist into the door, but there was no response. “Aaron! Get this door open!” He yelled, causing Aaron to have a small panic attack. “Actually, look around this place. I want to see what Nevo was up to before he set me up.”

“Yes sir!” Aaron said, unhooking a bulky flashlight from his belt. It was a lot brighter than Hamilton’s flashlight, but it got the job done.

“Give me that!” Hamilton said, snatching the flashlight out of Aaron’s hands, and slapping his much weaker flashlight into his hands.

As that’s a suitable replacement. Aaron thought to himself, trying not to show any form of annoyance. “Sir, what exactly are we looking for?”

Hamilton slapped him across the face, causing small white spots to flicker around Aaron’s sight. “You know what we’re looking for! You helped Nevo set up!” Hamilton yelled into the other cop’s face, spit spattering onto Aaron’s face.

Aaron was astonished that Hamilton had switched personalities so quickly. Just a week ago, Hamilton had been so bubbly and happy when he escorted Kat into her meeting. Now, he was a raging ball of fire, burning anything it touched. Even more surprising was the fact that Hamilton would actually accuse him and Nevo of working together to betray their team. They both had worked there for nearly a decade! 

Hamilton flashed the light around the room a few times when a puff of wind blew across the room. That couldn’t have been a draft. Hamilton thought, spinning to his right. Nothing. A much stronger gust then hit him in the back, making him stumble.

“Sir, are you alright?” Aaron asked, looking around the room cautiously. Something felt off, much stronger than when they first walked into the room. It felt like someone was watching them, but if someone was, they would have certainly been seen by now, right? 

Hamilton muttered something under his breath, but Aaron didn’t hear it. Instead, he was focused on a figure in the corner of the room. He inhaled, shining the beam of light on it. It was a body, covered in blood. Aaron screamed, accidentally launching his flashlight into the air. It landed on the ground with a loud thunk as it spun around. He fled to the other corner of the room where the door was and kept jiggling the handle, but the door wouldn’t open.

Hamilton finally walked over to where the corpse was. There was a small pool of blood under it, but a mask concealed the head. The corpse had a police uniform on, but the badge was removed, aggravating Hamilton even more. He went to pull the mask back but heard whimpering in the corner. “Aaron! Come over here and remove this! I don’t have time to get my hands dirty.” He smirked, knowing Aaron’s fear of blood.

“Father, is that really how you treat your workers?” A light female voice said from behind him. “Pity, I was hoping you’d change. It’s only been 12 years after all,” Hamilton spun around, but no one was there. He felt hands on his back that shoved him forward and into the ground. He heard someone laugh, and he closed his eyes as the woman’s foot slammed onto his back, cutting off his breathing.

“P-please! I don’t know who you are, but, please! Have mercy!” He sputtered, coughing on his own spit, making the woman laugh again.

“Did you forget who I am? After all this time, torture, and effort, you dare forget who I am?” She yelled, and suddenly, it clicked in Hamilton’s brain. This was his daughter. The same one whom he tried to get rid of, so long ago. “You threw me off a cliff, expecting to simply die. But that’s not how it works. You see, someone’s father came in and saved me! Showed me how to use my newfound powers, and then he had a little . . . change of heart. Just. Like. You.” She growled, pressing down harder on Hamilton’s neck. “He tried to kill me. . . but he failed, didn’t he?” She laughed maniacally and knocked Hamilton out cold, her eyes shining wildly in the darkness as she licked her lips.

“Why do you get all the cool sci-fi stuff?” Liam yelled as he ran down the glass steps of the lab, trying not to mess anything up. 

“I really don’t know, I didn’t even realize this was here until a few years ago when Zyerina showed me how to access everything,” Kat said, grabbing the handrail as she slowly made her way down the stairs.

The lab was not like most stereotypical labs, instead, it was bathed in cyan, and had plants painted everywhere. Dark green tables were lining most walls, and doors lined the other walls, showing their interiors, but a few other doors were closed.

“What are all of these?” Liam asked from inside one of the rooms.

“You were supposed to wait, you know,” Kat said from the stairwell. “It’s been a while since I last came down here.” She said while walking into the room where Liam was. Kat begrudgingly walked in, gripping the wall. 

Liam looked over, noticing Kat’s distress. “Hey, are you okay? You look stressed.” Liam walked over to where Kat stood, frozen with her hand gripping the wall, knuckles white. 

“I haven’t been in this room since I transferred my power,” Kat said, releasing her hold on the wall and walking toward the center of the room. “It’s a very complicated process, involving lots of blood, pain, and headaches,” she said, turning slowly over to Liam, tears in her eyes. 

“Could I have it done? And have my power transferred?” Liam asked, not noticing that Kat had started to cry. He looked over, “It’s that bad, isn’t it?” Liam asked, putting his hand on Kat’s shoulder. 

“Not as bad as hearing your mother die. Not that bad. No pain can compare to that. I only wear the ring when needed, because I . . . sometimes need to know what a person’s inner thoughts are. That’s how I knew I could trust you.” She said, wiping the tears from her eyes.

“You and I have a lot in common. We both have lost a loved one, and neither of us has parents!” Liam said, trying to cheer Kat up. It was indeed working, since Kat’s mouth had turned up in one of the corners. “And, we both have really weird things going on in our lives. Plus, the best part is we both love the bundle of love that is Muffin.”

Kat finally burst into laughter, “I needed that. Thank you,” Kat said, pulling out a white box from a padlocked box. “But here’s the real issue. These.” She opened the box to show half a dozen syringes, each holding a different color serum. 

“Those . . . are the things that give some people power?” Liam asked, taken aback. “I am not a fan of needles, not even gonna try to lie on that one.” He said, growing pale. “But, if I’m able to get rid of my power, or at least contain it, then I guess I gotta do it, right?”

Kat nodded solemnly, closing the box and sliding it back into the box, fastening the lock in place. “It’s not as painful if you take pain meds or something. Zyerina just told me to hold my breath, close my eyes, and count to three. I didn’t though, I was a little too scared to remember her instructions. I regret it deeply.” Kat laughed sadly, “If you don’t want to, it’s fine, I totally understand. If you do want it gone, then just let me know. I’ll figure out something.” 

Liam nodded, not saying anything. The ground shook above them, and Kat placed a bright pink ring on her finger. “Is that your hearing ring?”

Kat nodded, and her eyes widened. “Someone is trying to break in.”

Officer Aaron sat in the corner, petrified. He had just witnessed what could be a murder, and there was no way out without letting the girl just feet away from him know. His hands dug into his lips as he tried to figure out what to do. Her light blue hair floated in the air, waving around like a bundle of aggravated snakes.

“Don’t think I wouldn’t notice you, Officer.” He heard laughing as he floated into the air and got flung towards the girl. She stared into his eyes, making him dizzy. “I’m not going to hurt you too badly,” she purred. “I can tell you’re a good person and didn’t know that my dear old dad was committing some murders or whatnot.” He floated closer to her, and she placed her lips right beside his ear. “He was planning on killing you too, you know.” She whispered, dropping Aaron on top of Hamilton with a sickening thud. “Oh, goodie! You broke something!” She clapped her hands together as she lowered herself to the ground. She shot a tiny bolt of lightning toward the ceiling, making the lights turn on. 

“I don’t know your name, but please, don’t kill me,” Aaron whimpered, tears streaming down his face. “I have a baby boy, who just started talking. Please don’t take that away from me.” He said, putting his hands together.

“I never planned on killing you. But him?” She pointed to Hamilton, who was just starting to wake up. “He’s different. As I’m sure you’ve heard, he tried to kill me. He told Larrs to shoot dear old Larisa, and he was dumb enough to listen.” Her eyes narrowed at Aaron. “Nighty night,” She sang, and Aaron could feel himself getting weaker and weaker. Blackness crept in the corner of his eyesight, and all he wanted to do was sleep. He just wanted it to be over.

A gunshot rang out, and Aaron snapped out of the trance. Hamilton sat up, hunched against a chair, with a smoking gun in his hand. A dime-sized hole was in the girl’s torso, but no blood could be seen. She smiled.

“You idiot. Did you really think you could kill me just like that, Father?” She said, her smile growing wider and larger, her hands getting bigger, fingertips sharpening into blades. “I should have killed you when I first walked in.” She growled, now in the shape of a monster. 

Aaron backed away, making a break for the door. A large hand wrapped around his waist, pulling him back. Tears continued rolling down his face, his face as red as a tomato. The girl smiled, now with pitch-black eyes with inky tears running down her cheeks.

“I said to go to sleep, Officer Aaron. It won’t be hard. It’ll all be over soon,” she sang, once again lulling him into a trance. He didn’t fight it this time, accepting his fate as he closed his eyes and let the darkness overcome him. But he never fell asleep. He could still feel the girl holding onto him, pulling him around as she spoke to Hamilton. He never heard what they were talking about. But it didn’t matter to him anymore, and he lost consciousness soon enough.

He woke up on his bed, with his son crawling onto his lap. “Da!” He heard his son say, as he looked around. His husband walked into the room, shaking his head as he turned around and walked out. Aaron looked into his son’s eyes and screamed. His son had no eyes, instead replaced by hollow, black voids. He threw the baby on the floor as its mouth stretched into the same demonic grin that the girl had.

He woke back up with two people dragging him away on a stretcher. So many people were around him, all talking, but he couldn’t hear anything. Light buzzed above him as his vision focused, ears still ringing as he finally grew more aware. 

“Aaron, I don’t have time to explain, but do you have any idea what just happened?” He heard someone ask as he tried to turn his head. Agent Nevo was standing beside him. He shook his head slightly and looked back up at the ceiling, where the girl was following beside the stretcher, blending in with the overhead lights. She smiled, eyes dissolving as Aaron passed out again.

Kat led Liam out of the lab as fast as possible, going two steps at a time. She went through the library doors, closing the bookcase before the floor to the lab had even finished shutting itself. She could hear two men knocking on the door rapidly, but she still heard one say that they might need to break in. She beelined it for the door, looking through the door only to see . . . Officer Larrs? She opened the door to the man, wondering where his accomplice was.

“Ah, Kat! Good to see-” Larrs tried to say, getting cut off.

“Where’s your buddy? You should know I don’t take kindly to people saying that they need to break into my house.” Kat said angrily. 

“Ah, yes, he’s back in the patrol car as we speak, something was happening at the station and he needed to check on it.” He smiled sweetly, and Kat could tell he wasn’t here for some sort of cruel joke.

“Why did you kill Larisa?” Kat asked, wanting to know what he would say. “I want to know your excuse for shooting an innocent.” She said, narrowing her eyes.

Larrs’ voice lowered, and his eyes dropped to the ground, darkening. “Hamilton told me she was a threat, and that if I didn’t shoot her, he’d kill me.” He said quietly, looking back up at Kat. “I didn’t want that, I’m sure you can tell.” 

“Larrs!” Someone yelled from the front of her house. “Two officers just got injured! Hamilton as well!” The officer yelled, and Kat looked at him as he ran toward the house. Agent Simone, a child of one of the higher-ranking officers just so happened to get the rank of Agent. Kat technically had this rank as well, but she chose not to embrace it, as she didn’t want to be seen as snobbish. 

“Simone, what do you mean?” Larrs asked as he walked over to Simone. 

“Exactly what I just said, sir. Two were injured and something happened to Hamilton. I haven’t got that much info on what happened to him.” Simone said, rubbing his arm nervously. 

Kat stepped out of the house, paralyzing Simone. Most officers could tell that he had a crush on Kat, and his cheeks blossomed red as she approached.

“Simone, good to see you again, but not under these circumstances. Who was injured?” Kat asked, ignoring Simone’s astonishment.

“Well, um, I think they said, Aaron and Cris.” He stammered, trying to compose himself. “They said someone broke in, but Cris was severely injured. Aaron’s in a coma.” Simone said, straightening his tie and pulling on it a few times. He looked behind Kat, where Liam stood, just peeking behind the door. 

“I didn’t know you had a brother,” Larrs said, walking over to where Liam stood. He gave Liam a pat on the head and ruffled his hair.

“He’s not my brother. He’s my friend,” Kat said, grabbing Liam by the wrist and lightly pulling him to where she stood. 

“Oh, uh, my deepest apologies, dear Liam,” Larrs bowed, backing away, embarrassed. 

Liam laughed, “Yeah, I’m small alright, but I ain’t her brother, let me just make that clear.” He said, smiling at the mishap.

“That doesn’t matter now. We need Kat at the facility.” Simone said, suddenly serious. His eyes were light green, which Kat hadn’t noticed before. She had always thought Simone’s eyes were dark brown. “Come on,” he said, voice monotone as he led them to the police car. 

I can’t see. Simone thought to himself as he opened his eyes and looked around. Everything was foggy, and he couldn’t see straight. He was just talking to Kat, so what happened? Did I black out? He thought to himself as he walked toward something. I’ll wake up soon. He thought, continuing to walk.

“No, you won’t. Stay here for a little while,” a voice said, making him turn around. A girl with light blue hair floated toward him with her head tilted. “You can call me Silver. I know you’re afraid. But there is so much more to come than you realize!” She said, reaching for his hand. To Simone, she looked like a ghost, since she seemed to be transparent.

“Silver, where am I?” Simone asked, hesitantly. “I don’t feel right.” He said, patting his arms nervously. 

“In your head, silly. We’re going to have a lot of fun together,” Silver said, putting her hand under his chin. “Bossy man just had me as a little visitor, and since I need someone to blame, you’re having a little visitor, too.” She smiled, face splitting into two, edges lined with razor-sharp teeth.

“I’m having a nightmare!” Simone yelled as he tried to run away, but he couldn’t. He was now . . . driving? How am I here? He thought to himself as he realized that Kat was sitting right behind him. He tried to say something, but his mouth wouldn’t move. Then he noticed something: he couldn’t move his body at all.

He tried to thrash around, but he couldn't, his eyes were forced to the road in front of him. He could feel his foot press harder and harder on the gas pedal. 

“Simone? Are you okay? You’re crying.” Kat said, putting her hand on Simone’s shoulder. He could feel the warmth radiating from her hand, and it calmed him down until he remembered he couldn’t respond.

“Yes, I am fine.” He heard himself say, but the words were not his. They were from his mouth, but they were not his. “I am just thinking about the future. Things are getting pretty scary around the station.” No! He screamed in his mind. Stop it! “But you are not going to be,” What are you doing?! 

He could see Kat’s eyes widen in the rearview mirror. “What do you mean by that?”

“Is that a threat?” Larrs asked from the passenger seat, turning his head toward Simone. He just wanted to wake up. It felt so real, and it made him think it was real, and there was nothing he could do to stop himself.

It’s not you, remember that. I’m in control. Silver said from the back of his mind. And it’s too late for you to get it back. No one will ever believe you, so go ahead and formulate your story. He heard laughter, and his hands yanked the steering wheel sideways, and the car flew off the side of a cliff.

Liam screamed, but he knew that wouldn’t help. Summoning all the cotton candy in the world couldn’t save them now. Even if he managed to make a lot, it wouldn’t soften the fall by much. They were falling faster and faster down the cliff and heading toward its rocky bottom. He had thought that Simone was joking, but he wasn’t. He was actually going to kill them, even if it meant taking himself out in the process. 

Kat’s eyes were squeezed shut, knowing what was to come. She whispered something under her breath, but Liam didn’t hear it. His heartbeat was in his ears, and he couldn’t hear anything. He gripped his seatbelt, pulling it tighter and tighter until he couldn’t feel anything. He closed his eyes.

“Come on, come on,” he heard Kat mumble, and Liam was now on the brink of tears. They should be dead by now. They should have hit the bottom by now. He opened his eyes and looked out the car window. They were suspended in midair.

“What is going on here?” Larrs said nervously from the passenger seat. He looked out the front of the car and gasped. Zyerina smiled and waved as she flew herself to the backside of the car. 

The car drifted back to the front of the cliff, where she placed the police car down, and sealed the protective railing back together. Liam wobbled out of the car, feeling sick. Kat stumbled out of the car and went over to Zyerina.

“What were you silly gooses doing?” Zyerina asked, flying back into the air and spinning around. “You better be glad I wasn’t too busy, or you might as well have been dead.” She shrugged, going over to where Simone was still frozen in place.

“You three know each other?” Larrs asked, watching in awe as Zyerina continued floating around. 

Liam smiled and abruptly vomited. He stayed hunched over for a little while, trying to calm down and figure out what had happened. 

“That’s not good,” Zyerina said, turning away to look back at the car. “And yeah! We know each other! I just met Liam a bit ago, quite literally, I might add. But Kat and I have known each other for almost 5 years!” She smiled again, watching as Simone’s door opened and he fell face-first into the pavement. “Um, and what about him? Was he drunk driving or something?” 

Larrs adjusted his cap, his brown eyes flicking back to a sick Liam, and back to a half-paralyzed Simone. “He was trying to kill us. He had a sudden mood shift, which is concerning. I feel as if maybe it was a little more than just a temptation to murder.” He curled his mustache between his fingers.

“He drove you guys off a cliff! I think he had a little more than a ‘temptation to murder’ if you ask me.” Kat crossed her arms, going over to Liam who was now sitting cross-legged. She placed her hand on his shoulder, trying to help him calm down. “What about you? What do you think?” She asked him, watching as he stood up with shaky legs.

Kat walked over to Liam and handed him a handkerchief from her purse. He wiped his mouth before speaking. “Thank you, Kat. And honestly, I don’t really know what to think. I just met Simone, Larrs, and you all on the same day, so I don’t really know what to make of any of you guys,” He said quietly, folding the handkerchief up and placing it in his pocket. “But honestly, I think we should ask him,” He pointed to Simone, who was now sitting with his back against the car, holding his knees up to his chest. 

Kat inhaled, and brushed her hair out of her face before walking over to Simone. “Whatever happened, we can talk about it, alright?” She said in a calm voice, placing her hand on his shoulder.

“Kat, I don’t know if we can trust him,” Larrs said, placing a hand on his taser, and walking over to place Simone in handcuffs.

Simone looked up, tears streaming down his face. “Don’t touch me! I don’t want to hurt any of you guys! She wouldn’t let me move!” He said hysterically. He hyperventilated, pressing down on his chest.

“Who are you talking about? Simone, what’s going on?” Kat asked, backing away from Simone nervously.

“I don’t know how to explain it, please, I know you don’t believe me, but I . . . I think I was possessed by someone. I heard someone speaking to me in my mind, and I saw a girl with floaty blue hair fly toward me.” He inhaled, trying to hold back tears. “But she said her name was Silver.”

“Officer Aaron Brown, can you hear me?” Someone said to Aaron, who was just waking up. “Blink twice if you can,”

Aaron blinked twice, trying to see what was around him. His eyesight was still blurry, and so was his memory. The last thing he remembered was getting called into Director Hamilton’s office for something, but what after that? 

“Move over, please,” Someone placed their hand on his shoulder, giving it a little squeeze. “Hey, Aaron, it’s me, Nevo. You alright? The one day I had to attend to other matters, you and Cris go try and kill yourselves,” He heard Nevo chuckle sadly and walk a few feet away.

“Wha-” Aaron mumbled, but his throat felt dry. “What happened?” He managed, trying to sit up.

Someone, presumably a nurse, handed Aaron a cup with a straw. He moved the straw aside and gulped it down, letting the water wash down the pain he felt in his throat.

“Someone broke in, I think. Cris hasn’t spoken anything about what happened, and Hamilton’s still unconscious. What can you tell us?” Nevo asked, grabbing a notepad and pen from the desk beside him. He sat down at the front of the bed, shifting in the hard plastic chair.

The room smelled of disinfectant and bleach, and the smell somewhat calmed Aaron down. He tried to close his eyes again, since as his eyes focused more, the brighter the pale white room seemed to get.

“To be entirely honest, I don’t really remember much from the experience at all,” Aaron said, trying to sit up. “I remember going into Hammy’s office, and then . . . nothing. I don’t remember anything after that. I remember hearing a voice, but nothing really specific about that voice.” 

Nevo scribbled down something on the notepad, and he looked up. “Nothing else? Are you sure?” He pressed, leaning forward a little.

Aaron considered the question. “A fair-skinned gal with light-blue hair. That’s it, just about. How’s Cris? I don’t even remember seeing him,” He asked, taking another big sip of water.

“Traumatized. Whatever happened, it caused him to be found in a body bag.” 

Aaron coughed out a bit of water, wiping it off as his eyes widened in shock. “He was found in a what?” He yelled, making him want to go see Cris himself. “Who would do that, Nevo? Who would want to hurt Cris? He’s, like, the nicest person to ever exist!”

“I know, but he was found tied up in a bodybag, with several deep cuts all over him. We thought there was an actual dead body in there when we first found it.” 

The nurse ran into the room, eyes wide. “Guys!” She said in a voice no louder than a whisper, but still getting their attention. “I don’t have much information, but Agent Simone drove off a cliff. I’ve heard that Kat, Larrs, and some other kid were involved. Some Powered saved them,” The girl worriedly said. “But, Hamilton’s awake. He hasn’t spoken anything, but he’s awake,” She said, hurriedly walking out of the room, presumably to check on someone else.

“You take a little nap,” Nevo said, patting Aaron on the shoulder and walking out. “I’m going to figure out what happened. I’ve got a few things that might just put this case together once and for all.”

Kat watched as Zyerina spun around on the tip of her foot, humming a tune to herself. Her yellow hair fluttered around her, making her look almost like a demigoddess in disguise. Kat smiled, walking over to where Liam sat. He was seated on the ground, staring off the cliff that they had just been thrown from. 

“How are you doing?” Kat asked, sitting beside Liam. The wind blew past them, making Kat’s own hair flow around. She grabbed a hair band out of her pocket and tied her hair up.

“Shaken. I’ve never been thrown off a cliff before, so it’s not exactly the best way to relive lunch,” He said, placing his hand in his hair and ruffling it around. “What happens now?” He asked as Officer Larrs came over to where the two of them stood.

Larrs looked to where the car had fallen, with the rails twisted together from when Zyerina put them back together. “Well, if we were to believe Simone, then we’ve got an incredibly strong Powered on our hands, that has something against us. But, there’s Zyerina, as you call her, and if she’s on our side, she could be a very helpful ally,” Larrs said, placing his finger on his cheek, as if in deep contemplation. What do we do now? He thought to himself, making Kat worry even more.

“Not even you know what’s next, do you?” Kat asked, pushing herself off the ground and dusting her leggings off. The sun had fully sat, making the sky a mix of beautiful colors, but not helping the situation.

Zyerina flew over to them. “Hey! I’ve got something that I need to attend to, someone needs my assistance. So! If you don’t mind me poofing off, I’ll be on my way!” She said, smiling brightly.

Larrs placed a hand on his cap and pulled it down. “Thank you, Zyerina, for helping us out. I don’t know what I can do to repay you,” 

Zyerina shrugged. “I don’t know either. I’m just going to steal Kat’s collection of cookies as payment,” She giggled before disappearing into the night.

“Is she always like this?” Larrs asked, turning to Kat.

“Always,” She replied, arms slouched. “So is someone coming to pick us up?”

“Not that I’m aware of. We still have to figure out if there’s even something wrong with the car, to begin with. After all, the front of the car wasn’t impacted for the most part. Since the railings were weak, the car just burst through them, and didn’t need to put much pressure on it to break it,” 

Sobbing could still be heard from beside the car, and Kat went over to the other side of it. Simone sat with his back against the car doors, hands and feet handcuffed thanks to Larrs’ paranoia. Liam hopped up and sprinted to where Kat stood, and he created a small ball of cotton candy, attaching it to a pencil he found on the back of the car. Liam held out the cotton candy stick to Simone, smiling a little.

