---

@Surtr@Defacto
Thompson Lumber Mill Inc.

---

After thirty minutes from Lee finishing his beer, the alcohol inside Lee began to wear off. The vision become more clear and the people chattering sound around Lee become less buzzing to his ear. And with it, Lee’s fear of being observed by these strangers’ eyes came back. But it is not alone as there came a sudden thrust of pain in his brain, causing Lee to hold his brain while kneeling down on his knee. In Lee thought, it is probably due to the drink. Maybe the beer itself was expired, and he did not check the date before drinking it, Lee think while trying to regain his balance. Lee’s image of tidy and neat is now replaced with his messy clothes, red eyes and skin. His left hand with blood on it massaging one of his temple.

Suddenly, Lee felt a sudden pull from Samson as he seems to see something behind Lee’s back. And the curious killed the cat as Lee turned his head to see what behind him. Blood and broken bottle of beers falling down are few things that strike him. Men and women, with various ages and skin colors, are now being decapitated or slice in half by a man wielding a rusty axe. Blood spilling, people trampled on each other, and the killer is heading toward Lee direction. Suddenly, the thought of sharpening the blade or buy something new would reduce the strength that person spent on these human. And then, Lee’s mind appeared men and women on the ground with broken bottle near them. Some have their eyes and mouths were open wide. And some still had a smile on them while missing their whole bodies. Fears creeping into Lee’s mind, filling him with these fears as the dead are looking at him. They won’t stop looking at him even Lee began to turn his head and run. Lee pushed others to make a way for him to escape all this horror. Although it may seem Lee is running from the killer, he is actually running from the images inside his mind. The dead are getting more and more with broken glass next to them. And they are all looking at him with their terrifying white unclosed eyes.

---

^{@Scarescrow@Defacto}
Thompson Lumber Mill Inc.

---

Lee broke off from Samson into a sprint, and Julia disappeared, leaving the teen by himself. Should have expected as much, but Samson was confident enough in both himself and Lee that they could go it alone, even in times of such a crisis.

He turned to sprint himself, but the first step that Samson took ended with him slipping on a discarded beer bottle. He fell forward, but caught himself using his arms. There was still the rush of pain going up his hands, and the surprise of it all, but it briefly distracted him from the fact that there was a axe killing still running amok. When he remembered, well, Samson panicked. He heard the heavy footsteps of the killer, and the sounds of everyone getting the hell away on him. On reflex, he rolled to the side, and as he suspected he barely dodged an axe that got embedded into the wooden floor of the lumber mill. The brute - whom he somewhat recognized as the sheriff's kid = slammed his foot into the ground, and ripped the axe out of the ground.

At this point, Samson was on his hands and knees, pressed up against the wall. When the brute pulled the axe out of the ground, and swung it at Samson, there was that moment when he couldn't fight anymore. After years of martial arts, it all seemed so damn useless. The only thing that Samson could do was put his hands up, and close his eyes.

At that moment, that fire that Samson could feel building up inside of him ignited. He could feel his sigil branding into his back with flames. His body was engulfed in a yellow flame- no, it was more like a plasma. It was incredibly pure, and energy-like, but one thing was certain... it was hot. Yet, it never burned Samson. It filled him with a strength like no other.

Out of his hands, a cascading whirlwind of flames came out and engulfed the brute in fire aimed upwards. He could hear the loud yells of the brute as the fire singed him, and burned him to crisps. Stopping him mid-swing. Then, the flames cut off as Samson's hands hit the ground. The brute stumbled backwards for a moment, as the fire began to burn him. Samson didn't realize what happened, he stared at his hands, as he wondered if he did that... before realizing this bastard was still looming over him. Whom wasn't stunned for long as he got ready for another swing, but Samson made sure to get up and run off.

Though... the old wood of the lumber mill ignited fairly easily...

---

^@Drag@Savo
Thompson Lumber Mill Inc.

---

Hagan was still too blinded by his rage to pay the third member of their party any real mind. He was about to put this fool in the dirt. When he tried to plead with Hagan, the enraged bruiser whipped his head around towards him.

"Fuck off!" Hagan shouted into Peter's face.

And in that brief moment, Derrick slid out of his grasp, and left Hagan holding hoodie. And in that moment, Hagan reached peak rage as he was about to deck Peter and go after Derrick when people started screaming. Hagan was angry, but the music cutting off like that, followed by screaming... just wasn't alright with Hagan. He quickly moved over to the door he was supposed to be guarding. He saw the crowd of people running away... before he got knocked over by somebody his size desperately trying to get away. Hagan was about to deck him, but he pushed himself back to his feet and caught a good look of the madness that was going on.

And despite his posturing, not even he could keep himself composed in the face of what was happening... some kid had gone completely mad and went on a rampage. Hagan almost fell over as he saw lifeless bodies on the ground... holy shit.

He failed everyone.

---

In what felt like a few seconds, the resumed chorus of partygoers and pulsing music had again been replaced with the shrill cries, screaming and shouting of the crowd as people in the center tried to push their way out through the outer layers - and it was real? Nate brought his hand up once again to check it and for a brief moment felt a pang of relief to see flesh instead of whatever the hell it had been a moment ago.

But something was going on further in the crowd and he didn't particularly want to find out - he spun on his heel, realizing after the fact that he'd knocked Kim on her ass when he'd backed up. She was pawing around on the ground for something - her glasses? A strobing light caused a glimmer to appear on the ground where the glass reflected it and he quickly knelt down, pushing the pair of glasses into her palm.