Simone sniffed, wiping some of his tears on his shoulder pad. “You do realize that I’m handcuffed, right?” He jokingly said, laughing as another tear slid down his cheek. He abruptly stopped smiling and looked up at Liam and Kat. “I’m sorry, I really and truly am. I have no idea what happened, but honestly, it felt like some sort of possession. I couldn’t move or say anything. That ‘Silver’ girl did all of that. She said no one would believe me,” He trailed off, turning his head away from the two, blushing profusely.

“Liam is a Powered?” Larrs asked, ignoring Simone’s previous statement. 

“Yeah, but I can only make cotton candy,” Liam demonstrated, puffing out a swirly mess of pink and blue cotton candy, then poking it. It floated away, like a fuzzy balloon. “Those are the fun ones, I’m able to make some lighter than air, so they kinda just float around,” He smiled, swirling up another cotton candy ball and then munching on it.

“Simone,” Kat crouched down to Simone’s eye level. “Can you still hear Silver in your head?” She asked, watching Simone’s eyes shift back and forth as he considered the question.

“No, I don’t think so. She’s after something or someone, but I don’t know what or who,” He looked into Kat’s eyes, blushing intently as he looked away.

“Alright then, we should get back to the station. Kat, your house isn’t too far from here, do you think you can walk there?” Larrs asked, undoing Simone’s foot cuffs. “Simone, you’re going to stay in the back. I don’t entirely trust you just yet,” He looked back to Kat, waiting for an answer. 

Liam nodded, and so did Kat. “I think we’ll be able to get back just fine, thank you,” She said, hair flowing in the wind.

The sky was dark as Silver watched the two walk away. They were so close, almost touching. It made her blood boil. She considered all the ways she could kill the boy, she had so many different options to choose from. She smiled to herself and tried to brush down her hair. “I let you leave once, my love, but this time, there is no escape,” She couldn’t hold back a laugh. 

She changed her outfit, changing it to a flowing red dress with glitter and sequins. She put a hand over her head, altering the color from a light blue to a deep shade of brown. “You’re going to love me in this,” She summoned a shard of silver quartz and looked at her reflection. 

“Perhaps not,” Silver ground, shattering the crystal into thousands of little pieces, placing them around her hands as if they were gloves. 

She lowered herself down to the ground, following Liam and Kat. She made sure that her dress was floating slightly above the ground, she couldn’t have it getting dirty after all of her hard work. 

Kat turned around, throwing Silver off-guard. “Who are you?” Kat demanded with her eyes narrowed. Liam had stepped slightly behind Kat. 

Silver smiled, head tilted. She cleared her throat, “I’m, um, Pearl, and I live in the area nearby,” Her lips were shaking, for she had never expected Kat to be like this. Every time she had talked with her in the past, Kat was open and friendly. Is she protecting Liam? She thought to herself, getting angry at the thought. Kat didn’t have her hearing ring on, which was good for Silver since her thoughts couldn’t be read. 

“I’ve never seen you before, and I’ve met everyone that lives near me. No new houses have been built or sold, so I don’t believe you for crap,” Kat said, eyes gleaming in the almost darkness. “I bet your real name isn’t even Pearl.”

Silver angrily put her hands on her hips. “Fine! I just wanted to make sure that the two of you were alright! I saw that the two of you got thrown off a cliff! How horrible!” She said, almost tempted to teleport away out of frustration. 

“We’re leaving,” Kat said. Silver recognized her tone. There was no arguing with her when she was like this. I’ve gone through so much effort! And you just leave?! Silver thought to herself, watching as Kat turned around and started to walk off. “I don’t get what you’re trying to do, or why, but I don’t trust you. There’s too much stuff going on right now to just trust someone that appears out of nowhere.” Smart thinking, Silver scowled.

A flash of something pink could be seen, but Silver ignored it. She watched as Kat grabbed Liam’s hand and pulled him to a quick walking pace. She felt the facade melt away as her dress burned to scrap fabric, her arms grew longer and her fingertips sharpened into pointed knives. She floated into the air, a frown spreading across her face. She didn’t care if she looked bad, all she needed was Kat. 

“I’m not letting you get away!” She screamed as she dove for Kat, who was now running a full sprint with Liam only a pace behind her. “Come back here!” She yelled, flying behind them. Flying wasn’t her favorite way of travel, it was annoying and unpredictable to her. She watched as Liam and Kat turned to go behind a barn. Silver grinned, black liquid falling from her lips onto the ground, where it burned the grass away. “I’ve got you now, there’s no point in running away,” Silver singsonged as she turned around the corner.

Hamilton groaned, watching the seconds tick by on a clock beside his temporary bed. He sighed and looked up toward the ceiling as someone knocked and walked in. “Agent Nevo,” he said, not bothering to shift his stare. “What do you want?” 

“Even after all you just went through, you’re still in a bad mood?” Nevo said, laughing a little. “It looks like someone needs coffee. Caramel mocha?” He asked, not waiting for a response before handing Hamilton a cup of what he assumed to be coffee. 

Hamilton sat up, taking a sip from it. “Thank you, Nevo. But why are you here?” He questioned, finally looking at Nevo.

Nevo clicked his tongue, crossing one leg over the other. “Well, to put it simply, you were found unconscious with several cuts, bruises, and even shoe marks on you. There was a body bag in the room, where Officer Cris was found paralyzed and unconscious. He lost a lot of blood, which probably explains his paralysis. Officer Aaron was also involved. He says he doesn’t remember much, other than walking into your office to greet you. I just want to know your side of the story and what happened.” 

Hamilton scoffed, drinking more of the warm mocha. “Well, a girl came into the office, saying that Larisa’s body couldn’t be found. She said she was sent by you, which as Aaron said, is against protocol, so I went down to the computer lab, where you were supposed to be working. Explain why you weren’t there.” Hamilton said, getting frustrated.

Nevo was writing down in his notebook, shaking his head as he mumbled something to himself. “I had a family emergency that I had to tend to. My sister needed an emergency surgery done after a bit of an accident.” Nevo said, watching Hamilton’s eyes flick from one side of the room to the other.

“You should have given me more notice.” Hamilton scowled, attempting to cross his arms before noticing the wires and needles hooked up to his arm. “Either way, we got to the computer lab, and you weren’t there. The door slammed behind us, and my flashlight stopped working, typical stuff. I didn’t see the body bag for a bit of time.” Hamilton said, furrowing his bushy eyebrows and scratching his beard. 

“Nothing about a fair-skinned gal with blue hair?” Nevo asked, looking up from his notepad.

A shadow seemed to cross over Hamilton’s face, and he looked away. “Right. Forgot about that.” He laughed nervously, a tiny bead of sweat collecting on his forehead. “Let’s just drop this topic, shall we?” He asked, more like a demand than an actual question.

“I found some old paperwork. An old diary. Hammy, I think you’ve got some explaining to do.” Agent Nevo grinned as he stood up to close and lock the door. “That girl, I found her name. It’s not Silver, as Officer Aaron said. Her name was Gracelyn. Sound familiar?” Nevo asked, raising an eyebrow, still smirking.

“You went through my things?” Hamilton yelled as saliva flew from his mouth. “I can easily have you killed. You know what I’m capable of.”

“I didn’t necessarily look through your things,” Nevo responded, the smile fading from his face. “Instead, I simply got a little help from an old friend. To be completely honest with you, you don’t know what I’m capable of. I can show this little notebook to everyone. Your brother included. Everyone will know what you did to that poor child, your wife, and what you plan on doing with Katrina and all the others.” He said, watching Hamilton’s eyes widen.

Hamilton reached for something under the hospital bed, but whatever it was, it wasn’t there. Nevo laughed as he held up what Hamilton was looking for: A gun. He crushed the metal object in his hand, not reacting as pieces cracked and fell to the ground, clanking against the polished floors.

“I got a gift from that friend. I’m not a Powered, now don’t think that. I don’t want you to be scared, after all. But you will die if you try to flee.” 

“Help! Security!” Hamilton yelled, watching as Nevo’s smile turned into a scowl and his eyes narrowed.

“They’re not going to help you,” Nevo said. “I already showed them this. But that’s only three compared to the hundreds that this could affect. But as my old buddy said, it’s too late for apologies. So have fun in here.” Nevo grabbed the metal bars of the bed and crushed them together, trapping Hamilton. He turned off the lights and left the room.

Liam felt Kat grab him by his shirt collar, placing something in his hand and wrapping her hand around it. She placed the finger of her other hand over her lips, silencing Liam. His eyes darted around frantically, trying to make sense of what was happening. 

“I’ve got you now, there’s no point in running away.” The girl sang as she rounded the corner. Liam squeezed his eyes shut, not wanting to even see what would be his demise. He heard something fizz on the ground, and he opened his eyes to see the grass beneath the girl blackening and turning to a mix of what looked to be ash and dust.

Her eyes were an inky black, with no visible pupils. Her hair was a dark cyan, tangled and floating all around her as if made of hairy snakes. She wore a long, tattered dress that was stained and covered in sloppy stitches. 

“Where did you go?” The girl yelled in a ghostly tone, turning her head to where he and Kat were standing. She looked back toward the other side of the barn, and Liam almost had a heart attack. “It’s no use in hiding, come out, and I might just let you live!” 

Liam could feel his heart pounding against his chest. He thought the girl was playing an evil joke, just letting them live with a little hope before killing them with her sharp, shiny fingers. Kat squeezed Liam’s hand with both of her hands, calming him down a little. Her hands were surprisingly cold, making Liam flinch a little. 

She pointed one hand to Liam’s palm, where something shiny lay. A small clear sphere with small specks of purple floating around in it. Is this an invisibility power orb or something? Liam thought, watching Kat’s face. She nodded slowly and looked up at the starry sky.

“I just want to talk with you!” The girl howled into the darkness, a good distance from where the two stood. The sound of splintering wood could be heard as the barn behind them fractured into thousands of sharp pieces.

“Don’t move,” Kat whispered to Liam, now shaking slightly. Her skin had been split from the corner of her right eye all the way to the bottom of her chin, bleeding profusely. She shifted her shoulder to soak up some of the blood in her shirt and turned her head to look behind them. Liam didn’t turn around, but he could feel Kat’s hand go still. He could hear heavy breathing from close behind them.

“Please, I just want to talk. You were right, Kat, I was lying about my name. But I knew you wouldn’t trust me if I told you my real name.” Liam felt a tinge of sympathy for her. “My name is Silver, are you happy now? Will you talk to me now?” Silver’s voice cracked as she stepped away, heading toward the treeline.

Is this the person that hurt your friend? Liam thought, watching in horror as Silver split a tree in half using her bare hands. Kat once again nodded, reaching for her handkerchief and placing it on her cheek. It’s gotta be really hard doing that with just one hand. Kat smiled a little at the statement, nodding sadly.

Silver now was almost out of sight, and Liam wanted to run away as fast as possible, but Kat held his hand firmly. She looked into his eyes and pointed to one of the trees behind the demolished barn.

“We run there as fast as possible, then grab my hand again and I’ll turn us invisible. Turn around slowly, and hold up your hand when you’re ready.” Kat said as silently as possible. Liam nodded, the two of them turning around in a circular motion, still clinging onto Kat’s hand tightly. 

He raised his hand shakily. Kat nodded, and she let do, breaking the sight barrier between them and Silver. He ran as quickly as possible, trying to match Kat’s pace. It was obvious that she had been doing this for many, many years. 

“I hear you!” Silver yelled as Liam ducked behind the tree, reaching for Kat’s hand before collapsing beside her. He turned his head around the back of the tree, watching as Silver looked around the remnants of the barn. She screamed in anger after a few minutes of searching, making both Kat and Liam jump. He turned his head again, and Silver was gone.

“I think we’re good, she’s not there anymore,” Liam said, looking over to Kat, whose eyes were closed. Tears rolled down her face as she opened her eyes and turned and looked at Liam.

They stood up and finally let go of each other’s hands. Kat hugged Liam, “We’re getting ice cream tomorrow. I don’t care what time of day it is, we’re getting ice cream one way or another.” She said, smiling as she let go of Liam.

Liam nodded, smiling lopsidedly, “Never have I agreed with someone more in my life than now.” 

Larisa attempted to comb her hair, but it was useless. She kept pulling out strands of hair with each half brushstroke. A small pile of coral hair was collecting on the edge of the sink, making Larisa grimace.

Today had certainly been the weirdest day she’d ever had. According to her brother, two people had been possessed by a Powered, and Hamilton’s neck had been crushed by the foot of that same Powered. And just an hour ago, one of the agents had also been possessed by the Powered girl, forced to drive himself, two officers, and a civilian off a cliff. They lived, however, which is why Larisa’s temporary roommate had left for a while. 

Zyerina hadn’t told Larisa much about everything so far, but she didn’t mind. After all, she had saved her life from a bullet wound just a day prior. She was surprised by how busy Zyerina always was since she had already teleported somewhere else about seven times since yesterday afternoon. 

Larisa had been asked to give a small box to someone she knew well, so earlier that day, she went to her brother’s house and gave it, and a tattered notebook to him. He had picked her up and hugged her, crying into her shoulder. Nevo was always like this, but he did have mood swings and could get angry fast, or cry over the simplest things. But to give her brother credit, he didn’t know she would survive a direct gunshot to the chest.

She left quickly, not wanting to be spotted by Hamilton or any other of the officers. She still was hooked up on why Officer Larrs had shot her. It didn’t make sense! Larrs was best friends with Nevo, and knew that they were siblings! Why would he choose Hamilton, over the people he knew the best? It was a question that stuck with her for the whole day, remaining stuck in her thoughts.

A voice called out from the main room. “I’m home!” Zyerina said, her footsteps echoing with each step. “Sorry about the long wait, I had to pick a few things up,” Zyerina smiled awkwardly, placing her hand behind her head. She looked at the hair-filled comb in Larisa’s hand, eyes widening as she winced. “That looks like it hurts.” She said, placing a paper bag down on the table.

“Where were you?” Larisa asked, and then immediately regretted it. I have no right to ask someone where they’ve been when they’ve been letting me stay in their home. She thought to herself as Zyerina turned to look at her. Larisa threw her hands up. “Sorry! I was just curious!” She said, smiling awkwardly as Zyerina continued to stare at her.

“You’re fine,” She said, looking away and her smile fading. “Today’s been a little stressful, that’s all. Seeing your best friend careening off the side of a cliff is not fun. Trust me.” Zyerina opened the bag, making its contents float into the air and go into cabinets and onto shelves. “Do you need help with your hair?” She said, turning back to Larisa.

She nodded profusely, making her curly hair bounce in the air like springs. “Yes, please. It refuses to cooperate.”

“The brush I lent you was not meant for curly hair, but nor is the comb you insist on using,” Zyerina said, floating toward the fridge and opening it, making a gallon of milk float out, pouring itself into a glass nearby. 

Zyerina’s apartment was spacious, but Larisa could tell it hadn’t been cleaned well for months, if not years. The walls had stream marks on them, with pictures and paintings collecting dust. Shelves were tilted slightly, cabinets squeaked when opened, and metal doors and bronze bed frames rusted as time passed. It seemed remarkable that Kat was even friends with Zyerina, considering all of this since Kat was the type of person to have a place for everything, and a schedule for a day a week ahead.

Larisa looked along at the pictures hanging up on the walls. Though covered in layers of thick dust, the images could still be seen clearly. “You must really like Kat to have this many pictures of her,” Larisa commented, wondering why Zyerina had hung up more pictures of Kat than herself.

“I don’t really like looking at myself,” she shrugged, pouring more milk into her glass. “So I hang up pictures of people I do like looking at.”

Larisa raised an eyebrow at the thought. “I always thought of you to think highly of yourself. You’re a Powered, right? Most Powered think of themselves as gods or something.”

“But neither Kat nor Liam are like that,” replied Zyerina, crossing her arms as the glass of milk clinked on the counter. “I have a lot of powers, yes, but that doesn’t mean that I necessarily think of myself as a god, even that’s pushing it. I like to think of myself as someone who can change the world for a greater cause.” 

Larisa looked away, slightly ashamed. She laughed awkwardly, looking back to Zyerina, who was examining a small purple box.

“I’m thinking of getting the bottom quarter of my hair dyed. I really don’t know why, I just kinda want to.” She smiled, placing the box back and floating into the living room, where she crossed her legs and laid down on the couch, spreading her arms over the side. “Oh, right, you still need help.”

“I’m fine, don’t worry about it.” Larisa chuckled, spraying something into her hair. “I was about to head over to my brother’s house for dinner. Even though he’s older than me, he still likes to brush my hair.” She grinned, brushing out one of the larger tangles. “I’ll be back soon!” 

Agent Nevo placed the diary onto the projector, inhaling deeply before speaking. The room quieted down. “Everyone! I have gathered you all here to speak about someone. Someone that we all trust, is a fake. Someone has been playing us all for fools. Director Hamilton, to be precise.” There were mumbles of confusion from the crowd. Someone coughed loudly from the back of the room.

The room was larger than he needed, but it helped with projecting his voice throughout. Even though it was large, it still felt cramped to Nevo, even though he was on stage. A few dozen people were in the audience, waiting for him to speak. He had pulled them away from their jobs, after all. He wondered if he had made the wrong choice. What if the people in the audience didn’t believe him?

“As you all know, recently, strange things have been happening. Hamilton has sent Katrina Lawson, a Powered with superhearing, into Eastwood, the school he suspects is a school of crime. Do you know why?” He paused for a moment, inhaling again. “It’s not to see if it’s a school of crime. It’s because his brother runs the school!”

Gasps could be heard throughout the crowd, making Nevo feel a little bit better. Officer Larrs walked onto the stage with him, taking the microphone and standing beside him, waiting for a moment before continuing.

“And besides that, Hamilton got me to shoot dear old Larisa, just because he feared she knew too much. When that failed, we found out that he had a daughter, a Powered daughter, that he threw off the side of a cliff just because he didn’t want to live up to the consequences of his actions.” Officer Larrs added, handing the microphone back to Nevo.

“Larisa lived, due to a Powered that saved not just her, but Kat, Larrs, and Simone. But that’s another reason I’ve gathered you all. His daughter, a gal named Gracelyn, wants revenge. That’s how it seems to both Larrs and me.” Nevo added, handing Larrs back the microphone before flipping through the diary.

“From what we’ve seen, and what we’ve found, Gracelyn has the power to possess people and turn into some sort of monster. I’d personally say she can shapeshift into a demon, based on accounts of what Officer Aaron told both me and Agent Nevo here. But she can also teleport and fly, which shouldn’t be too much of a concern as long as she does not target us.” Larrs explained and then held his hand up, “Gracelyn, if you can hear this, just know we are not on your father’s side.” He said, looking over to Nevo, who nodded in agreement.

“Yes, we are not on Hamiton’s side, so please discontinue going after our agents and officers. We mean no harm to you or anyone on your side.”

“We also need to tell everyone about Hamilton’s plan. We at first thought that Hamilton simply wanted to take over his brother’s school and hide the fact that he had a kid. That’s not everything.” Larrs exchanged a glance with Nevo.

“As you can see, this little notebook here explains everything. My sister managed to steal it after Hamilton first started acting suspicious. But his plan was to start knocking off all Powered, every single one, simply because he was afraid of them. He wrote here,” He pointed to a line in the notebook. “‘These people were created by demons, to cause the destruction of mankind, and it is up to pure people like me to get rid of them. No matter what it takes.’ There’s more written, but after everything we’ve done, we’re turning this into some of the highest-ranking officers to start a case against him. Another thing, which my sister pointed out, is that if anyone started to get suspicious, he could point to the few Powered actually working with us, such as Katrina or Via.” Nevo finally looked back up at the collection of people and smiled lightly. 

It felt good to finally tell people about this, and he could tell that a weight had been lifted off of both his and Larrs’ shoulders. People finally knew the truth.

“With what he just said, Hamilton had planned to kill Katrina, after Larisa’s escape. He feared that she would tell Katrina, and she’d do something about it. I saw her about an hour ago, and for those of you curious, yes, Simone is fine, he’s just resting the whole possession thing off. But Kat is safe, along with another friend of hers that she’s with. But we do need to keep an eye on both her and Via, to make sure that they aren’t hurt, or in the potential case that they could be working with Hamilton.” 

The lights flickered, dimming a little. “But how do we know you’re not working with Hamilton?” Someone said, right as the lights went out, plunging the room into darkness.

Silver pushed the two off the stage, smiling as they hit the ground with a sickening crack. She was still hidden behind the curtains, but that didn’t stop her arms from stretching to push the men over. 

“I heard your little speech, but to be frank, it could have used more data. More evidence. Honestly, you should have started with that dumb little apology so maybe I didn’t want to knock you idiots over.” She smiled, watching Agent Nevo and Officer Larrs scramble to their feet, being helped by other members of the agency.

“What do you want?” Someone yelled from the back of the room. “If you’re not after revenge, what are you after?” Someone else yelled. “Gracelyn, no one here means any harm!”

Silver twitched, making her hair float into the air. “I don’t go by that name anymore! And I’m not just after revenge, I’m after something far greater than any of you could have ever realized.” She growled, watching with glee as some people tried to sneak out of the back door.

Chairs floated into the air, along with tables, books, and most other objects that weren’t drilled into the ground. She crushed her hands into fists, watching as sharp crystals pierced through the doors, blocking everyone in. She watched the crystals pierce through a man’s foot, turning the once purple crystals a shade of deep red.

“Silver, then, what do you want? Why are you causing us harm if you’re not after us?” Agent Nevo asked, holding his hands together in a pleading manner.

Silver grew angry with him, wanting to impale him with the crystals she could make. But, that would mean killing Larisa’s brother. As much as she wanted to kill him, she knew that that would also cause more retaliation than she was prepared for.

“Because, you can’t just accuse people out of nowhere, saying that they’re working with the bay guy,” she said, her voice cracking. “You can’t accuse the perfect girl of being the bad guy. It just doesn’t work like that! She’s perfect, and now she’s working with the bad guy? You don’t get it, she’s perfect, she’s so beautiful, and you’re trying to take her away from me! YOU CAN’T HAVE HER!” She screamed, pushing everyone away from her. 

Silver’s eyes darkened into black voids, and she started shifting back into her monstrous form. Her fingers blackened and sharpened as she stood there, watching her audience.

Larrs stepped forward with shaky legs. “Silver, we don’t know what you mean! We’re not trying to take anyone away from you!” He said, trying to understand what she meant.

Silver’s hollow eyes narrowed into black slits, and she bared her razor-sharp teeth. “You’re the one who pitched the idea that she was working with Hamilton. You’re the one that let Simone drive after it was obvious that I had possessed him . . . I think you personally are jealous of the Powered. Why else would you blame one if you weren’t?” Silver smiled evilly, stretching a blackened arm toward Larrs, wiping a finger on his cheek, leaving behind a trail of what looked like ink. He slapped a hand to the mark as his knees buckled and he fell to the ground. “If you dare touch my Kat, you all will suffer worse than you could possibly imagine. Don’t test me.” She growled before disappearing from the room.

Nevo ran over to Larrs, who was leaning against the front of the stage. The chairs and tables crashed down to the floor, no longer being held up by Silver. “Are you alright?” Nevo asked, looking at the wound. “What the hell did she do to you?” He asked, holding a hand over his mouth.

Larrs’ face had been sizzled away from the tar-like substance, leaving acidic bubbles all over his cheek. Other officers came over to help, assisting Larrs with standing up, but they were all too happy to leave when the doors burst open, sending crystal shards everywhere.

“What the heck happened while I was gone?”

Kat collapsed on the couch, and Liam plopped himself down on one of the large chairs in the room. After a half-hour run, they finally made it back to Kat’s house. Her cheek was covered in dry, crusty blood, but she didn’t care about that at the moment. She was just thankful that the two of them had made it back in one piece. Kat rolled off the couch onto the cold hardwood floor, exhaling in relief. 

“What just happened?” Liam asked, now also lying on the hardwood floor.

“We just escaped with our lives from some psycho demon thing,” Kat said, wiping sweat from her face. Liam turned to look at her, and she sat up. “You ask me as if I know. The most I ever had to deal with at the academy was our boss just wanting to kill a bunch of awesome people. No demons mentioned in the sign-up contract.” 

Liam and Kat both laughed, making the tension lessen, but only a little. Kat stood up and walked back toward her room.

“I’m going to wash up, and then I’ll find something for us to eat. Sound good?” She asked, propping herself on the wall.

“Yep. I’m just going to lay here considering how we lived, and then I might get up. No promises.” He said, rolling over to another spot on the floor.

Kat walked back to her room, grabbing a first aid kit on the way there. She went into the bathroom and grimaced as she touched the mark. A deep cut ran from her eye to the bottom of her chin. She grabbed a washcloth and soaked it in warm water, wiping away the blood that had collected. 

Her outfit was completely ruined, the mint green shirt she was wearing was soaked at the top with blood, and the jeans were torn. She exhaled and wiped her wound with antibacterial gel before placing a large bandage over it.

After changing, she went back into the living room, where Liam had already switched into nightclothes and was sitting on the sofa with Muffin sleeping in his lap.

“How bad was it? The cut, I mean.” Liam asked, turning his head to watch as Kat went into the kitchen and preheated the oven.

“It’s going to scar, but it’s going to look pretty cool once it does. How about you? Were you injured?” Kat replied, pouring herself a glass of cola. “Want some?”

“Please. And no, I didn’t get any cuts or anything, but I got a few scrapes.” He shrugged, putting Muffin on the couch before standing up to get himself something to drink. “If anything, my clothes were the most damaged.” He joked, gulping down some of the cola in his cup.

Kat turned away from him, going over to one of the windows. “I’m sorry you got pulled into all of this. I really am. Even I don’t even know what’s been happening lately, and . . . I just feel like a terrible person. I dragged someone I barely knew into a situation that may cost them their life.” She stared out the window, looking up at all the stars, inhaling deeply, and closing her eyes.

Liam’s eyes widened, and he went over to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t feel bad. Even if I get hurt just a bit, this is the most fun I’ve ever had!” He said, going back and taking another large gulp of his drink. “If I wouldn’t have met you, I wouldn’t have met any of your cool friends, I wouldn’t have gotten the best ice cream ever, and I wouldn’t have eaten what was obviously the best cheeseburger in existence!” He smiled awkwardly as Kat left to put something in the oven.

“Stuffed-crust cheese pizza.” She said simply, taking the pizza out of its box and placing it on a tray before shoving it into the oven. Warmth filled the air, making the hairs on Kat’s skin rise. “Be glad you’re here, if you weren’t, I’d probably eat the whole thing myself.” She joked, spinning around to look at Liam. “I’m glad it’s not all bad though. At least you find light in this situation.” Her lips curved up into a half-smile.

Liam’s mouth stretched into a line. “I’m sorry, but you still look like you’re about to kill someone.” He mumbled quickly, going over to pick up Muffin, who was staring at the window as if something was there. “The power of the cat compels the Kat!” He yelled, holding up the cat toward Kat, who dramatically fell to the ground, clutching her chest.

“No! My only weakness!” She said with a dramatic flourish, closing her eyes and lying motionless on the floor. She sat up, and the two of them burst into laughter. 

Something thumped on the ground behind them, and they turned around. Zyerina’s expression was unreadable, but her eyes were wet.
“Something terrible has happened at the academy. You’re needed immediately.”

Via stood at the entrance to the auditorium, holding a crowbar in her hands. “What the heck happened while I was gone?” She asked, running into the room. Mumbles of confusion were heard all over the room, but most people were standing toward the front of the stage. Some people ran out of the room in a frenzy. Officer Larrs was sitting in a chair, wincing as Agent Nevo touched something to his face.

“Via!” Nevo yelled, rushing toward her. “Where were you?” He asked, pulling her toward where Officer Larrs was sitting. 

“I had to use the restroom.” She readjusted the sunglasses atop her head, embedded in her long and curly red hair. “Why was the door blocked?” She said, going over to Larrs. She looked at his face, and screamed, flinging herself back and hitting the bottom of the stage. “What the heck happened to you?” She asked, hyperventilating.

Larrs’ face was distorted, almost not recognizable. The left side of his face had melted, making it look like someone had poured brown slime down his face. His eyelid drooped, and his eye was bloodshot. He moved his mouth to talk, but no words came out.

“That Powered I was talking about, the one that’s been possessing people, she did this to him. Whatever monster she can shift into, is apparently corrosive to the touch.” Nevo said, watching as Via gripped the edges of her skirt nervously. “Do you think you can fix it?”

Via shook her head, snapping herself out of her daze. “Maybe. Perhaps. I don’t know! I’ve never seen anything like this!” She said with a shaky voice. She inhaled, closed her eyes, and exhaled. “Get me a cotton swab, a pencil, anything that can be used to test this . . . this stuff.” She said, watching one of the younger cadets run out and bring back a test tube and a swab. She thanked them, stuck out the swab, caught a small portion of the remaining black substance, and quickly placed it in the tube. The substance ate away at the cotton, leaving only a small strand left. 

Via took off her glove and held out her hand toward Larr’s face, closing her eyes. A small green glow emitted from her hand, stretching toward his face. After a brief moment, the entire left side of Larrs’ face was bathed in the green glow, dimming slowly over a few minutes. She opened her eyes after the process was done, and even she was shocked by the results. Larrs’ face was completely healed, except for dark brown marks covering where the substance had once been.

“I didn’t think you’d be able to do that,” Larrs said, placing his hand on his cheek. “I’ve seen you fix bones, cuts, and scrapes, but evil ink goop? I didn’t know if you’d be able to do that.” He said, grinning.

Via sat down, spread her arms over the side of the chair, and sighed. “I didn’t think I’d be able to do it either.” She stood up and took her jacket off before sitting back down. Sweat poured down from her face as she crossed her legs. “Never doing that again. I feel like I’m going to pass out.” She said tiredly, watching as Nevo left the room and came back with a bottle of water. She opened it and gulped it down, wiping her mouth when she was finished.

“Kat’s on her way. We wanted to discuss this,” Nevo waved his hand around in the air. “But as you can see, Silver decided to make an actual appearance while we were talking about how she almost got killed by her dad.”

Via scoffed. “Daddy issues, am I right, or am I right?” She said, placing her glove back on. She took her sunglasses out of her hair before placing them on her face, clicking her tongue. “Let me know when Kat arrives so we can have our meeting or whatever you want to call it. Toodles!” She said, waving to Larrs and Nevo as she left the room.

Liam watched as Kat flung herself from one side of the house to the other, shoving a random assortment of items in her bag. 

“Liam!” She called from the front of the house. “Stay here. Don’t answer the door for anyone!” She yelled to Liam, who sat cross-legged on the couch several rooms away.

“Ok!” He yelled back, listening as the door loudly closed behind her. The startup of a motorcycle engine could be heard, and Liam sprang from the couch, running toward the window. Sure enough, Kat had tied her hair up into a ponytail and was seated on a yellow motorcycle. “I didn’t know she had one of those,” Liam mumbled in awe.

“Yep!” Someone said behind him, making him jump in fear. Zyerina floated just inches away from his face, smiling when their eyes met.

“You’ve got to stop doing that!” Liam said, patting his hair down and re-attaching his hair clip. “You’re going to give someone a heart attack!”

Zyerina laughed, spinning around in the air. “Yep! Kat tells me that all the time, but I never listen!” She singsonged happily, waiting for a response.

The oven beeped, and Liam walked into the kitchen, grabbing a pair of oven mitts and taking the pizza out of the oven. He touched his arm to the door of the oven, making him wince and jump back.

“You could have just asked, and I would have gotten it for you,” Zyerina mumbled, not moving from her original spot. “Is that stuffed crust?” She said, her voice changing almost instantly. She flew over to where Liam stood, crossing her arms.

“Yeah, why?” Liam asked, grabbing the pizza cutter before handing it to Zyerina. “You look angry.”

Zyerina turned to Liam as the pizza cutter cut the pizza up. Liam did a double take, forgetting that Zyerina could use telekinesis, and that’s how the pizza was cutting itself up. “Yeah, this is normally something that just she and I do.” She said, narrowing her eyes at Liam, who had instinctively taken a step back. The pizza cutter dropped to the floor, making a loud clanging sound and getting tomato sauce on the floor. “I guess I’ll have to share for once.” She said, voice dripping with honey.

It sounded fake to Liam, but he played into it. “Yeah, it can get kinda hard to share when you’ve been living by yourself for a while.” He said awkwardly, shrugging. Liam wanted to do anything but make Zyerina angry. He had seen what she could do and didn’t want anything to happen to him.

Zyerina attempted a laugh, lifting the pizza cutter off the floor and dropping it into the sink. “I have other matters to attend to anyway. Let me know when Kat gets back, alright?” She said before teleporting away.

Liam let out a sigh of relief, pressing his back against the wall. He turned to look for Muffin, but the small feline was seemingly nowhere to be found. After a while, he did manage to find the cat, who was hiding under one of the chairs in the library. “She scares you too, huh?” He asked, picking up the cat and taking her back into the living room area.

He went to get a slice of pizza, only to realize that all of it . . . was gone.

Kat drove as quickly as possible, taking all the back routes and avoiding all traffic. It was so much easier to drive when she was on her motorcycle, considering she now had extra ways that she could travel, unknown to most other motorcyclists and most people in general.

After a while, she did finally manage to make it to the complex, which was still getting repairs from the tornado. She winced thinking about it and drove right up to the front of the building. She propped her motorcycle against the brick wall and placed her helmet beside it before running into the building.

She was barely slowed down by all the people she passed on her way, all trying to ask her where she was, or if she had any idea of what had happened. She burst into the meeting room, where Officer Larrs and Agent Nevo sat, talking quickly and quietly, both pausing when she entered. 

She plopped herself down into one of the chairs, wheezing. “I came here as fast as possible,” she panted, watching as the two men exchanged glances with each other. “What did I miss?” She said light-heartedly, pressing her back against one of the chairs.

The door opened once again, and Via stood at the entrance, with her hand against the door. Her sunglasses fell off the top of her head, hitting the top of her nose. “Why do you have to run so fast?” She asked, pulling out one of the leather chairs and collapsing into it. “You know I’m not good with exercise, but you look like you’ve also taken quite a punch.” She laughed half-heartedly, crossing her arms when no one else laughed with her.

“Kat, how did you know we were here? We never told you the newest location.” Nevo asked, watching Kat with narrowed eyes.

“I heard you guys? Also, Larrs, buddy, I don’t mean to be rude, but what happened to your face?” She asked, wincing as Larrs scraped his fingers against the scarred area.

Larrs laughed, popping his neck before speaking. “Well, you see, a gal named Silver decided that she liked my skin even darker than it is!” He joked, smiling widely.

Kat’s eyes widened. “Is that what the meeting was about? I got called originally because Hamilton’s diary had been given up. I kinda knew all that, but I didn’t have the evidence. I ignored this meeting for the aforementioned reasons, and now this happens?”

“You knew?” Larrs asked, suddenly serious. “If you knew, then why . . . Kat, even if you didn’t have the evidence, we still could have run an investigation. We could have figured something out.” Kat slammed her head and arms on the table, groaning.

“I knew that, but what were the chances that you guys would actually take a risk like that?” She asked, waiting for a response. “Exactly. You both would have been afraid of repercussions. But what happened then isn’t most of our concerns. It’s Silver. We have to figure out what she wants. If we give her what she wants, then maybe she’ll leave us alone.” Kat readjusted her headphones.

Nevo sighed, leaning his head back and looking at the ceiling before looking back at Kat. “That’s the thing. We know what she wants. We don’t understand it, but . . . I don’t know how to say it, but-”

“-But what?”

“She wants you, Kat.”

Larisa hummed a tune as she walked to her brother’s house, holding a small grocery bag full of cookies. She was going to be late for dinner, that’s for sure. She didn’t mind though, because she had just gotten the best deal on caramel pecan cookies. Those were both her and her brother’s favorite cookies, and the thought of eating one made her mouth water.

She came up to his house, smiling when she saw her parents’ car in the driveway. She never could tell if her brother was home since he always had his car parked in the garage. Larisa knocked on the door, and it opened. She stepped inside slowly, closing and locking the door behind her.

The air had a weird feeling to it like something bad had happened or was about to. “Mom? Dad? Nevo?” She called into the house, placing her bag on the table and continuing to look around. She walked into the living room, where both her parents slept peacefully, leaning on each other. She smiled, feeling a warm tingle. Even their pet dog was laying at the foot of the couch, positioned to where it seemed as if it had fallen asleep while running.

“You’re late to the party, sis.” Someone said from behind her, making her jump. Larisa held her breath and was shaking. It sounded like her brother, but it wasn't her brother. 

“You’re not Nevo.” She said quietly, turning around slowly, not knowing what to expect. The person that stood there didn’t even look like her brother, instead, a short girl with light blue hair smiled at her.

“I know, silly, but I didn’t know how else to get your attention.” The girl’s smile dropped almost instantly. “You already know who I am. I’m the girl that everyone’s been so afraid of. You’ve never met me, so why not let you?” She said, pulling out a chair for herself.

“Silver,” Larisa whispered in shock.

“I’m not going to hurt you, kill you, nothing like that. I did however have to knock your little mutt out. Wouldn’t shut up.” She said angrily, motioning for Larisa to sit down. 

Larisa laughed nervously, sitting down on the edge of her seat. She was ready to make a dash for the door if needed. “Yeah, little pupper doesn’t know how to be quiet sometimes. Did you hurt my parents?” She asked, not looking into Silver’s eyes. She had heard the stories and knew that looking at them wasn’t going to end well.

Silver smiled, watching as Larisa sank deeper into her chair. “No, they were asleep when I came in. Of course, when you can teleport, there’s really no need to break into someone’s house, but it is nice to pet the puppy while it can’t resist.” Silver’s eyes narrowed into small slits, staring at Larisa.

She felt dizzy, even if she wasn’t looking at Silver. What does she want from me? She thought in her head, digging her nails into her wrist to keep from entering a trance. “Stop,” she muttered, eyes widening but seeing nothing but the greens of Silver’s eyes. “Stop,” she said again, falling out of her chair and hitting her shoulder on the carpeted floor. Blackness finally sat in, and she couldn’t see anything.

After a moment, color and sight came rushing back to her. She saw a small girl crouched in the back of a vehicle, crying. Her short hair was a dirty blonde, her dress stained and torn, and cuts and bruises covered her light skin. 

“You caused this, you little brat!” The man driving yelled, spit flying from his mouth onto the leather steering wheel. “You want to join her? You want to join that monster in hell?” He growled, eyes shifting from one side of the road to the other, even though the roads were completely empty. “You’re a freak, and you’re finally getting punished for it.”

The man stopped the car, pulling over to a cliffside with thinned guardrails. He grabbed the girl by the hair, and took her over to the side of the cliff, forcing her to look down. Larisa finally recognized the man as a younger version of Hamilton, and watched in horror, as he pushed her off the side.

Liam spun in circles, watching as Muffin’s small head shifted to look at him. He finally plopped down on one of the bar stools. “What’s her deal? It’s just pizza.” He said, stomach growling. He looked at the clock, sighing. “I can’t believe that I’m eating dinner at two in the morning. I guess all-nighters really helped, huh?” 

“Meow,” replied Muffin, jumping onto the counter beside him. Liam groaned, spinning in the chair.

“You’re not helping.” He said, standing up and going back toward the library. A door was half-opened, and light spilled into the room as Liam pushed it open all the way. There was no sign on the door, as a surprise to Liam. Most doors had labels to tell what was behind their wooden shield, but this one did not. He felt around, looking for a light switch of some sort. He found one after a moment, flicking it on, revealing what to him looked like a boring workroom. 

Shelves upon shelves were filled with a random assortment of items, ranging from books to boxes, boxes to binders, and so on. Liam read the labels, and most of them seemed to be about the history of Powered people. He looked away, bored as Muffin started rubbing on his leg. The cat’s fur was soft and felt comforting in an otherwise awkward situation.

Liam felt bad since technically, he was snooping around. But to his credit, Kat had left the door wide open. He walked over to the bookcase sitting at the far end of the room, staring at it and tilting his head. It felt out of place, in this otherwise shelf-filled room. There was a small desk, but there weren’t any other bookcases besides this one. 

Liam stared at it for a few more moments and finally picked Muffin up, brushing his hands against the cat’s warm head. She pawed at Liam’s arms, and Liam put her down. Why do all cats have to be like this? He thought to himself, grabbing one of the unlabeled books off of the bookcase. A clicking sound could be heard, and the bookcase sunk down into the ground. 

He stood there, shocked. How many hidden rooms does Kat actually have? He watched as light spilled into the room. A light flicked to light on its own, hurting his eyes with the sudden brightness. This room was brighter than any other room he had been in all his life, and he tried to figure out what type of light it was, before shrugging off the question and looking into the room.

Pictures filled the walls, color everywhere. Sunsets, a tree against a rainbow, the beach, and an unfinished piece next to an empty wall. Liam stepped closer to the scenes and realized that this was Kat’s stamp collection. “So this is why Kat collects stamps! She makes pictures with them! Another point for Liam!” He exclaimed, happy that he found something on his own. He grinned, turning around to leave as the light overhead flickered. It felt off, but he shrugged it off, leaving the room and closing the secret room back up.

Liam sighed heavily, finally going back to his original task. He walked into the library, heading straight for the graphic novel section, struggling, but taking a chunk of books off the shelf, much to the amusement of Muffin, who sat curled up on a small chair, probably made just for it. 

“I’m finishing this series, here and now,” Liam said, smiling as he read Kat’s collection of Golden Sapphires.

Kat nearly spat on the table. “What do you mean, ‘she wants you’? What does that mean? Some sort of psychotic kidnapping scheme?” She yelled, standing up so fast that her chair fell over, hitting the ground with a loud thud.

“Kat, buddy, calm down. You’re gonna be fine!” Via said, shrugging as she flipped open a pocket mirror and applied more lipstick. She snapped the mirror closed. “Listen, we’ve dealt with worse. Remember that one time when some Powered got the mall shut down for a whole week? I couldn’t switch my shoes and it was horrendous.” 

Kat groaned, pressing her ring against her face, cooling the rising heat in her cheeks, but not by much. “What do shoes have to do with anything? We have the problem of a Powered who can literally possess people, and you’re worried about shoes?” Kat yelled, making Via flinch.

“Shoes are the-” Nevo held up his hand, silencing Via. He waited for Kat to fix her chair until he cleared his throat.

“Kat has a point,” Nevo said, folding his hands together. “Via, while shoes may be important, Kat has made a point, but we’re through this now. No more fighting.” He said sternly, making Via scoff and roll her eyes, pulling her light red leather jacket’s sleeves up, showing her bare skin where the gloves failed to reach.

“By the way,” Via purred, looking right at Kat with her hazel eyes. “Where did you get that ring from? It’d match my wardrobe so well, you’ve just got to let me have it.” 

Kat shook her head. “No, this is a special heirloom, it’s specially made so you won’t find anything like it.” She said, trying to mask her frustration and a now reddened Via. It matches her outfit well. Kat thought to herself, holding back a smile.

“Hmph, what do you want for it?” Via asked, spreading her jacket apart and pulling it off her shoulders, unveiling a light orange shirt covered with little red dots. 

Kat grew angry. “Nothing. You can’t have it.” She said, watching as Via grew even redder.

Via opened her mouth to speak, but Kat cut her off, holding a thin finger in the air.

“You. Can’t. Have. It.” Kat said slowly as the lights overhead flickered. Larrs’ eyes widened as he sunk back into his chair. Even Nevo looked surprised, as he reached for his baton.

“Not her again, please, not again.” She heard Larrs say under his breath, everyone focused on the light fixture above them. She went for the door, gripping the handle, but to no avail. Someone had somehow locked the door from the outside, and the door’s lock refused to work properly.

The lights stopped flickering after a moment, and Larrs sighed in relief, wiping his forehead with his sleeve. Kat tried the door again, but it was still locked. “Someone locked us in,” Kat said, waiting for a reply from the others.

“The lock doesn’t work, right?” Nevo asked, standing up and walking over to Kat. He wiggled the handle, but now the handle didn’t move. It stayed in place, making a quiet cracking noise as he pressed against the door.

Kat sighed, readjusting her headphones. She felt tempted to remove her ring altogether since the thoughts of everyone in the cramped room were starting to worry her. It was like a cacophony of bad singers; each person tried their best to find something to say, but couldn’t. She watched as Nevo swung his baton at the door, but a light purple barrier covered it. Someone had placed a shield around the door, preventing their escape.

“Why don’t you just hit the wall?” Via said, irritated. She twirled a strand of her hair, watching them behind her reflective glasses. 

Nevo tried hitting the wall, leaving a small dent. He swung again, but instead of it denting further, the baton broke, spraying metal shards everywhere. Nevo held half of the baton in each hand as if trying to figure out what to do now. The lights started to flicker once more, as the same light purple barrier slowly spread from the door to the walls and ceiling, completely surrounding them. Hitting the floor was pointless since it was made of solid concrete and topped with a thick covering that resembled quartz.

“Here we go again,” Via said as the lights went out entirely.

Larisa cupped her hands over her mouth, trembling. A past version of Hamilton stood in front of her, with wild eyes and a smirk that surely represented evil itself. The scene changed to a medical lab, with a man leaning over the same girl. A respirator was cupped over the small girl’s mask, pinning back her hair.

“I will fix you. You will no longer be in pain.” The man said, injecting something into the girl’s arm. The syringe held a murky black substance, and it swirled with tiny strands of purple, reminding Larisa of the galaxy.

The girl flinched, squirming back and forth, but to no avail. Larisa realized that the girl was held down by metal restraints, and felt tears running down her face. She tried to walk away but felt her legs forced to go forward toward the squirming girl. Her hair fell over the sides of the table, moving around in anxious bursts.

“Stop, please!” Larisa yelled into the empty air, neither the girl nor the doctor turned to look at her. “Please, let me go.” She whispered, wrapping her arms around herself. The doctor wore a grin as he slowly injected more of the substance into her arm.

“They cannot see you.” She heard Silver whisper, the voice seemingly coming from everywhere, but nowhere at the same time. “Just know, if you try to tell anyone, I will find you, and I will end you. But I know you’re a good girl, you’re not on his side. You will remain alive longer than he will.” 

“You’re her, aren’t you?” Larisa asked, watching the girl stop squirming, and the black and purple liquid seemed to trail to every corner of her body. Everywhere was covered in blackness, and the girl opened her eyes. They were bright green, and they seemed to look right at Larisa. “You’re her,” Larisa said again, wanting to run away from the scene.

There was no response, and the scene flashed one last time, to a younger Silver touching her hair, morphing it into a black so dark that it seemed as if Larisa was looking into the void. The same doctor stood behind her, with a scrawny man in torn clothing. He collapsed beside him, passing out. Larisa could tell that Silver was getting angry, as her eyes narrowed into slits and her fingers blackened. 

She felt sick watching this, and looked away as Silver finished transforming. “How can you do this? What type of sick power is this?” She whispered, still in shock.

“That man’s name is Harold White. He had the power of converting emotions into energy. Transforming energy, to be specific. The doctor transferred those powers to me, and he died after I used it for the first time.” Silver’s voice said, emitting from the air around her. “I learned well, from years and years of abandonment.”

Larisa felt bad, shifting her eyes back when everything shifted again. It was now an image from the inside of the police academy when Larrs’ face had just been burned. Larisa didn’t understand, she hadn’t heard much from the meeting scheduled for earlier that day.

“I didn’t mean to scare everyone, well, I didn’t mean to scare them that much, but I wanted my point across. My point was made, and now, you’ll go back to them. Tell Kat I’m coming, and she won’t be able to flee.” 

A small ring of purple smoke gathered around her, when all of a sudden, she was flung forward into the darkness.

“Larisa!” Nevo yelled, making Kat clutch her headphones. Larisa sat crumpled on the ground, with her head tilted down and her hair covering her eyes. She looked up, her mouth curled into a twitching face filled with anguish. Tears streamed down her face, and the remaining green in her eyes faded away, slowly changing to their original dark blue color. 

Nevo fell to his knees, embracing his sister. “What happened to you?” He asked, holding her by the shoulders. His light orange hair mixed with Larisa’s coral hair, and Kat could easily see the resemblance between them. 

“I met Silver,” Larisa whispered in a shaky voice. She smiled sadly and turned to look at Kat. “She said to tell you that she was coming, and you won’t be able to run away. I don’t know what to do to help!” She said, standing up quickly and making her dress fluff out. “I also saw her with some man. Some doctor person.” Larisa added, turning her head away.

Both Kat and Via exchanged glances, their earlier conflict melting away. “What do you mean? What did he look like? Did Silver hurt you?” Kat asked, eyes wide as she looked at Larisa. Even though she was still a year younger than most cadets, at 13, Larisa could easily lighten anyone’s mood, just because of her sweet and happy personality. Seeing her sad hurt made Kat’s heart hurt.

Larisa looked back at Kat, biting her lip and drawing a dot of blood. “I don’t really know what she means. I just know that she really likes you for some reason.” She looked away, looking at Via. “She hurt my arm though, but just a small cut.” 

Via nodded and took off her glove, spinning her finger in a small circle above the cut, making a faint green glow appear across the wound. It healed up in mere seconds, and Via smiled. “Good as new!” She said, putting her glove back on and turning to Larrs, who seemed nervous. “You good?”

Larrs shook his head. “I’ve honestly had enough of creepy green glows.” He said, eyes wide as he slowly stood up. 

Kat turned back to Larisa, who was fidgeting with her watch. “Are you sure that it was Silver? And I need to know, what did the doctor look like?” Kat’s eyes were filled with worry as she placed her hands in her jacket pockets.

“I’m sure that Silver was the girl. Why else would she have shown me that otherwise?” Kat nodded at the statement. “The doctor was pretty tall, maybe a little shorter than you. He had amber eyes and brown hair. He also had skin a little lighter than yours. That’s all I remember.” Larisa looked away, chewing on her thumb. Her eyes widened. “Oh, right! He was injecting some weird liquid into her arm with an old-fashioned syringe, and it seemed as if he had a lot of them. Silver also told me about a man named Harold White, but that’s not very important, at least, I don’t think it is.” 

Kat held her breath, starting to quiver. “Oh no.” She said under her breath, sitting down in one of the chairs. Everyone turned to her. “I’ve heard that name before, but not for good reasons. Zyerina, I need your help.” Kat said, clasping her hands together and looking towards the ceiling.

“Who?” Via said, more annoyed than anything else. I think she’s setting us all up! Kat resisted the urge to roll her eyes hearing Via’s thoughts but ignored the remark otherwise.

Nevo paled after hearing the name. “She’s um, she’s a Powered that helped me out with Hamilton. Everyone except you knows her.” He said, stumbling on his words. Please don’t let the others find out what we did… 

Kat snapped her head toward Nevo but didn’t comment on it. One of the chairs fell over from a gust of wind, making Via jump up and try to brush her hair back. Zyerina stood in front of the door, smiling.

“What’cha call me here for? And why is the room so small? Don’t y’all have other rooms that we can use? I’m claustrophobic, you can’t do this to me!” Zyerina said, sticking out her tongue and reaching for the door handle. The door opened, much to everyone’s surprise. “And Nevo, how did everything go?”

Hamilton was shaking under the cold, hard, and rusted iron bars. Agent Nevo had trapped him using the medical bed, but Hamilton recognized his eyes. She had come back, by pretending to be Nevo. But he wasn’t so easily fooled. He recognized the cruelty in his voice that only his own daughter could have. He squirmed under the pressure of the bars, eventually freeing one arm.

The room was dark, and even with the wires connected to his body, none were responding. Not only had he been trapped, but all power to this room had been cut. Silver’s specialty. He closed his eyes and remembered one of the last full conversations with Gracelyn. They were sitting at the table, and Gracelyn was humming a song as she ate her eggs. 

“When I get older, I wanna be Silver!” She had said, and he remembered looking at her, scowling. “I like the color, and I’m going to be a superhero! But the catch is, I can only attack in the dark!” 

“You know what? Let’s go see your mother.” Hamilton had said before taking Gracelyn to what he thought would be her demise. He knew the dangers of keeping her around. He had seen everything that would happen if he didn’t kill her. But it didn’t work. Nothing worked. His diary had been found, and soon, everything would be discovered.

A loud bang from outside the room caused him to flinch. Someone jiggled the handle, but to no avail. Hamilton opened his mouth to speak, but his throat was raw and dry. The person outside walked away, making Hamilton close his eyes. There was nothing that could be done now. Everything that he had been working to protect for years was finally coming undone. 

He heard footsteps coming back to the door, and someone split the door open using what looked to be a fire extinguisher. Hamilton almost laughed at the absurdity of it all, until he saw who it was. Officer Aaron Brown stood in the fractured remains of the door, holding the extinguisher menacingly.

“Well, I figured someone else would have been trapped in here, but whatever.” He pried the bars away with a metal leg from one of the nearby chairs. He stared at Hamilton for a moment, allowing him to sit up. “You just gave me the trauma of a lifetime, but knowing that you of all people have a daughter, might have just made it better. It’s obvious that the two of you are related since both of you have the tendency to torment people beyond belief.”

Hamilton looked away, standing up but not saying anything.

“You know, Kat just brought one of her Powered buddies here. She seems to hate you already because the second she heard your name mentioned by Nevo, she was twitching so hard, I’m surprised I didn’t hear bones pop.”

“What was her name?” Hamilton asked, turning away from Aaron, fists clenched.

“Why should I tell you? You shoved me right in the face of danger, and there’s a chance that Silver would’ve killed me! I wouldn’t have ever seen my husband or son again!” Aaron said, angry. He pulled Hamilton back by the shirt, spinning him around.

“Boys? Why are you fighting?”

Liam smiled, leaning back in the kitchen chair. After all of the pizza had mysteriously disappeared, he had microwaved a container of french fries left over from the restaurant that he had been to a few days ago. It was going to be an early breakfast for him, even if it was four in the morning.

He placed the final book down, shoving another french fry in his mouth. He had already gone through all of the Golden Sapphire graphic novels that Kat had. Liam was still surprised that Kat of all people was the author of these books, but after seeing the stamp pictures and the dollhouses, making graphic novels didn’t seem too out of place for her. 

He pushed the plate away and went to wash his hands. As much as he loved french fries and books, he knew that the least he could do is keep them clean. He grabbed all five of the books that he had brought with him and took them back to the library. 

Liam was practically shaking by the time he placed the last one on the shelf. “I wonder what other series she has.” He said to himself, looking around the other shelves. 

“Meow,” was the only reply he received, and Liam turned his head to look at Muffin. He remembered Kat calling Muffin a stalker since that seemed to be the only thing that the small cat did. 

Liam walked up the spiral stairs, picking up the same book that contained the rings. None of them were labeled, but he recognized the dark green one as being the one that controlled plant growth. “If Kat is going to be gone for a bit longer, then I should have the time to mess with this.” 

Liam took the ring outside, walking along the stone path leading to Kat’s garden. Kat had never told him about this garden, but he had seen it from his window. The air was damp, and there was fog covering the ground. It was still pitch black outside, but that didn’t stop Liam. He wanted to see if he could really make plants grow from the ground. Especially flowers. Liam’s favorite flowers were tulips, mainly because of all the different colors that they could be found in. Liam was hoping that maybe he could make some of those, but for now, he’d be happy even if he made weeds.

He sat on the ground and put the ring on. In an instant, he could feel all the plants near him start pulling in his direction. The feeling was overpowering, and he stood up to walk away from the garden. Liam had hoped that being near plants would help him, but instead, it only seemed to make everything worse. 

As he walked, he noticed that the ground beneath him grew greener with each step, and moss started to collect on the stone walkway that he stood on. He paused, and watched as all the grass around him grew in his direction, weeds sprouted from the ground, and flowers seemed to grow out of nowhere. 

Liam pointed his hand at the ground, and closed his eyes, thinking of purple and red tulips. He knew the idea was silly since tulips normally couldn’t be found with both red and purple on them, but he imagined the sight of one. He opened his eyes slowly, expecting only more weeds to have grown. Instead, the sight in front of him astonished him.

Tulips had sprouted all around him, not only in the red and purple mix that he had wanted, but also in white, pink, and even orange! His jaw hung agape as he looked around. He bent over and plucked one of the red and purple ones, tying it around his hair clip. He happily skipped through the grassy area spinning around. 

A week ago, he would have been thinking about how he needed to put in the letter for school, and now, he was thinking about how to make flowers grow from the ground by looking at the grass. 

Suddenly, a large and thick line of moss grew in front of his foot, tripping him. He flung his arms forward, hoping to catch himself. The ring shattered as his hand slammed onto the ground, sending a shard of glass into his hand. A dark green light oozed from the ring into his hand, slowly spreading throughout his body. Liam grew faint and passed out after a moment.

Kat watched as Zyerina once again teleported away, leaving the four of them alone in the hallway. Officer Aaron had recovered quickly, but to his credit, he had only been knocked out, not placed in a bodybag. Aaron had been introduced to Zyerina, but quickly left. His thoughts were hard to read, but Kat had picked up that he recognized her.

Kat didn’t really understand, which irritated her since most of the time, she always was aware of the situation. To her credit, there were also five other people around her. It’d be much easier to have mind reading. She thought to herself, watching as Via walked up to her, propping herself against the wall. 

“So! Wanna hang out for a bit? Not right now, of course. I have more important things to do. But later today, would you like to hang out with me?” Via asked sweetly, twirling a small strand of her red hair.

“No, you can’t have the ring,” Kat said flatly, turning and narrowing her eyes. “I’m not stupid. I can hear your thoughts and let me just tell you, you are not slick.” She said, watching as Via puffed up her shoulders and stuck out her bottom lip. “Orange would look better with your outfit. You have hazel eyes after all, and hazel is close to orange.” Kat added, watching as Via stormed off.

“That didn’t go so well, did it?” Larrs said from beside her, nudging her. 

Kat sighed, sitting down in one of the seats near her. Larrs sat opposite her, watching her. “After you left, we saw Silver again. She followed us about halfway home.” Kat said, looking toward the ceiling.

“She followed you? Why didn’t you call for backup?” Larrs asked, his voice rising. 

“I had help. I temporarily could turn myself and one other invisible. It doesn’t last, but that is more than likely what saved both myself and Liam. Other than that, she destroyed an abandoned barn and cut my face open. It doesn’t need stitches, but it was enough to make a scar.” Larrs’ eyes widened at the statement, and he turned away. 

“You could have asked Via to help you,” Larrs pointed out. Kat shook her head, as Nevo sat down a few seats apart from Larrs.

“By the way, Nevo, what didn’t you want Zyerina to tell us, hm?” Kat asked, crossing her arms. Nevo paled, turning his head away. “She gave you a ring, didn’t she?”

Nevo pulled at the collar of his shirt. “No, Larisa brought me something else, but . . . I think Silver somehow tampered with it. The note inside the box said that it was a ring of strength, but it was a small string bracelet with black and red beads on it. I threw it away after everything happened, but when I went to visit Hamilton, I put it on and . . . I wasn’t in control anymore. Silver had taken control, and I don’t really know what happened.” He spoke quickly, and he shook the entire time.

Kat nodded, and Larrs looked between the two of them, confused. “I ain’t got the slightest clue what y’all are talking about, but y’all confusing me.” He said, scratching his neck.

“I know someone that has a small collection of rings that somehow give the user abilities to use powers. I don’t know how it works, but it just does.”
“Back to the other thing. Larisa came to visit me after work the other day, and she brought me a small box from Zyerina and Hamilton’s diary. But I don’t think that’s the whole story. I think Zyerina is hiding something. She has some connection to Silver, I’m sure of it!” Nevo said, and Larrs stood up.

“She helped all of us when we were sent careening off of that cliff! She helped us get out of that room! How could you accuse her of something like that?” He yelled as the overhead lights flickered. Larrs did not react to the flickers, but Kat noticed that his thoughts were more frantic now. 

“I believe that Zyerina-” Nevo started, but was cut off as the power turned off, and a hand, large as a fridge and dark as a shadow, reached around him and pulled him into the darkness.

Silver smiled at the two, her hand extending outside somewhere. Her arms were covered in darkness, and Aaron flinched as all of the systems near him shut off completely.

“Having fun without me? Kat and her buddies sure are. I’m just having to keep them quiet for now, if you know what I mean. Look at what happened to poor dear old Larisa. She talked a little too much, and you had to keep her quiet.” Silver’s face was now just a mere inch away from Hamilton’s, and he stepped back.

“She knew too much,” Hamilton said, voice dry and throat raw. “Larisa just needed to learn her place.”

“Can’t you see that you’re just like me? But the thing is, I have a little more fun with my friends.” Silver said, her smile growing wider as the black substance started dripping from her mouth. Her eyes darkened and tears ran from them. “Aaron, can’t you agree, that we do share some sort of resemblance?”

“A twisted one, sure,” Aaron said, eyes widening as he stepped back. “I don’t even see how you got powers if they weren't from him. Especially ones . . . like these.”

Silver laughed, eyes widening to the sizes of large apples. “The experiments of a man slowly going insane. But to be fair, even little ol’ Hammy here was going quite mad with his own little . . . abilities.” 

Hamilton walked further back, hitting the window leading out of the room.

“You didn’t tell anyone? You never told anyone that you, of all people, were a Powered?” Silver said, tilting her head. “Do you remember when you and I had our little ‘talk’ and you found out that I would be your killer? I’m fulfilling that future sight, and I’m doing it now!” Silver roared hand sharpening into a blade and shoving it through Hamilton’s torso.

He gasped for air, but no sound was made. His last moments would be filled with the sight of his own daughter killing him.

Aaron pushed past Silver and ran into the hallway. It was pitch black, but he knew the way around the facility better than everyone. However, what annoyed him was the fact that things from destroyed wings were being brought here, and the amount of clutter in each room and hallway was enough to make him claustrophobic. 

He ran into one of the supply closets, closing the door behind him. He pushed his back against the wall and slid himself down slowly. He inhaled and exhaled slowly, trying to be as quiet as possible. 

Aaron heard something slowly make its way across the hallway. He closed his eyes and held his breath, thinking of his husband, who was probably making tacos for dinner. He thought of his son, who was just learning how to talk. He waited for Silver, or what he assumed to be Silver, to pass. After it did, he slowly stood up, exhaling and clutching his chest.

It felt like the world was collapsing before him. Everything was going wrong so fast, and there was practically nothing that he could do about it. He grabbed his flashlight and clicked it on, looking around the spacious storage closet. Nothing really of use to him at the moment, as it mostly contained stationery items and spare filing cabinets.

Something moved near him, making him jump. He swung his flashlight around, trying to find the source of the sound. The doorknob jiggled, and Aaron fumbled with his flashlight, shutting it off after a moment. The door slowly swung open, and a silhouette stood in the doorway, staring at Aaron with bright eyes.

Liam woke up with something covering his entire body. He screamed, flailing his arms around in the small space. It felt like he had been zipped up into a sleeping bag, but unlike a sleeping bag, the air around him was surprisingly cool. He wiggled his way out after a moment, sitting up slowly. His entire body was erupting in pain, but his hands hurt the worst. It felt like someone had shot bolts of electricity into them.

He looked at what had been imprisoning him, and that’s when his memory finally started to come back. He looked at his hand where he had been cut, and a small red line marked where the glass from the ring had cut him. There was only a small pinprick of blood, and that calmed him a little bit. 

“If the ring contains a power, what happens if the ring breaks?” He asked himself, scanning his body for any signs of the ring, but it wasn’t anywhere to be found. He pointed his hand towards the ground again, and small plants started growing toward him. “Kat’s gonna kill me,” Liam whispered under his breath, turning and making a beeline toward the house, not stopping until he made it. 

He ran inside, slamming the door behind him, and went to his makeshift room. He sat on his bed, then stood back up, pacing the room, going back and forth until he had gathered his thoughts. “Alright, if Kat can remove her powers, maybe I can remove this one?” He said with a hint of hysteria in his voice.

He left his room, walking back towards the library. The problem was, he couldn’t remember which book contained the keycard bookmark. But maybe that was a good thing since if he waited for Kat, she’d probably be able to remove not only the plant power but the cotton candy power as well! He smiled to himself at the thought and tried to puff out a wad of cotton candy. Nothing happened. He tried again, but still, nothing happened. Liam started shaking his hands violently in the air, starting to freak out.

“Come on, cotton candy. Come on!” He yelled, on the verge of tears. His lip trembled, and he sank to the ground. Muffin came over to him, sitting on his leg and purring. Liam petted the small cat, and it calmed him down a little. “Did I lose my other power?” He asked, staring blankly ahead of him. He realized what this meant.

He stood back up, causing a confused Muffin to angrily trot away. “I lost my other power!” He yelled, raising his arms into the air and running a lap around the house. Liam had never been this happy in his life, and he ran toward the library. “I can finally do stuff without being careful!” He yelled into the empty house, and his words echoed off of the walls. He looked behind him to see Muffin running after him. He slammed his body against the wall, stumbling back.

“Meow, meow,” Muffin said, seemingly taunting Liam as he sat up and put his hand on his head. 

“Yeah, yeah. Maybe I still gotta do stuff while being careful, but I no longer have to worry about getting cotton candy on my phone.” He said, continuing to walk toward the library. 

Kat stood in front of Aaron, shining a flashlight in his face. “Oh thank goodness, I thought you were someone else.” Kat sighed, pulling a strand of hair out of her face.

“Thank goodness here as well, I thought you were Silver,” Aaron said, putting the metal rod that he was holding onto the shelf beside him.

“Keep that. If the day continues like it's been going so far, you’ll need that.” Kat said, and Aaron picked the rod back up. “How have you been doing?” Kat asked, and Aaron looked back. She rolled her eyes, Aaron was trying to keep his thoughts silent, but it was a little too obvious to her that he was hiding something. “Spill it.”

“Hamilton is dead. Silver killed him.” Aaron said quietly. “I don’t really feel too bad, but Silver said something about him being a Powered.”

“What do you mean? Hamilton was trying to kill all Powered. He wouldn’t be doing that if he were one.” Kat remarked, crossing her arms.

“He got rid of his power, somehow. Silver said something about him figuring out a way, and she got her powers from a man slowly going insane.” Aaron said, watching as Kat’s eyes widened. She sighed and started walking toward the door when Aaron pulled at her arm. “She dropped this, by the way.” 

Aaron handed her an envelope with her name written on it, with small black smears covering the front. Kat tucked it in her pocket and continued walking out. “I won’t be able to read it in the dark. I’m going to read it later, once I get back home, so I can analyze it and try to figure out what she wants. Nevo already said that she wants me, but that isn’t enough. What does she want with me, is the question I aim to figure out.” 

Aaron nodded and followed Kat out of the closet and into the darkness. The acidic black substance from earlier coated the floor in a trail, but as the hallway led on, the trail grew thinner and thinner, eventually leading into footprints. The footprints led down the very hallway that Kat, Nevo, and Larrs had been talking in earlier, and as soon as she turned down another hallway, the footprints mysteriously disappeared. 

“It’s like she just vanished into thin air,” Aaron said, growing nervous about what could possibly be waiting for them.

“She did. She can teleport, remember?” Kat said, making Aaron even more nervous about Silver. If she could teleport, then she could appear from anywhere, without warning or notice. “We’ll be fine. I hope. She dragged Nevo away earlier, and that’s how I found you. I was checking every room that this building has, in an attempt to find him, but at least I found someone to keep me company.” Kat said, an edge in her voice that wasn’t there before. Even Kat couldn’t hide the fact that she was nervous, and even the slightest noise felt like it was going to be her downfall.

“Where’s Larrs?” Aaron asked, watching as Kat took them into the next room.

“We split up in the hope that we could find Nevo.” She said as she swung the beam of her flashlight across the room. Something was bunched up in the corner, and Kat walked over to it. Nevo sat, unconscious in the corner, tied up with duct tape. “Come on, help me untie him,” Kat said, trying to pull the tape off of Nevo as carefully as possible.

Aaron walked over slowly, his footsteps echoing through the room. He tripped, slamming into the ground and causing Kat to jump. “Kat! Something’s got my foot!” He yelled, and Kat turned around as fast as possible. Something indeed had got his foot. A large black tentacle had wrapped around his foot, pulling him back.

“Give me the bar!” Kat said, reaching for the metal bar that Aaron held. He slid it across the floor, and Kat slammed it into the tentacle, causing it to wriggle uncontrollably before melting into a puddle. Screams could be heard in the distance, and in the blink of an eye, more tentacles had sprouted from the ground, wrapping themselves around Aaron. One caught on Kat’s leg, but she smashed it away and ran under one of the small tables. It was covered by a large tablecloth that reached the floor, and she closed her eyes, preparing for the worst.

“Officer Aaron, I didn’t think I’d see you again.” Silver’s voice could be heard saying, as she came into the room. “Where’s your friend, huh? I felt someone else here with you. Is it Kat? You better tell me if it is, or else.” Silver growled, and Aaron’s body could be heard slamming into the ground. 

At this point, Kat didn’t even mind giving herself up, as long as no one else got hurt. She got up from under the table, spreading her arms out. “I’m here, what do you want?” She said, making Silver lose all of her previously focused attention on Aaron, immediately turning toward Kat. 

“You.”

Liam watched as the sky darkened. He felt as if something was wrong, and he’d already messaged Kat multiple times, but with no response. He paced from his room to the kitchen, watching the minutes tick by. It was now five in the morning, and the sun was starting to rise. It was hard to see because of all of the clouds rolling in. He looked back at his phone and pulled up a weather app.

His phone buzzed as he looked at the forecast. Kat had actually responded, but with only the word hide. He was concerned and tried calling her. Nothing happened. He tried calling again, but still, no response. He went outside and looked around. Nothing was coming his way, so why should he be concerned? He shrugged off the message and assumed that Kat had made a typo and she’d realize her mistake in a moment.

Liam sat down on one of the bench swings, putting down his phone and watching the sky. He now was sure that something was wrong, but couldn’t put his finger on it. A wet drop touched his shoulder and he went to brush it off. It wasn’t a large raindrop. Instead, it was a dark and slimy tentacle that seemed to emanate from the bench’s shadow.

He screamed, launching himself from the bench and running into the house, slamming the door shut behind him. The lights flickered, and it seemed as if black paint was stretching from the bottom of the doorway into the house.

“Okay,” Liam mumbled, eyes wide and trying to catch his breath, “Kat really did want me to hide. That’s cool, I’m cool, right?” He asked himself, holding up a shaky hand. He ran to his room and opened the window, climbing out the window. Luckily for him, he was small enough to crawl through, making the ordeal a whole lot easier to deal with.

“Plants . . . glowy plants!” Liam said to the grass, reaching out his hand to the ground. Small flowers bloomed around him, and it calmed him, even though it seemed like some ancient octopus had summoned itself to hunt him. Small sprouts came up from the ground, blooming into pink mushrooms. “I said glowy,” Liam muttered under his breath, watching as the mushrooms grew larger and took on the appearance of a lantern. “That'll work,” he said, nodding his head and plucking the makeshift lantern from the ground. 

He re-entered the dark house, reaching for a light, and then pulling his hand back at the last second. Liam was trying to think like this monster, if it could suck electricity, then obviously it’d notice if he turned a light on. He held the light up, trying to make it back to the library. He remembered that there was a small potted plant sitting on a table. If he could make it to the top floor of the library, then he could use that plant as a weapon. At least, that’s what he thought in his mind.

Liam walked slowly through the house, trying to listen for any noises and trying to not make noise. He wanted to hear the monster, but he didn’t want it to hear him. Liam held the lantern up, swinging it around to see what was near him. Something moved behind him. He stopped, trying to listen for the creature. He watched as his surrounding area darkened, but the further forward he moved, the lighter the walls got. It’s almost as if the creature unknowingly makes this darkness appear . . . this is how I know how close it is! Liam smiled as he thought that, happy that he figured something out. It’s like an enemy in a video game! A horror one, but still a video game!

Thankfully, the library’s candles were somehow still lit, and he walked up the carpeted stairs and stopped at the top. He peered over the edge, watching for any signs of the darkness. One by one, each of the candles fizzed out, and with each one that went out, Liam grew more and more uneasy. He watched as dark tentacles slowly entered the room, seemingly staining the carpet as it moved. He climbed higher, and as he did, his grip on the lantern slipped. The lantern tumbled to the ground, but he watched as the dark retreated a bit.

Liam called out to the small plant sitting on the table and watched as it grew higher and higher, eventually climbing to where he stood. He trusted his hand, trying to shape the plant into a flat piece. It didn’t work, so he gave up on that and turned his attention to the mushroom lantern. It was surrounded by darkness now, but it stayed a good distance away from it. 

Liam smiled to himself. Even if he was stuck on a ladder, he was sure that he could make a trap, even if he didn’t quite know how.

Larisa ran into a room, slamming the door behind her. The room was dark, like all the others, but there was a small flashlight pointed in her direction. She couldn’t tell who stood behind it, but that was fine with her. She was happy just to be out of the way of danger. For now, at least.

“Hey!” Came a hiss from the other side of the room. “This is supposed to be my hiding place!” Larisa squinted to see who was holding the flashlight. Via stood, shaking violently, with one of the fingers on her glove being torn off. “Oh, it’s just you,” Via mumbled, pointing the flashlight back down.

“I guess I could say the same,” Larisa said, trying to fidget with her hair, but instead, it just got even more tangled. 

“Do you even brush? Your hair is more tangled than mine has ever been,” Via said, flicking her hair over her shoulder. 

“My big brother normally helps me, since it’s really thick,” Larisa said, rubbing her hand on her arm, trying to make some of the anxiety go away. 

Via widened her eyes and crossed her hands together, puckering out her lip. “Aww, your big brother helps you. Just like a widdle baby.” She snickered and then broke out into a full laugh. “Adorable! And here I was thinking that you, as a newly made teenager, would be even the tiniest bit mature!” 

Larisa whimpered and teared up, turning around and grabbing the door handle. She tried to get rid of the thoughts in her head and froze up. She couldn’t tell if she was sad or angry. Her hand was shaking, and she couldn’t see straight. Silver was trying to get inside of her mind, but unlike most others, Larisa could break free from Silver’s grasp, but only for a little while.

She bolted out of the room, leaving a baffled Via behind. Tears streamed down her face, and she tripped while running down the hallway. She crawled up beside a window, looking at her hands in the light. The tips of her fingers were turning black,, and her nails seemed to grow into points. Larisa choked, standing up and placing her hand on the window, where small streams of light flowed in.

The darkness receded, and Larisa’s mind cleared up a little. Her thoughts were less jumbled now, and she exhaled deeply, a breath that she didn’t know she was holding. “What do you want?” Larisa yelled into the empty hallway, tears in the corners of her eyes. She didn’t want to start crying again, but it was hard.

She watched as a long, black tentacle hovered an inch from the ground, springing from one of the shadows. Larisa pressed her back against the window, praying that the little sunlight would stay for just a little longer. 

Rain had already started to fall, but thankfully, the sun was somehow able to dimly light up the dark and musty corridors. The tentacle wavered, trying to figure out how to get closer to Larisa. “I’m not like you, Silver. I’m not coming with you! You want to hurt the only person that’s ever meant something to me! She’s the only person that actually talks to me, and I’m going to keep that as long as I can! I’m not going to let you or your dad take that away from me!”

Larisa was shaking so violently that she could have generated electricity from the static radiating from her body. She watched two other tentacles spring from the darkness, coming toward her. Larisa could feel tears roll down her face, but she could also feel that her hands were blistering hot. 

“Nevo couldn’t help me forever, I guess,” Larisa whispered under her breath, reaching for the small shimmering cuff on her arm. “He couldn’t help me forever, but I might be able to help myself.”

“I know what you are. I get it now. All of the pieces are fitting together just swell.” Kat growled eyes narrowed into small yellow slits. The room smelled of smoke, even though there were no fires to be seen. For now, at least.

Silver laughed, wrapping a tentacle around an unsuspecting Kat. She was surprised that Kat didn’t resist, but it made her happy to just be holding her, even if it weren’t by her own hands. “You do? Really? How long did that take, darling?” 

Kat winced as the tentacle wrapped tighter around her. “I know that you and Zyerina are working together. Nevo had the same idea, but you tried to stop him from saying it. That’s how I knew.” Her arms grew numb against the pressure, but she was glad that she could at least feel her legs.

“Wrong,” Silver replied, grinning widely. “Close, but not close enough. You really don’t get it, do you? Zyerina never existed. There was only me.” Silver shifted her appearance to Zyerina, with wide green eyes and the same smile that Silver had. She changed back and turned around, which seemed weird, as she was floating in the air. “It never seemed . . . off to you, that Zyerina and I had the same powers? It never seemed off, that she and I were never in the same place? It never seemed off to you, when you’d say my name and I’d appear moments later? It was me the whole time! But it was all for you.” 

Silver lowered Kat to the ground, where Kat collapsed to the ground. She was in so much pain, everything hurt but at the same time, everything was numb. She didn’t look up but could feel Silver’s footsteps on the ground in front of her.

“Why? Why did you do all of this? Was it to get revenge on my father?” Kat asked weakly, listening for Silver’s thoughts. There was nothing, she could only hear herself breathing. She couldn’t even hear Aaron on the other side of the room.

“You idiot. I never wanted revenge.” Silver bent down, reaching for one of Kat’s hands, and putting it in between hers. “You saved me. Why would I want revenge? This is a big thank you. You helped me escape. You helped me achieve freedom. You made me happy. I’m not losing that. I don’t care what it takes, I’m not losing you. None of your stupid little friends can help you now.” Silver let go of Kat’s hand and started walking away, giggling evilly. “I took your silly little ring. I don’t want you getting the upper hand.”

Kat finally looked up, watching as Silver walked over to a trembling Aaron, where she placed the ring in his breast pocket. She found herself growing angry, and using a nearby chair to help her stand up. “All this, just as a ‘thanks’? That’s not how that works. Untie Nevo, then we’ll talk a bit more since apparently, that’s all you want to do.” 

Silver spun around, eyes wide. Just looking at Silver’s eyes made her dizzy, and she focused her attention on a now conscious Nevo, who was trying to talk, but duct tape prevented him from doing that. 

“You’ve always been like this. Sacrificing yourself for people that are worthless in the end.” Silver said, moving her hand and stripping Nevo from the tape. He sat, petrified on the ground, with Aaron making his way slowly over to where his friend sat.

Silver turned back to Kat. “Now then, let’s have our little ‘talk’. There’s so much that we need to talk about, and so little time! But before then, we have ourselves a little issue . . . so let’s get rid of it.” Silver raised her hand, lifting both Nevo and Aaron slightly off the floor. “Say goodbye to your little friends, because you’re not seeing them for a - AAGGHH!”

Silver fell to the ground, shaking. Something else hit her in the back, and she fell unconscious, with her head hitting the floor and all of the lights coming back on at once. The remaining tentacles melted away into puddles, which evaporated, leaving Kat to wonder what had happened. 

“I didn’t think that’d work.”

Liam held on firmly to the ladder, staring down at the bioluminescent mushroom lantern. He held out his hand toward it. Listen to me! Liam called to it, watching as the lantern shifted a little. Grow! Multiply! Do something! 

It slowly started spreading, seemingly by magic, which technically, being a Powered was kind of like being magic. At least, that’s how Liam saw it. The mushrooms spread across the floor like the inky-black tentacles making their way toward him. He held his breath, commanding the mushrooms to spread further. 

He felt tired and weak. Liam wasn’t expecting that commanding a bunch of plants would be so draining, but here he was. One of the tentacles wrapped around the bottom of the ladder, snapping the bottom rung in half. The entire ladder wobbled as it got slowly pulled toward the ground.

Liam turned back to the vines slowly spreading across the ceiling, reaching for them. He pushed himself from the ladder, wrapping his arms around the growing vines. Small berries started blooming from them, and those too were somehow bioluminescent. He didn’t have the time to really think about how glowing berries were possible. What he did know was that these would help him tremendously with his plan.

He heard a loud crack from the ground, and he looked down. The ladder had been pulled to the ground and had been ripped apart. I’m glad I wasn’t on that. He thought to himself, grateful that he managed to grab ahold of the vines in time. 

All of a sudden, all of the tentacles wriggled and writhed around, melting into dark puddles on the ground, then seemingly evaporating into thin air. He lowered himself to the ground, collapsing on the now-stained rug. He laid down and spread his arms and legs apart, staring at the covered ceiling, and breathing deeply.

“Now, how do I get y’all off the wall? Retract?” He asked the plants, waiting to see what would happen. He held up his hand toward the ceiling. Retract! He thought in his mind, telepathically communicating with the vines. He watched as they slowly crumpled away, turning into wrinkled and browned vines, then turning into dust.

Liam giggled to himself. “I can create and kill plants! Go me!” He said, sitting back up and rubbing his hand on the back of his head, ruffling his hair. Something clinked to the ground, and he looked down to see what it was. A small metal clip lay on the floor, covered in delicately painted flowers. He picked it up, turning it around to see a small handwritten note from Kat, simply saying “I found this in a trinket box, and now it’s in your hair.” Liam chuckled at the note, carefully tearing the note off before pinning a small part of his hair back with it.

He looked outside, watching as rain poured from the sky, creating small puddles on the ground. It was somewhat calming to him, and he sighed to himself. He walked up to the window, sat down, and crossed his legs, enjoying the rain.

Larisa sprinted through the hallway, heat simmering on her palms. She was furious that she’d let Silver hurt her friends. Silver had even taken her brother, and Larisa was determined to make sure that there were repercussions. The hallway lit up as she ran through it, driving away the shadow.

She had always had a bad temper, but right now, she felt as if she was going to explode. She had taken off the gold and silver bracelet, which helped her temper grow further. The bracelet was given to her by Nevo, and it wasn’t meant for a normal person. He’d gotten it from a friend, so he said, but it was meant to restrict Powered from using their powers. Larisa wore it for that purpose.

She multiplied the sizzling ball of electricity in her hand, waiting for it to grow larger. The yellow-white ball was now the size of a watermelon, and Larisa smiled as she walked past. She already knew where Silver was. Since she’d tried to possess her only minutes earlier, she now knew exactly where the girl had gone off to.

“Say goodbye to your little friends,” Silver said from behind the closed doors. Larisa slowly opened the door, making sure to silence the creaking and her footsteps. She let the anger envelop her mind, creating another ball of electricity. “Because you’re not going to see them for a - AAGGHH!”

Larisa unleashed the ball, ramming it into Silver’s back. The yellow strands of electricity stretched across Silver, making her fall to the ground. She shook violently, but that didn’t stop Larisa from throwing another ball of electricity at Silver, causing her to fall unconscious.

“I didn’t think that’d work,” Larisa muttered under her breath, looking around the room. Kat was only a few feet away from Silver, crumpled on the ground. Officer Aaron and Nevo were beside each other, staring in awe.

She pointed her finger toward the ceiling and shot a small bolt toward the ceiling, causing the electricity to flicker back on. Kat’s eyes widened and she collapsed onto the floor, sweat dripping down her face. 

“That’s new, how long have you been hiding that?” Kat asked, breathing heavily. 

“I’ve always had it. My birth parents gave me up for adoption after they found out what I was, and . . . Nevo and his parents took me in. He gave me a small bracelet that was meant to withhold someone’s abilities, but I took it off.” Nevo twisted his head so fast that Larisa was afraid it might snap. “I had to! Silver was going to hurt you guys, and I didn’t want that!”

“No one does!” Nevo retorted, limping over to Larisa. “But that was no reason to go off and expose yourself to others! What’s she going to do now that she knows what you are?” Nevo yelled, his once surprised face quickly turning into a scowl.

“Hey now, Nevo, I can tell you’re a good big brother, but Silver probably doesn’t even know. She was hit from behind, so chances are, she doesn’t know, and all the cameras were out until Larisa turned the power back on, so there are no cameras that could have been recording the event.” Kat reasoned, watching as Nevo pressed his fingers against his head, massaging his temples.

Aaron came over, still shaken from the whole ordeal. “Here you go, Kat. Why didn’t she want you to have this? It’s just a stupid ring.” He asked, handing Kat the bright pink ring back. She slipped it around her finger, turning toward Silver. “She knew how important it was to me. It’s a relic, and it means a lot.” Kat said quietly, eyes hidden behind her hair. “But I guess I can’t hide the truth anymore. I need to come clean about something.”

The door burst open, and Via stood in the doorway. “Admit it! You actually have a crush on me!” Via yelled, a large smirk on her face.

The four of them exchanged confused glances with each other, turning back to Via. Larisa stepped forward, making Via grin wider.

“You gonna cry again?” She taunted, and in response, Larisa made a small ball of electricity, tossing it into the air a few times.

Kat put herself between the two of them, annoyed. “Stop. Both of you, stop. Larisa, undo the thing. Via, no, hate to break it to ya, but I do not have a crush on you. Never have, never will. Listen to yourself. You treat everyone around you like absolute garbage,” Kat pointed out. “Do you ever notice that we,” Kat waved her hand at the three others standing beside her. “Don’t treat people like trash? We give respect to other people, something you fail to do.”

Via had tears brimming, and she took a step back. Her lip trembled, and now, she didn’t know what to do. She had been so confident that Kat had liked her, and now . . . everything was falling apart at the seams. She ran out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

What Kat didn’t notice, however, was that Silver had started to wake up. Her eyes were opened slightly, and she was ready to tell them what Kat was, but in a much better way. She was going to give them the time of their lives, whether it killed them, or not.
Silver stood up, floating into the air, she raised her arms, surrounding the room in a black and purple mist. Her eyes blackened, and the four of them were thrown into the void.

Liam watched the rain for quite a while, time seemingly slipping away along with the raindrops that fell. The rain slowed down after a while, and the sun peeked out from the clouds. Liam tried calling Kat several more times, but each call went straight to voicemail. He grew more worried as time passed, the rain no longer soothing him.

He left the library and walked into the kitchen, pouring himself a small glass of milk. It tasted weird, because normally when he drank milk, he mixed strawberry cotton candy in it. Now, it tasted the way flat soda did: weird. He walked around the house, sipping milk as he went. 

A boom of thunder sent his thoughts running, and he went toward the main entrance of the house, placing his hand on the door. It felt cool, and he inhaled. A small umbrella sat propped against the wall, covered in small flowers. 

Liam chuckled. “It’s like she knew what I liked before she even met me.” He said under his breath, taking the umbrella and walking outside. He opened the umbrella and tried to see the rain falling atop it. Instead, he found a hand-painted scene of nothing but flowers. Liam gasped, smiling widely. He spun around, walking over to the blue shed.

He absolutely loved the look of the shed, among all other things. It was worn, yes. But he loved seeing the way that the paint peeled, and how vines snaked their way across it. He went inside, closed the umbrella, placing it beside the door frame. Dust and sawdust filled the air, making Liam smile as he walked through. It was a lot bigger on the inside than it looked, but it was certainly filled to the brim with projects of every type and kind.

A small collection of paint bottles lined one of the tables, along with a half-finished dollhouse. Liam grabbed a simple-looking dollhouse from the shelf, pushing the unfinished one aside. He squirted a small bit of each color onto a pallet and grabbed a cup, placing it outside to collect water. After a moment, he took the cup back inside, sitting it down along with the other items.

He stared at the dollhouse, then picked up his phone, staring at the lock screen. He hadn’t gotten any response from Kat, and he leaned back in the chair, looking at the . . . hand-painted ceiling? Liam jumped out of his seat, spinning around to see around him. The entire ceiling was covered in a series of intricate designs, mainly geometric shapes and mandalas. He rammed his leg into a table, cursing under his breath. He walked back to the chair, plopping himself down and looking back at the dollhouse. 

It intimidated him, considering he’s never painted before, and his artistic skills when it came to handiwork weren’t the best. He inhaled deeply, picking up the brush and dipping it into the red, starting on the roof tiles. 

Time seemed to stop, as all noise around him ceased. All of his focus was on the brush. He worked for what seemed like hours, painting details, shadows, and leaves, and even trying to add a bit of color to the inside of the house, even though it wouldn’t open.

He placed the brush back, leaning back and smiling to himself. He looked back at his phone, stomach rumbling. He expected it to be noon, but somehow, it wasn’t even seven yet. Liam groaned, spinning in the chair. Why hasn’t Kat responded yet? He repeated in his mind, waiting for a response when he messaged her again. Thunder rumbled in the distance, and he put everything back. 

“If she won’t respond, then I guess I’ve got no choice but to find out what happened.” He muttered, running back to the house and opening the garage. Several bikes were lined up against the wall, and he grabbed the smallest one, along with its helmet. He hopped on, turned on his phone’s GPS system, and pedaled off.

Kat almost screamed when she saw her dad again. He stared right at her, or at least it seemed that way. She felt someone place their hand on her shoulder, and she jumped. Larisa stood behind her, along with Nevo and Aaron. They too were in shock. They knew this man. He was the one that they had been looking for for the past two decades. This . . . was Kat’s father.

Kat fell to the ground, curling into a small ball. Larisa sat down beside her, leaning slightly on her shoulder. “It’s all going to be over soon,” she said, watching as Nevo and Aaron also sat down between them.

“Stand up. This is what your friend has been up to. This is what she’s been hiding.” Silver said, forcing them all back on their feet. Kat had tears in the corners of her eyes, and her lip trembled as the scene went on. 

The man, Doctor Evan Lawson, walked over to where a crumpled Silver lay sleeping. He injected another needle into her body, this time filled with an odd neon-green substance. Silver winced as the needle went in, but didn’t move much. When she opened her eyes, they were no longer a soft dark green. Her eyes were now glowing with the same awful green that had haunted everyone at the academy for the past few days.

Hatred filled her eyes, and the man went to grab another needle, this time, one that Kat knew all too well: the ‘sleepy needle’, as he had called it. He was about to press it in, when a younger version of Kat walked into the room, with an exaggerated frown on her face.

“You said no more hurt people!” She yelled, going over and smacking her father’s arm, causing the needle to fly from her hand and shatter. The liquid flowed all over the floor, making the doctor scowl.

“Kat, what did I tell you about coming down here while I’m busy? And listen,” Evan grabbed Kat’s arm so quickly that it looked breakable. “I’m not hurting her, I’m helping her. Alright? You need to go back to your room, and play with the dolls I made for you.”

“No!” Kat yelled, trying to break free from his grasp. She broke free after a moment and slammed her small hand on a button on the side of Silver’s bed. Her shackles unlocked, and she wearily sat up.

“Kat? What have you done?” He yelled, shoving his daughter aside. Silver’s hands flashed with a hot flame. She teleported away, and Evan fell to the floor, hands in his hair. “My masterpiece . . . is gone.” He said, eyes wide. 

“You wanted to see what the human body could do,” Kat said angrily, running past a much older Kat. It felt wrong to see everything all over, considering she’d done her best to block that wretched memory out of her head.

The scene swapped again, to a now 12-year-old Kat swinging on a tire that she’d found in the garage. It had taken a lot of work, but she had managed to climb up and tie the rope in the tree.

Another girl walked up to Kat, hair neatly brushed and flowing down her shoulders. “Do you remember me?” She asked, and Kat slammed her feet into the ground, jumping off the swing with a bright smile. She looked at the girl and tilted her head.

“Nope! What’s your name?” Kat asked, holding out a dirt-covered hand. The girl shook it, staring into Kat’s eyes.

“I’m Zyerina! I’m a Powered that . . . well . . . I’ve met you before! But, if you don’t remember, that’s fine.” She said, turning her head slightly and looking away. “But . . . Do you want to be friends?” 

Kat’s eyes widened. “Yeah! I’ve never had friends before!” She smiled, wrapping her arms around Zyerina, and then the scene went dark.

The four of them woke up on the ground, and Nevo was the first to speak. “Yeah, let’s never do that again.”

Liam sped through the city streets, the wind slapping his hair against his face. His helmet was crooked and slightly too big, but that didn’t bother him. He sped past buildings and pedestrians, even gaining some air time when going down hills and back up them. 

“Slow down, unless you’re trying to kill someone.” Liam almost fell off the bike. 

“Go away!” Liam yelled, trying to speed up his cycling. His breathing quickened as he continued.

Silver didn’t respond, but Liam felt as if she’d left his mind entirely. He sighed, listening to the air rushing past him.

After a few minutes, he made it to the academy. What Kat didn’t tell him was how large this place was, since about half of it seemed to be destroyed, likely from the tornado that she’d made. What also surprised him was that an actual police station was connected to the front of the academy itself, making the whole thing pretty convenient.

He practically fell off the bike, sweating profusely. His entire back was soaked, and his hair was moist. He propped his bike up next to Kat’s motorcycle, putting his helmet beside hers. 

Liam pushed open the door to the station. No one was at the front desk, and the power was off. 

“Hello?” Liam called out, waiting for a response. No one answered, and he started looking around. The front desk was cluttered, with a mix of paper and pens lining it. Cigarettes were collecting in a small ashtray, and trash was piling up in a can that hadn’t been emptied out in what looked like months. “I don’t see how Kat came from a place like this,” he said, pushing past a small gate and walking behind the desk.

Luckily for him, someone had left a flashlight in one of the drawers, so he took it out and turned it on. A dim light flickered to life. Liam grumbled, shaking the flashlight in an attempt to make it brighter. He failed, but he pushed onward. 

He opened the door connecting to the back, and he almost fainted seeing it. The same inky substance that had stained the floors and rugs back at Kat’s house was everywhere. Lining the floors, and walls, there was even a small trace of it on the ceiling. Liam backed up, afraid that it would come to life as well. This kind, however, seemed as if it wasn’t under Silver’s control. It just seemed . . . there. He didn’t mind this, as it was one less thing that he had to worry about.

He held his breath, listening for movement. He heard quiet sobs coming from a room close by, and he followed the source of the noise. The crying was coming from a locked door, but he found exactly what he needed to open it up.

A broken crowbar lay on the floor, in two pieces. Liam picked the longer of the two pieces up, taking a strong swing at the doorknob. A loud clanging noise came from the attack, ringing in Liam’s ears. He swung again, harder this time, and the doorknob came off, hitting the shiny floor with a satisfying thud. 

He grabbed what remained of the door handle, slicing his hand open. Blood trickled down his palm, but it didn’t hurt. He spun around and kicked the door open, but to his surprise, the door fell off of its hinges. A girl was wrapped up with thick pieces of rope. Her eyes pleaded with him to help her, and he did, taking the sharp end of the crowbar and cutting the rope with it. She stood up and brushed herself off.

“Thank you,” the girl said. “I’ve never seen you before. Who are you?” She narrowed her eyes at Liam, and he backed up. 

I’m friends with Kat,” he answered, brushing his non-bleeding hand in his hair awkwardly. “I was afraid something had happened, so I came here to find out what was wrong.”

“Well obviously something is wrong, I got tied up by a demon gal that has a flippin’ crush on my crush! And by the way, I’m Via.” 

Liam’s mouth stretched into a line, confused by Via’s statement. “Now I’m confused, but okie-dokie. I’m Liam, and I should mention, I really like your sunglasses.”

Via’s eyes widened. “Oh my goodness! I haven’t had anyone compliment these babies all day! As a reward for being so honest, I’ll heal your hand.”

Via took her glove off, snatching Liam’s cut hand and pulling it closer to her. She circled her hand around the wound, and as if by magic, it started closing up by itself. They stared at each other for a minute, until Liam broke the silence.

“I need to find Kat, do you know where I can find her?”

Silver sat alone in her apartment, crying. Small, broken patches of blue floated through the air, matching her emotions. Everything had gone spiraling out of control. Her anger got the best of her again. I never wanted people to hate Kat! I just wanted her to be mine! All mine . . . Silver thought, standing up and walking toward her room.

She stood in front of the mirror, with tears streaming down her face. Her pupils were a light blue, a similar shade to her hair, which was spiraling down her hair in ribbon-like shapes and patterns. Silver inhaled shakily, wiping the tears from her face with a tissue and blowing her nose.

“I won’t let them have her,” she said, the pupils in her eyes reddening. “I’ll find a way to get Kat back, no matter what it takes!” She yelled into the empty, shattering the mirror in front of her. She grinned, mouth stretching into a large grin. “She’s mine.”

Silver laughed as she teleported away, all the way to Kat’s house. She looked around, noticing the new plant growth all around the house. She was furious with Liam, for somehow dodging her traps. But she gave him a tad bit of credit since he managed to outsmart her. She flew over to a tire swing, the same one that they’d met on.

She sat down on the top, slowly swinging herself back and forth, feeling the wind in her hair and on her face. She liked the feeling but hated being so powerless. Someone had knocked her out just as she was ready to make the biggest move of her life. 

Silver got off the swing, getting angry again. An evil idea appeared in her mind, an idea that could change everything. No one would ever be able to take her precious Kat away from her ever again. They would be together, forever.

She laughed maniacally as she set up her final trap.

Kat grabbed Nevo’s hand, pulling herself up. The room that they all stood in was now completely surrounded by sharp-tipped crystals. They were trapped. 

“You know, you could have told us,” Aaron said, hands in his pockets. 

Tears once again sprung to Kat’s eyes. “But what would have happened, if I told you guys about it? If I would have told Hamilton? Nothing good would have come from it, so what would have been the point?” Kat asked, turning her head away from the three of them. Larisa placed her hand on Kat’s shoulder and turned her around.

“I completely understand,” she said, backing up and standing in between Aaron and Nevo, wrapping her arms around the two of them. “But hey! We survived, so even if we’re trapped, I believe that we should be happy that we’re still alive.” Larisa grinned, and Kat chuckled a little bit. “See? That’s the Kat we know and love!”

Nevo cleared his throat, and everyone turned to him. “Sorry to dampen the mood, but y’all do realize that we’re still stuck?” Nevo said gruffly, irritated with the two of them. “Thanks to Kat’s best buddy, our building has been completely destroyed, members of our team have been injured, and don’t forget, Kat lied about the whole magic rings thing. She lied about a man that we’d assumed was still alive! She lied about everything, and you guys are trying to help her?”

Aaron held his hand up. “That’s something we can discuss later. Kat didn’t want things to go south, so she hid information that could have been used in a bad way. I’m with Kat and Larisa on this.” 

Nevo scoffed and folded his arms. He was fuming, but at this point, he didn’t really know right from wrong. Larisa had given up everything that he’d worked so hard to hide, and now, Kat being in the room with them was a risk.

“You guys don’t get it, do you? Silver wants Kat, and to be entirely honest with you, Kat simply talking with us could set her off. I don’t think Kat deserves to be here.” Nevo said, and Kat once again turned away. “See? Even Kat knows that she’s a risk! We need to get rid of her.” Nevo scowled, shaking out of frustration.

“Nevo,” Larisa started, caught on her own words. She too knew that being friends with Kat was a risk, but it was one she was willing to take. “We’ve known her for how long now? Almost a whole decade, Nevo. Well, you knew her for a decade, I didn’t but that’s not the point. My point is, we can trust her. Kat never wanted this to happen, so I believe wholeheartedly that we can keep her here.” Aaron nodded, both of them then turning to Kat.

“I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure that no one else gets hurt. And if anyone does, I’ll make sure that actions are taken to prevent more.” Nevo said, expression darkening as he stalked off to the far corner of the room, sitting down on the floor.

Kat shook her head. “I’m so sorry . . . for everything. If I’d known . . . then I would have done something. To prevent . . . this.” 

“It’s not your fault! No one expected that the girl that saved us from falling off a cliff would be the same girl that got us thrown off that cliff in the first place and,” Larisa inhaled deeply. “Silver would turn out to be Zyerina and vice versa and no one expected her to be evil and now that she’s evil we know for a fact that people with light blue hair are evil.” Larisa exaggeratedly wiped her face. “Woo! That was a lot!”

“Most of the time, it’s purple hair that’s evil.” Kat pointed out. “Or pink. Didn’t you mention that she was trying to dye her hair?”

“Yep! Silver . . . Zyerina . . . What do I call her? Imma just say when she went as Zyerina, she wanted to dye the bottom part of her hair purple.”

Aaron shrugged awkwardly. “Can’t she just, like, change her appearance with the snap of her fingers?” He asked, and Larisa burst out laughing.

“She wasted almost 20 bucks on somethin’ she coulda done for free!” Larisa continued laughing, her coral hair jumping up and down with her laughs.

“It’s the police! And an accomplice. Open up or we’ll burst in!” Larrs could be heard yelling from the other side of the door, along with laughs from Via and Liam. 

Kat exhaled, smiling. “I can’t believe the idiot actually came here.” She muttered under her breath.

Nevo looked up from the corner of the room, and it was at that moment that he knew exactly what he’d do.

Liam watched as Officer Larrs rammed himself against the doors, recoiling each time he did. He walked off, leaving Via and Larrs in front of the door. He heard heels clacking against the tile floor, and he turned around. 

“You can’t just go off by yourself! What if she comes back?” Via said, following Liam through the hallway. “By the way, where are you doing?” 

“I’m trying to find another crowbar.”

“Maybe you should try to find a better hairstyle first.” Via scoffed, tying her hair into a long ponytail. “Like seriously, green? Lime green? Disgusting.”

“Maybe you should try to find a better attitude and a new hair color. Like seriously, red? Blood red? Disgusting.” Liam grinned. Via’s face reddened and her eyebrows furrowed. “It might also match your face.” He chuckled, watching as Via stamped her heel against the floor.

“Alright, I get it! But red is better than green, everyone knows that.” She flicked her sunglasses down onto her face, following Liam as he walked into a room marked as a storage closet.

“Everyone also knows that it’s stupid to wear sunglasses in a dark area.” Liam pushed up his glasses.

“I really am that big of a jerk to everyone, aren’t I?” Via asked in a quiet voice, holding her gloved hands together. Her head was tilted down, and her sunglasses slipped off of her face, hitting the ground and cracking the right lens.

Liam brushed his hair back and clipped some of it off to the side. “I don’t know. I’ve known you for about 15 minutes. Ask the people you work with, not me.”

“I’m sorry,” Via said, tears now falling to the floor. “I know I have to apologize to everyone else but . . . I need to tell at least someone that I’m sorry. I wasn’t raised right, to say the least.”

Liam turned around and hugged Via. He bent down and picked up the now-broken sunglasses, and handed them back to her. “Everyone screws up. Trust me, I’d know. But at least you’re starting to realize your mistakes!” Liam said, trying to cheer Via back up.

Via walked past him and grabbed two crowbars. She wiped the runny makeup from her eyes, making the smears look like war paint. “Yeah, I’m getting better. I don’t know why, but for some reason, this place keeps my favorite weapon in huge quantities. But hey, I’m not complaining! I really like crowbars.” 

They walked back to where Larrs was, now with his back against the door. He noticed them and stood up, staring at their choice of weapon. The two of them ran at the door, slamming the crowbars into it and splintering the door apart. 

Larrs ran into the room, followed by Liam and Via. “Is everyone alright?” He asked, waiting for a response.

“That is my question to ask good sir. I’m the one that deals with healing.” Via said, smiling.

“I take it you two had a fun time,” Kat said, looking between Liam and Via, who were each holding bent crowbars.

“Yep! I now know how to use a crowbar!” Liam said happily, bouncing a little bit.

“I see you found the clip I left for you,” Kat said, nodding toward the flower clip in his hair.

“Another one in the collection of soon-to-be missing items in my hair!” Liam joked, and Via laughed as well. Then she looked down, hair covering her eyes and face.

“Listen, I’m sorry. For everything I’ve said and done. I still . . . like you, but I understand and respect your choices.” Via said. Larisa looked around frantically.

“Where’s Nevo?” Larisa asked, now biting her thumb. “He’s gone, and he was just right there!” She cried, her face now red.

“Spread out, we’ll find him,” Aaron said as he left the room with Larrs.

“I think we should stick together unless we’re in a large room. Just in case,” Kat said. Via and Liam nodded in agreement, and they almost left the room, until Via made a point.

“What if he comes back here? He’ll be waiting for us.”

Aaron yelled from across the hallway, “Stay there then, but make sure one of you stays outside of the room at all times, just in case you happen to see him.”

Nevo sped through the backdoor, happy to finally be away from all the mess. Even though Larisa technically wasn’t his sister, he still wanted to drag her out of the room. Why didn’t anyone else see it? Kat was a threat, and she was going to get all of them injured, or worse, killed. Silver was after one thing, and if they didn’t let her have it, she was going to do to them what she did to Cris, just to make a point. 

But in his mind, that was different. Silver had put Cris in the body bag to confuse Hamilton. It worked as she’d planned, but it still caused mass confusion throughout the whole area. Even Via couldn’t heal Cris’ wounds, and that’s what really made things start to heat up. 

Nevo walked to his office and sat down, propping his legs on the table. His office by far was one of the largest, and that was something that made a bunch of officers jealous. Nevo didn’t mind, since he had a lot of room for multiple desks, which Larisa used sometimes to do her schoolwork.

Thinking of Larisa made him even angrier. She had broken a promise to him. She had revealed the one thing that he had been trying to keep hidden for so long, and now . . . he was afraid of what Silver would do if she found out about it. After all, Silver had taken Larisa in under the guise of Zyerina, but what if she tried to erase her memory? Was that even possible for her? Thoughts and questions raced through his mind, and he rubbed his fingers against his temples. Everything hurt, but he had an idea. A wicked idea, yes, but it was an idea that would keep him and his sister safe.

He moved his legs back under the desk and placed his hands together, interlocking his fingers. He looked up toward the ceiling and muttered a curse. I can’t believe I’m about to do this . . . He thought to himself before speaking.

“Silver, Zyerina, Gracelyn, whatever you wish to call yourself, I need your help, and I’ll do whatever it takes to keep you from hurting the people I love.” A shadow in the corner of the room seemed to stretch, and for a moment, Nevo couldn’t even see anything. It was like all light had been sucked from the room.

“Why have you brought me here, Nevo?” Silver hissed from the back of the room. Her green eyes shined in the darkness, but he refused to look away.

“As I said, I don’t want you hurting the people I care about. Mainly Larisa. I’m simply asking, what would you like me to do?” Nevo bowed his head a little, and Silver chuckled.

“I didn’t think you’d have such a change of heart, but I’ll take it.” She grinned. “Go back to the group. Take a weapon, a hard one or something, and knock Kat out. I don’t want any resistance. But don’t hurt her too badly, or there will be consequences for you and your precious little sister.”

Nevo nodded, about to speak, when Silver interrupted him.

“What’s nice is, your eyes are already green, so it wouldn’t be too hard to take control and do it myself.” Silver paused, waiting for a response.

“Whatever you’d like. Whatever it takes for you to get your love back, do it. Whatever it takes for you to stop hurting people here.” 

“Deal!” She yelled, disappearing and entering Nevo’s body. It felt weird, but not wrong. Nevo felt like this was all meant to happen. “You’re going to be a hero to everyone, not just Larisa. You’re helping me get my Kat back, and trust me, there will be a reward for you when all of this is over.” 

Nevo stood up and looked in the mirror. He could see himself, but Silver as well. His light orange hair had darkened, and his eyes were still their normal green. All his clothes had turned a tone darker, but other than that, he looked the same. 

“How come my eyes aren’t glowing?” 

“Because you willingly let me in. You were ready for me to enter your body. You and I are now one!” Silver giggled from the back of his mind. “Let me take control. You’ll still be able to see, but you’re too unstable right now. I’ll just say you got stressed out and went for a little walk.”

“What about Kat’s ability?” Nevo responded, knowing full well that this plan would fall apart if Kat heard their thoughts.

“She won’t. I have a bit of a blocker surrounding your body right now. She won’t be able to hear you or I think. Only what we say will be heard. Are you ready?”

“Yes. I’m ready.” Nevo responded, feeling stronger than before. He hoped that this feeling would never go away.

Kat watched as Liam introduced himself to Larisa, and listened as the two started to talk about their favorite things. They got along great, and it made Kat happy to see both Larisa and Liam talking to someone new. Even though she had known Liam for less than a week, it still felt nice to help him meet more people.

“What about you, Kat?” Larisa asked, and Kat shook her head.

“What? Sorry, I was thinking about something else.” She said, turning to them. “What was it you two were talking about?” 

Liam chuckled and re-adjusted his flower clip. “We were talking about our favorite candies and sweets. What’s yours? I know you like that weird mishmash of chocolate chip cookie dough and birthday cake ice cream, but what’s your real favorite?”

Kat put her finger to her cheek and looked down. “That’s a good question. I normally get whatever’s in season.”

“But what’s your favorite? I really like baking, and your 18th birthday is coming up soon, so I wanted to make something! Wink wink, nudge nudge.” Larisa said, grinning widely.

“Did you really just say ‘wink wink, nudge nudge’ because if so, that’s my new catchphrase,” Liam said, winking at Larisa.

“I’m right there with Liam. But I’ve never really had a favorite. I like sweet things, but also a tad bitter.” Kat said, shrugging and taking her hair out of her ponytail.

“Oh! Kat! I wanna help you with that! Red hair looks amazing in braids, and I just so happen to have a spare brush in my bag!” Via said from the entrance of the room, pulling her hair behind her head. “Larisa, swap places with me.”

Larisa went to the front of the room, and Via practically skipped over to where Kat and Liam stood. “I just stay here and keep looking out?” Larisa asked, turning back to them.

“Yep!” Via responded, and she took out a few bottles and containers from her bag.

“It looks like you could be ready for the closure of every beauty store in Taplican,” Liam remarked, watching as Via pulled out several more bottles, one marked with a very familiar flag. “You’re trans?”

Via froze and turned back to him. “Um, yeah. Sorry, I get a little uncomfortable talking about it.” She looked away, zoning out a bit.

“If it makes you feel a little better, I’m trans too,” Liam said, pushing his glasses up and smiling.

“Can we just . . . swap topics? I’m trying to find the right stuff for Kat’s hair.” 

Kat stood with narrowed eyes, confused at how the day had changed from demons to hair and to being transgender. “You don’t even have to do my hair, I was just taking it down.”

“Nonsense! It looks terrible, and I need to fix it. Besides, we have to kill time.” Via said, smiling as she pulled out a red bottle of hairspray and a comb.

“Shouldn’t we be looking for the Nevo dude?” Liam asked, who was fiddling with his jacket.

“Yeah! We should be looking for my brother!” Larisa shouted from the front of the room, peering back to look at them. 

Kat suddenly held her hand up, pressing her finger to her mouth. “He’s coming.” She said, and Larisa jumped, making her wavy hair bounce up and down.

“Yay! I hope he’s doing alright!” Larisa said, rushing back to the front of the room and peeking her head outside, making a sweep. “Nevo! Over here!” She yelled, waving a hand up and down.

“I’m coming, I’m coming,” Nevo said, stumbling his way to the room where they stood. “I’m sorry, about ditching y’all like that. I just got really freaked out with the whole Silver thing. I needed to take a walk.”

Kat’s eyes widened, but she did her best to hide her concern. I can’t hear his thoughts. She thought to herself, tightening her grip on a small object in her pocket.

Liam waited for Kat or Via to speak, but both of them were quiet. Kat? Shift your shoulders if something’s wrong. He thought, knowing that Kat would hear it. Kat rolled her shoulders, making one of them pop. Via’s head snapped toward her.

“That sounded like it hurt,” Via said, looking back at Nevo. “If you were stressed out and needed to take a walk, this room is pretty flippin’ big if you haven’t noticed. Here would have been perfectly fine to take a walk.” 

Larisa folded her arms. “Yeah! Larrs and Aaron went out looking for you! What if Silver hurts them now that they’re by themselves? I can’t protect them!” 

“You couldn’t have protected them to begin with. Silver’s pretty powerful.” Nevo responded with narrowed eyes.

“I took her out earlier. She wasn’t expecting to be hit with lightning, now was she? I could have done it again! Pew! Pew!” She said, laughing as she pointed her pinky finger at the wall and shot out a few small bolts.

“Right. I forgot about that.” Nevo responded, tilting his head and scratching his neck.

“What you did put other members of our team at risk. We have methods to handle stress, Nevo. You could have used those.” Kat said, cracking her neck.

“What she said. Don’t forget, Nevo, that I can only handle some of the wounds that Silver has inflicted. Cris? I couldn’t. Not even in small amounts could I help him. He was that messed up.” Via added, walking behind Kat and starting to brush her hair.

Liam was surprised that Kat didn’t flinch as Via pulled the brush through Kat’s hair. From what she had said at the beginning of the day, it was pretty thick and hard to brush.

“Liam, it is thick and hard to brush. But, I’m going to bet that Via knows well what she’s doing.” Kat said, responding to his thoughts.

“I hate that you do that,” Liam said, sighing and sitting down a few chairs beside Kat. Something’s wrong with Nevo, right? 

“Yep, certainly. Everyone hates that I do this, but I like annoying people.” Kat responded, turning her head and looking directly at Liam. That worried him because now it was a fact that something had happened to Nevo while he went out on his walk.

“Oh my gosh, yes. Kat used to do it all the time when I’d be doing my hair in the bathroom doing my hair! I’d be thinking, ‘Oh, which do I use? Red or purple?’ and Kat would come in, say something, and leave. Most confusing person ever. Kat! Stop moving your head! I can’t brush your hair right!” 

Kat laughed, and Nevo walked further into the room. “I can personally say that Kat does like to annoy people.”

Kat laughed awkwardly. “Right, yep, I do tend to annoy people. A lot.” 

“Are you alright, Kat? You seem nervous.” Nevo asked, looking right at her. Say that you got stung by a bee! Say that you found a beehive and you need to get rid of it! Liam thought loudly, hoping Kat would listen.

“Um, not exactly. While cleaning out an old shed, I found a beehive and I got stung by one of them. I was just hoping that there’s only one nest because I ain’t a bee person.” Kat replied, looking toward Liam. “He can back me up. He almost got stung as well.”

Liam nodded. “Yeah! She showed me the art shed, and there was another one filled with lawn and garden stuff, and it had a big ol’ hive in it and . . . let’s just say the bees were not happy to have company.” He said, rubbing the back of his neck. It felt like his head was boiling alive. It felt awkward to be here, considering he’d practically broken in and he was the only non-police officer in the room. 

“We’re not officers, Liam. We’re officers-in-training. Well, Larisa and I are. Nevo, Aaron, and Larrs are actual officers.”

“I’m an agent,” Nevo said, crossing his arms.

“Whatever. She’s close enough.” Via said, stepping back from Kat, whose hair was now in a braid, tied together with a bee pendant, which was quite ironic for the conversation they’d just had.

Nevo grinned, stepping closer to Kat. “You look marvelous. Thank you, Via. And thank you, Nevo, as my plan is now complete.”

As he spoke those words, Nevo fell to the ground, and Silver apparated from thin air. She laughed maniacally, eyes glowing in the dim light. A portal opened up beneath Kat, and she fell down into it.

“Goodbye, and good night!”

Via cupped her hands over her mouth, watching as Kat and Silver disappeared into the void. Nevo coughed a tad bit of blood onto the floor and sat up.

“May I ask, what the fu-” Via was cut off by Larisa, whose hands were balled up into fists.

“Did you seriously hand Kat over to Silver because you were afraid?” Larisa yelled, face red and hands glowing a faint yellow.

“I was protecting everyone here! She was a threat! How do you guys not see that?” Nevo yelled back, standing up. Larisa shoved him back to the floor.

“You’re the threat. If you’re so scared that you’d turn in one of our friends to a psychopath, then you’re the true threat here.”

“Kat was never a friend. She was a threat from the start.”

“How?”

“She knows everything we think! She probably knew about you from the beginning! She’s the biggest threat this place ever had to offer!”

Larisa had tears streaming down her face. “If she knew, she could have told someone. She could have told Hamilton. But she didn’t. If she knew, she wanted to keep me . . . us safe.”

“But you don’t know that!” Nevo yelled, watching as his sister shrunk down and looked away with trembling hands. Larisa sprinted out of the room, and Via slapped Nevo across the face. “What was that for?” 

“You just caused your own sister to run off in tears. Liam, come with me. I’m going after her.” Via said, crossing her arms. She waited for a response, but none came. She grabbed Liam by the arm and stormed out of the room, dragging Liam with her.

Via stopped after a moment, holding up her hand. Liam stopped behind her, standing on his tiptoes to see where she was pointing. Larisa was curled up into a ball with her back to them. Spirals and strands of electricity sparked around her, making her seem like a fly in a web. Liam tried to push past Via, but she stopped him.

“I wanna go talk to her!” Liam murmured, wanting to calm a sobbing Larisa down. Via shook her head, and Liam noticed that she too had tears making their way down her face. 

“She’s probably not in the right state of mind. She could hurt us by accident, and vice versa. Don’t forget, even though she’s 13, she apparently has been hiding her power for around five years. You and I have known how to use ours since we were born. I think. I’m 20, so I know I’ve had quite a bit more time to learn than you or Kat.”

Liam pulled Via back into another room, closing the door behind him. “I understand your point but . . . I really want to help her. Calm down, I mean. She’s stressed, duh, but I wanna offer up a bit of comfort.” He looked at Via with wide eyes, making her look away.

“I want to help her too, but even I know the risks of being around an angry Powered. Look at Silver, she’s caused so much chaos, for what? Kat’s love or whatever?”

“All I know is that she’s attracting all the lesbians.” Liam grinned, and Via’s face reddened. 

“Shut up,” Via grumbled, crossing her arms and turning away again to hide the blush creeping across her face and into her ears. Liam burst out into laughter, and Via calmed herself, turning serious. “We need to find her. Yes, I still like her. A lot. But I need to help her out because . . . who knows what Silver might be doing to her? Silver has mind control, possession, and what else? What could she do to someone that can only hear people’s thoughts? Kat won’t be able to do anything in retaliation.” Via’s voice quivered and quieted as her head dropped to the floor.

Liam grinned. “She told me something. She doesn’t just have the hearing power.” His grin grew wider, and Via looked up with a confused expression. “She has one of the rings. She can create fire.”

I can’t see. Am I dead? Did I die? Where am I? I can’t hear anything. Kat’s thoughts were spiraling as her eyes adjusted to the dim setting. Her entire body was filled with a searing pain that felt as if someone was placing burning iron rods in her joints. She realized why they were burning: her hand had wrapped around the small red ring in her jacket pocket. The fire ring.

She tried to sit up, placing the ring safely back in her pocket, before trying again to sit up. Kat looked around, but all around her was a bleak gray, with specks of red and purple seemingly floating around her. Kat blinked, hard, hoping that she would wake up. Nothing happened, and she pushed herself off the ground. She walked forward in a straight line, and eventually, she broke out into a run.

It seemed as if the void-like area went on forever. Her memories came back to her slowly, and that encouraged her, even more, to keep running. She gripped the ring, and created a large swirling ball of red and blue fire, shooting out into the empty space in front of her. It seemed to create a small hole back into the real world, so she tried again. For several minutes, she kept making larger and larger fireballs and shooting them out, hoping that something would happen, but nothing did. The hole remained for a few seconds before shrinking back.

Kat noticed that the size of the ball didn’t matter, just the ball hitting the barrier. An idea entered her mind, and she acted on it. She created several fireballs, each about the size of an apple, and after creating a dozen of them, she fired them all at the same time at the same place. Her idea worked, with the portal hole now large enough for Kat to leave. 

She was about to jump out when she heard something. Silver was close, presumably trying to find where she had run off to. Kat leaped through the open portal and landed in soft grass. Tall soft grass, but at least the grass was cool and soft. She reached for her phone, but it wasn’t there. Kat groaned and sat back up, wincing from the aches in her body.

She looked at the morning sky and tried to figure out where she was. Some things looked familiar, while others did not. Was she closer to home, or the police station? “This arguably was not what I had planned for today,” Kat murmured angrily, slouching her shoulders and continuing onward.

She could hear talking from her left, so she turned to see a lit house, decorated with party balloons and string lights. She wanted to go there, ask for help, something, but it didn’t feel right. Someone placed their hand on her shoulder, making her jump and squeal.

“Shh, I’m trying to help you.” Kat spun around to see a man in their mid-40s, with graying hair and green-gray eyes. He was about her height, with a suit and shoes that looked like they had been shined every day. “That gal, I cannot say her name, but she is after you, correct?”

Kat nodded slowly, confused that he knew about her situation. “Who are you? How do you know about her?” Kat asked, ready to shoot off more questions, but the man shook his head.

“That doesn’t matter now. Come with me, but we must hurry. She will emerge soon to look for you.” He said, and Kat tried to listen to his thoughts, and figure out what he was thinking. He clicked his tongue. “Nuh huh, I have my own abilities. You cannot read my thoughts, but I can read yours.”

“Excuse me?”

“I know you are afraid. I am afraid too. But if we hurry, we will have less to worry about for the time being.” 

The man ushered Kat into the house, and several people turned to look at him. “Everyone,” He said, clinking two glasses together. “I know I have told you about my niece, and here she is. Everyone, please welcome Katrina Lawson.” Cheers erupted from the room, and Kat’s face reddened. “Kat, I know you are curious, and I will tell you. My name is Harold White, and I am your uncle.”

Liam crossed his legs, and Via sat back in her chair, brushing stray hairs out of her face. She sighed. 

“I want to do something, but what can we do? We have no idea where she took Kat. Oh right, we should start saying ‘she’ instead of you know . . . her name. Kat said something about her knowing whenever someone says her name.” Via’s voice cracked while saying her friend’s name.

“Trust me. I wanna help her too. Both Kat and Larisa. But I have an idea. Do you drive?” Liam asked, tilting his head. “I’m not riding a bike back to Kat’s house, and I don’t have a license.”

“I beg your pardon, did you just say you rode a bike here? No engine, nothing that helps it move quicker?”

“No, but answer the question. I think there’s something at Kat’s house that might just help us.” 

“I can’t drive. Yet, anyway. Normally I ride a bus out here. But I can probably ask Larrs or Aaron to give us a lift.” Via said, twirling a bundle of hair around her finger.

“Who? Are those the two other officers that were with us earlier?” Liam asked, rubbing his hands against his pants.

“Yeah . . . ? Why do you keep doing that? That’s like, the fifth time I’ve seen you rub your hands against your pants. Are you really that sweaty? I mean, no offense or anything, but it seems like either you have a weird nervous habit or you’ve got really itchy hands.”

Liam stuck out his tongue. “It is a nervous habit, yes. The thing is, the reason for that is the fact that I used to have the ability to make cotton candy.”

“Used to?” Via asked coldly, not looking back at Liam. It was obvious to him that she didn’t believe him.

“You know those magic ring things? Well let’s just say I was messing with one, tripped, it broke, and the magic juice or whatever absorbed itself into my body, and now I can’t use that power anymore. It kinda sucked though. I couldn’t touch anything without the stuff getting everywhere.”

“Right. And what power do you have now? Being short?” Via inhaled. “Sorry, I’m just . . . really freaking stressed. I snap a bit when stressed, hopefully making me like a lot of other normal people.”

“And ‘normal’ is being lovestruck so much that you’re a jerk to even the person you love in desperate hopes that they’ll fall for you or something.” Via grew red and stood up so quickly that the chair fell to the floor. She stormed out of the room and slammed the door behind her, leaving Liam by himself in a darkened room.

The door creaked open after a moment, and Larisa peeked her head in. “And this is why we don’t try to talk back to a crazy person.”

“That’s impossible. My father . . . he killed you.” Kat said, caught on her own words. Harold led her down into the basement.

“I’m sorry, Kat. But we can discuss this more later. She is coming, and I need to hide you until she leaves.” He said, sliding a bookcase over to reveal a small hidden room. “You’ll be in here no more than an hour, alright? It’s just to keep you . . . and everyone else here safe until she leaves. Then we can talk more.”

Kat nodded and went into the space. Time seemed to fly by there, and within what felt like only a few minutes, a girl with wavy brown hair and large brown eyes came to greet her. “I’m sorry, dad’s doing something else. I figured I’d come to get you while he finished. I’m Marcelline, nice to finally meet ya!” 

Marcelline held her hand out, and Kat was surprised to see how much they resembled each other, apart from their eyes, height, and skin tone. Otherwise, Marcelline looked almost identical to her.

“You knew about me?” Kat asked, still unsure of what to think of everything that had happened that day alone.

“Well of course! Dad always said that one day we’d get to meet, but he didn’t know when that’d be, since you know, the whole . . . gosh I can’t even say her name. Let’s just call her . . . Bathory! Yeah, I like that. Bathory sounds evil, to begin with. Either way! I’m your cousin! Everyone on this side of the family, your dad’s, has a type of power that relates to the main senses! You hear basically everything, from what I’ve heard. Dad had the power to-”

“To convert emotions into transformations. Trust me, I know. I didn’t mean to interrupt, but seriously? You guys have known about me for what, let me check my notebook, almost 12 years now? And you didn’t say anything, try to reach out, didn’t even leave decent traces behind! It would have been lovely to have an actual life instead of being by myself, alone, in a huge mansion, for 12 years!” Kat couldn’t help but yell; she was furious. Furious that something as big as this had been withheld from her for almost her entire life.

“We know. And trust me when I say we’re sorry. There were too many things at play back then. We weren’t even in this country! We were all the way in Brinse!” Marcelline said, and Kat tilted her head. Brinse was across the map, in a corner of the world that most people were unaware of.

“How was that?”

“Coulda been better. It’d be nice if my stepmother would have bought more chocolate chip ice cream.” Marcelline said, smiling as she did.

“Chocolate chip cookie dough is arguably one of the best out there,” Kat said, putting her hands in her pockets. She noticed that the ring was still in there, and her pulse quickened.

“You alright?” Marcelline asked, her left eye now a bright purple. She pointed to her eye, smiling. “I can see what you cannot! I can see people’s auras! Now, I don’t know what they’re thinking or anything, but I sure as heck know what they’re feeling!”

Kat looked away, not making eye contact with Marcelline. “It’s nothing. Hey, listen, do you have a phone I can use to call up a friend of mine?”

Marcelline’s eyes widened. “Oh, um, about that . . . Bathory has every single phone line in the house connected to something of hers. Everything we send or say is recorded and transferred to her computer. Somehow.” Kat groaned, and Marcelline rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly. “Sorry about that! And even if they weren’t recorded, it’d be mighty suspicious if we, a family who has never called the police, all of a sudden called the police station.”

“We have code names for a reason,” Kat said, tapping her fingers on the wall and removing her ring.

“What’s that?” Marcelline asked, narrowing her eyes at the small pink ring. “I can tell it’s important, otherwise your aura wouldn’t be a bright color! I won’t bother ya about it anymore, so I’ll drop it.” She tugged at Kat’s arm, pulling her toward the stairs. “Let’s go introduce you to the family!”

Liam sat with Larisa on the city bus, watching as landscapes passed them by. Larisa was humming a tune, and Liam breathed on the glass, drawing a picture of a character from an old TV show. Larisa poked Liam on the shoulder, snapping him out of his thoughts.

“Hey, the next stop is as close as we’re going to get to Kat’s house. The bus doesn’t go any further.” She whispered, trying not to wake the person a few seats behind them. 

The bus stopped, and Liam followed Larisa, paying their fees before getting off the bus. It rumbled away, leaving a small dust trail as it went. “I’m sad I didn’t bring the bike,” Liam said, inhaling deeply. The weather was bright and clear, despite what had happened. It felt like there should be a thunderstorm in the distance, but there wasn’t. Bright blue skies for miles and miles around.

“Oh well.” Larisa suddenly gasped, pointing at Liam’s feet. The grass beneath him was completely dead and even contained tinges of a dark blue that reminded him of the sky just before it rained. “It’s all dead!”

Liam figured out why everything was dead: Liam had wanted thunderstorms, and if he couldn’t control the weather, then the plants would do their best to give him exactly what he wanted. He held his hand toward the ground and waited for a tulip to sprout from the ground. A small but bright pink and purple tulip soon emerged, and Larisa gasped.

“Can I keep it? It’s so pretty!” She exclaimed, plucking the delicate plant from the ground and tying it to her headband. Liam hadn’t even noticed that she’d put it in. “By the way, I put the bracelet back on. I don’t want to hurt any of you by accident. I realized how big of a fury I went into, and I’m gonna guess that’s why I convinced Nevo to get it in the first place.”

Larisa’s lips stretched into a thin line. She smiled lopsidedly, and Liam burst into laughter. He stopped, lowering his eyes. The two continued in silence on the dirt road, with gravel and grass crunching under their feet. 

“How did you figure out what your powers were?” Liam asked, breaking the silence between them.

Larisa looked away, her face seemed to darken, and she stopped walking. “It was during a thunderstorm. My parents had already given me up, and I was sitting outside on a swing. Nevo was inside, and he was hollering for me to come in. I didn’t want to, so I started swinging. I flew higher and higher into the air, and . . . lightning struck near my house. Nevo was starting to get frantic, practically pleading with me to come inside. I didn’t and within a moment . . . lightning struck me.”

“You should be dead.”

“That’s what Nevo said, and I remember getting angry with him later that same day, and I shocked him by accident. The same type of shock you’d get if you placed your finger on an unplugged toaster’s plug.”

“Why a toaster?”

Larisa started laughing again. “Because I just think the word is funny! ‘Toaster’ sounds funny!”

Liam squatted down and started walking like a crab. “Toaster! I’ve come to speak to you about your toaster’s extended warranty!” 

Larisa was laughing so hard that tears dripped down her face. Liam noticed that her bracelet was now a bright yellow color, and he poked it. A shock ran through his body, and he jumped back.

“Oh, yeah. It has to be placed in ice water every other day, or else electricity builds up, and trust me, that is not very fun.” Larisa said, pressing her hand to her cheek. “I accidentally shocked Nevo so badly that I had to figure out how to extract electricity from things.”

“That does not sound fun.”

“It isn’t.”

Kat sat down on a large sofa, reminding her of the one in her house. Marcelline plopped herself down beside her, grinning widely. Kat recognized one of the people sitting down as Mark White, the same boy who had earlier that week, almost spilled two precious containers of vanilla cola on the floor.

“I can tell you’re surprised, but don’t worry! He doesn’t have any cool powers as we do, he’s just a nerd.” Marcelline said, and Kat nodded her head slowly.

“I hate you,” Mark muttered to Marcelline, then turned to Kat. “I honestly never would have thought that we’d be cousins, of all things. You, the overly-aware person that likes reading too much, and me, the kid that plays way too many computer games but manages to hack into school security systems so I can steal more chicken nuggets from the cafeteria.”

“I’m . . . concerned for your well-being,” Kat said, gripping the edge of her shirt tightly with both hands. She could feel heat rising in her hand, and she tried to calm it down. Even though she wasn’t wearing the fire ring, it still could be used if her emotions were strong.

Marcelline pointed to a petite woman with short blonde hair. “That’s mom, Patrica White, she can taste everything in a certain food, like, literally everything. It’s insane.” She then pointed to Harold. “That’s dad, you already know him. He can’t read minds or anything, but he can sense what type of intentions people have.” Marcelline didn’t bother to point to her brother, instead, she elbowed him in the gut. “Mark, he’s an idiot that likes chicken nuggets. And me? I just like reading people’s auras and stuff.”

Kat’s eyes narrowed. “You said you had a stepmother.”

“I do, but she only comes around a few times a month. Let’s just say we had a really weird family situation.”

Kat scoffed, “Yeah, no kidding.” She said sarcastically, watching as Marcelline’s initial happy expression crumpled.

“Y’all, calm down. I might not have powers or anything, but I sure know when there’s tension.” Mark said, pushing his wide-frame glasses up and turning his red and white baseball cap to the side. His curly dark-brown hair fell everywhere, and Kat could tell it was a hassle to mess with.

“Listen, I’m sorry, but would it have really been that hard to like, send a letter or something? I was living in hell for those years, and I didn’t get so much as a letter, to simply tell me that someone else was out there. It would have been nice to know I wasn’t alone.” Kat stood up and walked toward the front door. “I need to take a breather.” She said, gripping the door handle and walking out the door.

The weather outside was sunny and clear, and it smelled like cherry blossoms mixed with oranges. Kat noticed that there were orange trees, and most trees seemed weighted down by the oranges growing on them. She walked toward them, and climbed up one of the trees, plucking an orange off. She peeled the skin off and took a small bite of the orange. It was sour, but Kat didn’t mind, she just wanted to get out of there.

“Whatcha doing up there?” Mark yelled from beneath her. The wind picked up and Kat’s braids fluttered in the wind.

“Existing. You got a problem with that?” She asked, coming down from the tree. “By the way, how far is this place from my house?” 

“Um, about three hours, I’d guess. Dad said something about you coming from a portal close by. He was able to alter it or something.” Mark said, shrugging as he put his hands in his pockets. He shivered as though there was snow falling.

Kat sighed, turning away from him. “I just wanted people to relate to. My friends have powers, yes, but it’s not the same as knowing they’re family. That’s all I ever wanted, was to spend a holiday with people other than coworkers. I wanted a family.”

Mark averted his gaze and hung his head. “If I knew, I would have told you.”

“I know,” Kat said, talking before Mark could finish. “But that doesn’t explain why your father was marked as ‘deceased’ in my father’s records. And to further that, why wasn’t he listed as a family?”

“Because he tried to disown me. After he met your mother, he wanted more and more time away from us. He wanted control.” Harold said, walking over to where they stood, not making eye contact with either of them, keeping his eyes on the sky. “So he forgot about us after a while. Then he found out that we were Powered. I suffered with my abilities. I couldn’t control my anger sometimes, and many people were hurt because of me. Evan wanted to play God, deciding who lives or dies. He found out how to remove powers, but at a cost. He lost his life because of  . . . her. She killed him with her new powers. But he never realized that people could have more than one power. That’s what he wanted to find out. That’s why he did experiments. That’s why he was killed.”

Liam exhaled, breathing heavily. “Thank goodness we’re finally here.” He said in an exasperated tone. Larisa breathed heavily as well, sighing. 

“Yeah, about time. Why does Kat gotta live all the way out here?” Larisa asked.

“She wants to torment our little legs,” Liam said before plopping onto the grass. Larisa pulled Liam’s arm. “No! I wanna stay here! AH!”

He yelped, and Larisa let go of Liam’s arm.

“Did I dislocate it?” She asked, her hands covering her mouth in shock. “Liam, I am so, so, so sorry!” 

“You just popped it,” Liam wheezed. “I’m fine.”

“You are not fine!” Larisa yelled before pulling Liam up by his good arm.

“If you don’t watch it, you’re going to pop my other arm.” Liam joked, and Larisa inhaled sharply. She was still freaking out, and Liam placed his hand on her shoulder. “Calm down.”

Larisa was silent, staring at something behind him. She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Larisa was now quivering.

Liam turned around, and there she was, in all her glory, Silver. “Where is she?” Silver yelled, her voice remaining surprisingly steady even though she was yelling. Her eyes were wide as she walked over. “Where. Is. She.”

“I ate her,” Liam blurted out, and Silver stopped walking. She stared at him for a moment, before pressing her fingers to her temple.

“You seriously have no idea where she is, do you?”

“Why else would we be coming to her house? Besides, you kidnapped her! What did you do with her? Ask yourself, not us!”

Silver was taken aback, and she narrowed her eyes, but Liam continued to stare directly at her. He wasn’t afraid. She growled before teleporting away, leaving a small pool of an inky-black substance where her feet once were.

“I can’t believe you just did that,” Larisa said, awestruck. “Remind me to kidnap you whenever I encounter her.”

“Will do,” Liam responded. “I’m actually surprised I said that. If she would have come up yesterday, I wouldn’t have said anything.” He chuckled, and Larisa elbowed him.

“And this is why Kat’s friends with you. Now I know why. You’re insane.”

“You just now noticed that?” Liam asked, and both of them burst into laughter. Liam wiped tears from his eyes, wiping his hands on his pants. He felt something sticky on them. His hands were covered in cotton candy. “Oh great,” he muttered, and Larisa turned to look at him.

“Why are your hands pink?”

“A power I thought I’d gotten rid of,” Liam responded, now angry that it returned. He made a large puffy ball, nibbling a small bite off of it.

“Is that cotton candy? I want some!” Larisa exclaimed, staring at the pink ball that Liam had conjured. 

Liam held up his other hand, making a large swirling ball of cotton candy, and tossed it to Larisa. It floated around in the air, and Larisa had to jump to catch the ball before it floated away. “Yeah, cotton candy.”

Larisa squealed, taking a large bite out of it, leaving sticky pink residue on her face. She spun around with the largest smile plastered on her face. She’s going to get a sugar high. Liam thought to himself, smiling a little. 

“What’s that?” Liam asked, pointing to a huge orange ball in the distance.

“It looks like . . . fire,” Larisa exclaimed, taking off toward the fire.

“This is why I was wanting to get out!” Kat yelled, and both Mark and Kat scrambled around in an attempt to put out the fire. Harold had already run inside to get a fire extinguisher, but it was barely any help. The fire spread up the trees, coating them. Kat put on the ring and called for the fire to retract.

Kat knew it probably was pointless, but she was determined to give it a shot. Retract! Kat yelled in her mind, keeping her balled-up hand pointed toward the large fire. The fire wavered a bit, then slowly dispersed and drew itself into Kat’s ring. Her hand felt like it was boiling, but that didn’t stop Kat. She was determined to fix this.

“You didn’t say you could make fire!” Marcelline yelled from the front of the house. “That’s so amazing!”

Harold and Patrica ran out, each holding an extinguisher in their arms. “What was that?” Harold asked, running over to Kat, who had crumpled onto the ground and was staring at the damage she had accidentally caused.

“I didn’t think it’d do this . . . I’m so sorry.” Kat said, not turning around to look at them. Two orange trees had completely burned up, and another was partially burned.

Patrica shrugged, plucking a burnt orange from the tree. Its skin flaked off, and she took a slice from it, placing it in her mouth. “Don’t be sorry,” she said. “Kat, this is arguably the best orange I’ve ever had! Who woulda thought that burning them would make them taste better?” 

“How did you do that?” Harold asked, staring at Kat with wide eyes. 

“Fire not fun,” Kat mumbled, shaking slightly. Marcelline went to place her hand on Kat’s shoulder. “Don’t touch me,” Kat snapped, and Marcelline retracted her hand. “I don’t want to hurt anyone else.”

Everyone behind her exchanged glances with each other, and Kat’s arms sunk lower. “You wouldn’t have anyway. I can tell you know how to control it.” Harold said, not moving but staring at Kat. 

“I wish I did. I don’t, Harold. I’ve only done it a few times, I’m not good at it whatsoever.” Kat replied, watching the sky start to bloom with clouds. 

Marcelline went back inside the house and came back a few minutes later with two bowls, each filled with chocolate chip ice cream. “Hi hi, I brought you the happy food.” She said, smiling as she watched Kat take the bowl and nibbled the ice cream. 

“Thank you.” Marcelline nodded. “But even you know that this would be better with cookie dough.”

“Yeah! I’m trying to get a decent recipe for how to make the cookie dough. But, the problem is, the internet is full of gross recipes.”

“The last dozen she’s made sucked! So don’t think her cooking is good because it’s not!” Mark said from behind them, smiling. 

“Mark, I swear . . . I am going to kill you with my cooking just because you insulted me!” Marcelline replied, now standing up. Her bowl of ice cream fell over on its side, spilling.

“See, that’s how bad it is!”

Kat flinched, she could hear people running in the distance. She abruptly stood up and turned her head toward the vast fields surrounding the house. Kat watched as two figures got closer and closer to the house.

“Kat!” She heard someone yell, waving their arms. Kat took off sprinting toward them, wrapping her arms around Larisa. “Are you hurt? Oh, I should have brought Via with us, oh gosh Kat, you sure you’re fine?” Larisa asked, inspecting Kat’s arms.

“I’m fine, silly. I’m just so glad you’re alright.” Larisa said, hugging Kat again. Liam waved awkwardly, smiling lopsidedly. 

“Oh, let me introduce you guys to my family! All of which I just met like, an hour ago!” Kat said, spreading her arms in the air.

Liam put his hands into his pockets. “I don’t think that’s how family works, but I’m just going to go with it.”

Liam introduced himself to Marcelline and the others, but he still felt off. Kat thought she was all alone, no family left to turn to, and she had found a hidden family she didn’t know anything about! So . . . was the same possible for him? After all, he had always been told he didn’t have family left, so did he have a hidden family waiting out there, for him to make his long-awaited arrival?

“Hey, Liam,” Kat said, walking over from where Marcelline and Mark stood. “wanna go for a walk?”

Marcelline rubbed her arms together and shifted her gaze. She had already explained how she could see auras, so Liam was almost certain that Marcelline knew something was up with him.

“Yeah, sure.” Liam inhaled shakily as they started to walk off. Someone placed their hand on Kat’s shoulder, and Liam spun around. 

“Kat, Liam, be careful. I sense a tinge of hatred in the air, and it is not from either of you. Be careful, and be alert, alright?” Mr. White asked, turning to Liam. “You as well, be careful. I sense that the one after my niece does not like you.”

Liam nodded, and Kat motioned for him to follow. After they had walked all the way to where just a mere few days ago, they had almost fallen to their deaths. The same cliff, Hangstine Cliff, is known for where dozens of accidents had occurred. They were lucky that they were not added to that count. 

Kat sat down on the edge of the cliff, letting her legs hang off the side. Liam felt dizzy watching her, but sat down beside her anyway. “Are you okay? I noticed that you were starting to . . . get upset.”

Liam’s face started to heat, and he felt his eyes get watery. “Everything feels . . . wrong. You found a secret family, so what about me?” He asked, a tear falling. Liam was shaking, and he balled up his fists. “I just want to know if I’m not truly alone out there.” 

Kat remained silent, waiting for Liam to continue. The wind blew gently across the edge of the cliff, stirring up leaves and blowing them off the side of the cliff. 

“I don’t really know what to feel,” Liam said, sobbing quietly. “Because I know that I’m supposed to be happy for you, but I don't . . . I can’t really pretend anymore . . . It’s hard, way too hard, to pretend to be something that you’re not.”

“I understand the feeling,” Kat replied, rubbing her hands on her jeans. “When I first got the info that my parents were dead, I tried my best to act like I didn’t mind it. My mother was absent from my life, and my father was cruel. Only now do I realize that they really weren't the angels that they said they were. I could hear their thoughts, so I had always gotten an idea of who they really were, but I didn’t truly understand until I got all the details after they died. Reading both my mother's and my father’s diaries, I got a glimpse of who they really were.” Kat turned back to Liam, and he wiped a tear from his face using the striped green sleeves of his sweater.

“Yeah . . . listen, Kat, I can’t thank you enough. I didn’t know that you’d been through that.”

“Hey, Liam?”

“Yeah?” 

“I’m going to find out what happened to your family. I promise it.”

Liam’s eyes widened. His bottom lip trembled again, and another few tears fell. “Kat . . . you know you don’t have to do that, right?”

Kat smiled, “Yeah, but what good will it do if we just sit around doing nothing more than watching television?”

They looked at each other, smiling. Kat reached for Liam’s hand and took it, squeezing it lightly. Kat turned back to the edge of the cliff, looking off to the side. Rocks and rivers seemed like dots on a painting. Liam yelped, right as he fell off the side.

Kat shot forward, pushing herself off the edge. She plummeted down the edge and saw her life flash before her eyes. She closed her eyes and reached inside her pocket. She put the ring on, shooting a spiral of fire above her, boosting her closer to where Liam was.

“Grab my arm!” Kat yelled, and Liam did just that. Kat then moved her arm, and pointed it below them, urging another spiral plume of fire to shoot out. It did, boosting them up slowly toward the top of the cliff. Fire scorched her arm, and she did her best to prevent Liam from getting burnt by any stray flames.

Within a few seconds, Kat had boosted them all the way back up to the top of the cliff, where she stopped the makeshift jetpack, causing both of them to drop onto the gravel and rock-covered surface of the cliff.

Liam was shaking, breathing in and out as fast as his heart was beating. He looked at Kat, who was shaking just as much as he was. Liam felt almost relieved, seeing that Kat was just as shaken as he was.

Silver stood several feet in front of them, with her arms folded. She was tapping her foot impatiently on the ground. “Why do you keep saving him? Are you two dating or something?” Silver was practically screeching at this point, and she was seething with anger and hatred. “I’m tired of this, I don’t care what you want. I’m not ever going to let you out of my sight, ever again!”

Silver ran toward them, an arm outstretched. Liam stuck his fingers in the ground and called for all plants to listen to him. A light rumble was heard below them, and Kat watched as vines as thick as a rope wrapped around Silver’s leg, pulling her back.

“We’re not dating, trust me. But we’re both tired of you doing this! You’re hurting people we love and-”

“Enough! I can’t handle this anymore! I just want you . . . to love me.” Silver stopped thrashing, and Kat almost felt bad for her. Silver looked up with wide eyes, trying to catch Kat’s gaze. Kat looked away as before something caught her leg. “And I’m not giving you any more chances to fight.”

Kat was being pulled closer to Silver, who had somehow untangled herself from the now-thorny vines and had started to float into the air. Her light blue hair grew longer and longer, turning into a muddled black color.

A gunshot rang out, and Silver fell to the ground. Kat shook herself free, rushing back to her feet. Liam ran up to Kat. “Are you okay?” He asked, eyes wide and mouth hanging open. Silver was laying on the stone path, and Kat looked to see who had fired the gun.

Harold stood there, holding a revolver. “I’m not letting this continue any longer.” He said, steadying his voice. Marcelline ran up behind him, and her eye glowed purple for a moment. 

“She’s not dead yet,” Marcelline said, holding her hand up, preventing a confused Mark from passing her. “I don’t trust that she’s finished.”

“You’re right . . .  I’m not . . . I’m . . . not finished . . . and I’m . . . not leaving without . . . another death . . . ”  Silver said, eyes glowing green for the final time, as a large black spike rose from the ground, impaling Mark from the back.

Liam didn’t know what to think, watching as Silver’s body paled, and watching as Marcelline and Kat rushed to revive Mark. The air was now chilly, and the wind had picked up around them.

“We need to get Via here,” Kat said, snapping her head toward Liam. “I need your phone for a moment.” Liam felt his pocket for his phone. Empty. It must have fallen down with him earlier.

“I think it fell down the cliff.” Liam said, growing more and more nervous as time passed.

Kat yelled an obscenity, and Marcelline jumped. Harold looked between everyone, not sure of what to do.

“We need to get him to a hospital. Marcelline, run back and tell your mother to drive to Hangstine.” Marcelline nodded, running back in the direction of her home. Liam felt off all over again. 

“This is all my fault,” Liam mumbled, feeling a tear run down his face. He watched as Harold made an attempt to do CPR, but Mark didn’t stir. “He’s dead, because of me.”

Kat snapped her head toward Liam. “It’s not your fault, and he ain’t dead yet. He still has a pulse.”

“He does?” Harold asked, and Kat nodded. “That . . . should have killed him.”

“Yeah, it should have. But he’s alive, and time is precious, so we need to figure out what to do now. Marcelline should be back with Patty any moment now.” Kat said, continuing to feel his pulse. “Weird thing is, his heart rate isn’t slowing down. It’s speeding up tremendously.”

“Is that bad?” Liam asked, rubbing his hands together and rubbing them to his arms. 

“Not yet, but it’s in the high 100s, so if this keeps up he could have other issues that don’t result from him being impaled.”

Liam and Harold grimaced upon hearing that. Liam felt tears spring to his eyes again. “I’m so sorry.” He muttered, starting to cry. His glasses slipped from his face, hitting the ground with a tiny thud. They didn’t break, but it still felt like his heart had broken. As much as Kat said he didn’t cause this, it sure felt like it. 

“He’s not bleeding anymore, and the impaled area looks like it’s already healing.” Kat noticed, feeling around the area. “But it’s gonna get infected if we don’t get him off the ground. It isn’t sterile.”

Liam watched as a few plants sprouted around Mark, seemingly spreading dew onto him.

“That’s aloe,” Harold said, snapping the plant apart and rubbing the goop from it onto the area surrounding Mark’s wound. “I didn’t know you could do that. I didn’t even know you were a Powered.” He said under his breath, looking back to Liam, whose eyes were wide with shock.

An engine could be heard in the distance, and Liam’s head snapped toward the noise. A small tattered-looking truck made its way toward them, and Marcelline waved from the trunk. “We’re back!”

Liam helped them load Mark into the back, and just as they started to drive off, Liam noticed something; Mark’s wound had disappeared entirely, and his eyes were cracked.

“He’s alive!” Marcelline yelled, shaking Mark by the shoulders. Kat winced at the noise and turned to Harold. 

“She’s not wrong. The bleeding has stopped entirely, and he’s awake. Not fully conscious, but he’s awake. Plus, the wound has sealed itself up.” Kat said, and Marcelline smiled widely.

“Let’s go back to the house. We’ll figure it out from there.” Harold said, and Patrica nodded her head silently. The noise from everyone was growing louder, and Kat felt like she might once again catch something on fire. “Kat? You okay?” Harold was now looking right at her, and she nodded.

“I’m still just trying to figure everything out. Do you think Mark is Powered? Has the ability to regenerate or something?” Kat asked, and Marcelline nodded.

“He’s always been like this! Every time that he got hurt, he’d heal a lot faster than people expected. He broke his arm once, and it was supposed to take two months to heal, but instead, it only took a few hours. The doctors said he had an amazing cartilage regeneration rate.”

Kat nodded, undoing her braid and tying it into a high ponytail. “I still think he has regeneration. But what doesn’t make sense is the situation surrounding it. All of you guys, and I, have abilities that have to do with senses. Harold can kinda be excused as anticipating someone could be like, a sixth sense or something. What doesn’t make sense though, is how he could have that, and it doesn’t relate to the senses.” Kat’s eyes widened, and she smacked the side of the truck. “Unless his ability deals with the touch or feeling sense! What if he isn’t supposed to feel pain, so any pain he feels is healed?”

Marcelline and Harold exchanged glances. Liam cleared his throat, “Yeah, I can agree with that. It’d make sense. However much pain he’s in contributes to how fast he heals, or something like that.” Liam rubbed his hand in his hair, fluffing it around awkwardly.

“I guess I could see that,” Harold said, rubbing his fingers against his bare chin. He tapped his fingers against his torn jeans. “It makes sense, come to think of it. As Marcelline said, Mark has always healed faster than others. Even the doctors were stunned by that discovery.”

Patrica pulled back into her driveway after a few moments, giving Mark a light hug. Marcelline and Kat helped him back inside and onto his bed. Mark gave a small smile, and Kat could hear his thoughts. They were jumbled, but Kat could understand that Mark now knew the extent of his abilities.

“You three should stay the night. Your friend has been sleeping on the couch the whole time we were gone.” Patrica pointed to Larisa, who was curled up under a blanket. She snored lightly but stirred when Patrica came close.

“I wanna go to Kat’s,” Larisa mumbled, sitting up with closed eyes, still clutching to the blanket like it was a crying child. 

Patrica and Liam looked at Kat, and she nodded. “I’ll take them back to my place. It isn’t too far off, considering how much walking we’ve done in the past week. You’ll be fine, right Liam?” 

Liam nodded, smiling. “Yeah, let’s go back. I’m exhausted, even though it’s barely after noon.” The two laughed, and Larisa shook the blanket off, hopping off the couch as if she wasn’t curled up just a minute ago.

“Okie dokie! Let’s go!” She said happily, grinning widely as she waited for Kat to follow her. “I wanna pet your cat again!” 

Larisa skipped out of the house, and Patrica turned to Kat. “She’s 13? She acts like she’s no older than a little kid.”

“She’s very immature, yes, but we all love her for that. She’s adorable, and you know it.” Kat said, watching as Patrica shook her head. “Be careful out there.”

“Hey,” Liam snapped his head toward Kat just as she put the bread into the oven. “I know I promised you we’d get ice cream, or go to the restaurant, but I don’t really know if I can do that after all that’s happened.” Liam chuckled, going over to chop up an onion.

“I don’t mind. I never expected that I’d get to make spaghetti with a werewolf.” He teased, and Kat suddenly turned to him. 

“Hey, Camel, or Cameron, just got arrested,” Kat said, taking over chopping the onion while Liam went back to the noodles. 

“Really, why?” Liam asked, now curious.

“He was apparently working with Hamilton. He also wanted Powered to die, for some reason. From what I’ve heard, he thought that they were the reason that his mom died, even though she passed away due to cancer.”

“Neither of those is good.” Liam paused, popping his shoulder. “By the way, what even happened to Hamilton?” He asked, watching as Kat pushed the onion pieces into the spaghetti.

“He got a burial, and the officers all decided that he wouldn’t get a funeral due to his crimes.”

“Makes sense. What about Nevo?”

“He lost his job, so now he’s working at that fast food joint up by Riverdale.” 

Liam scowled, “Ew! That place has had roaches and mice in it how many times?”

Kat chuckled, taking the bread rolls out of the oven and shooting a small ball of fire onto them, giving each roll a nice look and texture. “Exactly. Larisa said she found it disgusting.” 

“I can’t believe what’s happened in the past few days. But hey, I get to make spaghetti!” Liam joked, and the flowers in the corner of the room blossomed.

“Yeah, Nevo was pretty upset when he found out that he had to drive up here to pick up Larisa. You sure you’re not too upset?”

“Yeah, trust me, I’m fine with being the crazy one every here and there. I actually like being here. You have no upstairs neighbors, and the window doesn’t get broken by crazy people making tornados . . . wait.”

They burst out laughing, and Liam took the boiling noodles and put the pot onto the back burner. 

“I accept that all the way,” Kat said, smiling widely. “I’m so glad I met you, or else I don’t think I’d really have anyone else to talk to. Besides Muffin, of course.” They both started laughing, and Kat grabbed two bowls from a cabinet, handing one of them to Liam.

“I hope this tastes as good as it smells,” Liam said, piling a large amount of spaghetti into his bowl. “It had better taste good because simply smelling this makes me double the hungry.”

Kat chuckled, putting spaghetti into her bowl and placing two pieces of garlic bread on top. “I’m gonna have to tell Marcelline about that one. ‘Double the hungry’ sounds like something she’d want in her quote book.”

“Her what?” Liam asked, putting a piece of garlic bread in his spaghetti, and going over to the table where Kat had put her food at. He watched as Kat poured a small glass of fizzy cola into a glass, taking a small sip before sitting down at the table. 

“Her quote book. Marcelline showed it to me before we left yesterday, but it’s full of different things that she’s heard people say. She thought that what they said was funny, so she wrote those statements down.”

“Does she ever use them?” Liam asked, twirling his fork around in the noodles. He took a large bite, and his eyes widened. “This is so good! You were right when you said to add parsley and dill! It tastes so good!” 

Kat chucked, smiling. “Yeah, it’s me who made the recipe. Of course, it’s going to be the best.”

Kat placed her bowl and fork in the dishwasher, humming a quiet tune. Liam had fallen asleep on the couch after eating, and there was still a small splotch of tomato sauce on his face. Kat enjoyed his company, considering that they were in similar situations. At least, they used to be.

Kat had found members of her family that she never knew even existed until now, and she felt disappointed that she couldn’t find anything about Liam’s parents. Kat had stayed up all night, trying to find information about Liam’s parents, but the most she got was a picture of a blonde-haired man. It wasn’t much, but Kat was willing to do pretty much anything to help Liam get closure.

She sighed, walking back to her room and plopping back on the bed. Kat inhaled, and smiled. Kat was one of the few people she’d ever known who actually liked the smell of old books. Specks of dust floated through the air, making Kat sneeze.

“I really need to dust, don’t I?” Kat mumbled to herself when she heard a meow from below her. “I’m going to take that as a yes and continue on with my life,” Kat said, smiling as she bent down to pet the tiny cat. Muffin purred as Kat rubbed its belly, rolling over multiple times just to make sure that Kat got the right spot.

Kat listened, hearing Liam groan and sit up on the couch, starting to make his way toward her room. She turned, looking directly at him when he came in. “Right,” Liam rubbed the back of his neck. “I kinda forgot that you could hear me.”

“You’re so loud, I could hear you even without the ring,” Kat said, elbowing Liam as she walked out of her room.

“Oh, haha, you’re so funny. Hey, by the way, what were you doing when you went back down into the lab earlier?”

Kat grimaced, inhaling slowly. “Harold suggested that I burn it. Everything. To get rid of the memories. It’s blocked off by several layers of reinforcement, so the fire couldn’t reach us. I . . . I just want to forget what happened here. To me, to Silver, to Harold, and to all the others that were kept here against their will, forced to give up powers that they didn’t even know they had. My father sometimes kidnapped them simply because they were related to a Powered, and he suspected that they had powers as well. Most of the time though, he wasn’t wrong.”

Kat bit her lip, picking up Muffin and carrying the feline back into the living room. It still smelled of garlic and parsley in here, but strongest of all was the dill.

“I hate dill now,” Liam mumbled, sitting down beside Kat. “You know, we should get ice cream. At a criminal-free facility.”

“Agreed. There’s this new place that opened up by the library. Wanna go there? It’s pretty close to Riverdale, and the dock area just got renovated.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, and I really want birthday cake ice cream, so let’s go,” Kat said, standing up and going into the garage. Her car was still a little beaten up, but it wasn’t as bent up and broken as it was before.

“Yeah. I want to try this flavor concoction too, the one that you got called crazy for.”

“I am crazy,” Kat said, shrugging.

“Yeah, but not for those reasons.”

Liam watched the landscape change as the car sped forward. Kat was kind of scary on these roads, but it felt amazing, almost reminiscent of a roller coaster. He repinned his clip, tying a large strand of hair back. 

“We’ll be there soon, I know some back roads that we can use to get there faster,” Kat said, looking in the rearview mirror to look at him. “I still don’t see why you had to sit in the backseat, but I’d do the same.”

Liam laughed awkwardly. “Yeah, I just don’t like riding in the front seat. It just makes me uncomfortable.”

“Hm? Why?” Kat asked, turning onto one of the main roads that led to Riverdale.

“I just don’t. People in cars kind of scare me.” Liam said, scratching the back of his neck, and looking back out the window.

“People scare me as well. Trust me, I am not the biggest fan of people.”

“Hey,” Liam asked, turning to look at Kat, even though the only things exposed were her pointy ears. “Isn’t your birthday in a few days?”

Kat laughed. “Via thinks it’s tomorrow. It’s not for a few months.”

“Really? Oh, what even happened between you two?”

“She hasn’t spoken to me since those events. But yeah, my birthday isn’t for quite a while.” Kat sighed, and after a few minutes, she pulled into the parking lot of the ice cream shop.

“This place looks a lot cleaner than the last,” Liam remarked, stepping out of the car and looking around. Even from outside the store, the air smelled of vanilla and mint, and he could hear the giggles of small children.

“Yeah, no criminals here,” Kat said, getting out of the car and putting her satchel on. Turns out, the small box that Kat had bought the other day was a satchel, Kat simply had to put it together. It was decorated with cats and butterflies, and Liam was slightly jealous that he didn’t have one of his own. “You have a flower wallet,” Kat said, now staring right at him. 

“Yeah, I know. I just really like cats.”

“I can tell.” The two of them exchanged glances, smiling at each other as they walked to the doors.

Walking in, the smell of freshly brewed coffee and baked cookies permeated the air, filling it with a nice, homey sort of smell. The vanilla and mint scent grew stronger, and Liam looked at Kat. I already like this place!

Kat nodded, walking up to the front counter. She was surprised to see Marcelline standing at the counter, and she waved them over. Her smile was huge, and Kat could tell that Marcelline absolutely loved her job here.

“Dad said that I should get a job since I’m being homeschooled this year!” Marcelline said cheerily, quickly grabbing two cones and filling them with a scoop of vanilla and chocolate ice cream. She sprinkled chocolate chips on top, then poured a tiny amount of caramel and fudge onto the top, then handed them to Liam and Kat.

Kat put a $20 bill into the tip jar, smiling as she took Liam back outside. She was right about one thing; Riverdale had an amazing view of the river. I guess that’s how it got its name. Liam thought to himself, biting the ice cream.

“I beg your pardon, did you just bite  your ice cream?” Kat asked, eyes wide and a small frown on her face. “I am no longer the weird one,” Kat said, sighing.

“You know, it’s been, what? Four whole days since I met you?”

“Four or five, somewhere in there. The days have blended, and I can no longer count.”

“What’s counting?” They burst out laughing, and Kat walked down to the dock, sitting down on one of the many chairs sprawled around.

“Hard. Counting is very hard.”

Kat inhaled, smelling the salty scent of the river water, mixed with the smell of her ice cream. It felt nice, and she knew that this was probably the closest she was ever going to get to an ocean since the river was directly connected to an ocean.

Liam was beside her, watching the water pass them by, drowning out the sounds of people walking along the dock. Kat thoroughly enjoyed the presence of the waves, and she watched as fish swam beneath them.

They sat there for a little while, not saying a word while eating their ice cream. Eventually, Liam turned to Kat, with a small drop of ice cream above his lip.

“Your mission at the school was to see if it was a school of crime, right?” Liam asked, wiping the ice cream off with his sleeve.

Kat nodded, “Yeah, if simply meeting me was this chaotic, what do you think a school of crime is going to be like?”

“Chaotic. Just the way I like it.” Liam replied, closing his eyes and leaning back in his chair. 

Kat watched as a few ducks waddled around on the other side of the river, surrounding a small girl with pink and blonde hair. “Imagine having pet ducks.” She said, watching as Liam leaned forward and squinted his eyes to look at the girl, who looked now as if she was petting the ducks.

“I want pet raccoons,” Liam responded, finishing the rest of his ice cream, and putting his hands in the water to rinse them off. “But I’d take a duck anytime.”

“Of course, you of all people would want a raccoon. You’d take anything, as long as it was small.” Kat chuckled, standing up and walking to the edge of the dock.

“I’d take a bear if I could. Bears are amazing.”

“That’s what the bear wants you to think, so it can eat you.”

Liam started laughing and stood up beside Kat. The sun was just starting to set, and the sun reflected off of the water’s surface. It certainly was beautiful, and Kat could practically hear violin music playing in the background. It felt right to her, to hear something like that playing.

“Well then, Liam. We get dorms in two days, so let’s go ahead and head back. We’ve been here for a while, and you said you need to start moving stuff out of your current dorm.” Kat said after a while, turning back to Liam, who was staring off into the distance.

“Yeah. You’re gonna help me with that, right?”

“I kinda have to, if you’re moving in with me.”

“It’s just until I get my new dorm.”

“Admit it, you like Muffin, and you’re not ready to leave her. Plus, you still haven’t gotten the bonus additions of Golden Sapphires.”

Liam’s eyes went wide and his jaw dropped. “There’s bonuses? And yes, I love Muffin. Can’t bear to stay away from her.”

Kat laughed and started to walk back up the stairs. Wood creaked below her, and she turned back to Liam.

“Hurry up, we’ve got a long road ahead of us.”

End

Originally, Pieces of a Fractured Heart was called Change of Heart for the Worst, but I confirmed that that would be saved for the sequel. The entire basis for this book was two dumb comics that Liam and I made, all about Kat and Liam doing something that’s going to be in the sequel. I expected that both comics’ plots would be in this book, but I didn’t want to stretch it out too long, so I saved that for the sequel. I started in September of 2022 and Finished just a few months later. It was at first just supposed to be an inside joke between Liam and me, but eventually more people became interested, so I decided, ‘Screw it! Let’s make a book!’ So it became a project that I’d work on whenever I had free time during school, and then it became something I worked on literally whenever I got bored and wanted to write. Thank you, dear reader, for reading.