"Oh, thank you," Kimberly thanked him as she put her glasses on.

"Thank me when we're not about to be lined up for Columbine two-point-oh," he grunted back, offering Kimberly a hand up, which she took without a second thought as the screaming really picked up. What in the world was going on? The bespectacled teen looked around to witness blood. Blood everywhere. It reminded her of the hallucinations she suffered, but it all felt very, very, real.

Fresh crimson spattered across a wall and part of a low-hanging beam, almost luminescent when the strobe beams passed across it. Whatever the fuck was going on, it was close. Nate urgently yanked at Kimberly's wrist, searching for a path in the crowd which didn't lead them further into the crush as they joined over a dozen other party-goers who were desperately trying to push their way out. An elbow caught in the gut here, nearly tripping over someone there, then what felt like a blinding, searing heat erupting from just a few metres away, behind a human wall. Wooden beams and floorboards seemed to crackle and spit as flames licked across them. Fire?

---

... what the fuck?

Upon entering into the mill, some of the area had been lit on fire... smoke was filling the atmosphere, and with bloody murder and the whited eyes of those dead and alive were enough to crack Derick's uncaring bravado, just a smidgen. It was enough to cause him to take a step back, almost willing to go with the tides of people rushing out.

Sucking in a small breath of air once more, he forced himself inside... they had to still be in there, right? A small thought nibbled at him, that maybe they had left, succeeded in getting out of the mill. Derick shoved his way pass another person. The smoke began to grow, shrouding the room with a black missed.

Derick stifled a cough.

The first thoughts were should he inspect the corpses? Derick would of frozen straight on the spot, if not for the constant fumes trying to invade his lungs. He continued to trudge on, giving no two shits about his own welfare.

It was difficult to stay on balance without his walking stick, especially with the semi-rushed, semi-careful jogging he was doing that threatened to cause him to topple over at any second. Whipping his head around, he noticed a couple of corpses piled near what he assumed to be the "punch" table...

Or rather, what was left of the burning pieces of equipment. The fire had raged on near it, the smell of rotting flesh approaching him slowly. Derick wobbled a bit, stifling his reflexes to throw up, gagging what dinner he had as he pressed a hand against his head, looking around.

... at this point, the flames continued to whittle away at the old mill, sputtering and flaring brighter and hotter than before. The smoke had become much more densely packed in this atmosphere, causing the boy to hack and cough just a bit.

"Jordan, Kim," he managed to rasp out, gasping a bit as he stumbled forward, only to be greeted with the sounds of a cacophonous roar emanating from within the compound. This time, he froze.

That guttural growling sound more animalistic - like a bear or mountain lion... but there's no way an animal got in here... the only entrance open was the one he went through... plus.

... the few bodies he saw looked like they had been hacked to pieces, comparable to lumbermen toppling trees.

And they were just as flammable too...

There was a minuscule creaking above Derick. Coming back to his senses, he yelped as he jumped back, plummeting onto his ass as a few pieces of the building crashed down onto where he was previously standing... Jesus fucking Christ...

Catching his breath, the best he could, Derick's whole body trembled. He... he could of been crushed, his meager life snuffed out in an instant. His heart was racing, trembling a bit between the constant struggle to breathe in the thick air of ash, soot, and dread. He didn't even realize that he had fell straight onto a corpse. It was only when Derick felt some sort of sickly warm liquid wash over his hands that he scrambled off, panic surging across his body, a whole slew of curses being uttered.

"Holy fucking shit, this can't be fucking real damnit," he muttered under his breath, trying to regain what little composure he had at the start. Looking at his hand, it was partially soaked with blood; it was drying quickly as he almost shoved himself up, ready to begin his search again.

... if not for the figure he barely made out in the black, ash colored fog.

Derick ducked behind the fiery debris, careful to keep his distance lest he too was incinerated by the growing inferno.

"... Shit man," Derick heard the deep voice of Samson, as he pushed through the smoke. While heat didn't bother him anymore, smoke sure as hell did. He kept marching forward as he looked for an exit out of this madness. He held an arm in front of his face as he marched forward. A piece of burning debris hit the ground to the side of him, and he paused. A spark of yellow flame burst off his being out of surprise, and Samson loudly gasped. He looked at his hands... which were burning with a bright yellow color. "I... I did this... didn't I?" He mused for a moment, before he figured that he'll figure it out later. After running out the building.

... did... did he just hear what he thought he said?

Derick's eyes were widened in disbelief as he saw the guys hands were lit on FUCKING FIRE. His breathing almost picked up, but he forced himself to hold whatever breath he could as the man just ran straight by him, missing the shrinking boy. He thought to himself, wondering if he was hallucinating what he saw on his hands, maybe even heard.

A painful pinch and a gulp of air perished that thought immediately as he began coughing softly to himself.

Once he was out of sight, Derick slowly bumbled around, standing upwards as he struggled to maintain any semblance of balance once more. Pressing a palm against the his temples, he trudged on, needing to know if they were stuck or hadn't made it out... though, those pressing thoughts continued to play through his head, no different than a scratched up record.

"What kind of fucking super hero movie did I just walk into," the man hoarsely mused to himself, pondering on the appearance of the Human Torch 2.0. Once more, he heard that roar. The more he approached it, the less animalistic it sounded. There was something... off, enigmatic, and wrong about it all.

---

---

Clever clever... Now that she had circumvented all the distractions that awaited for her outside her window, Callie's self proclaimed safe room was much less secretive than it was twenty minutes ago. No more relaxing? No problem. Within moments, Callie strided swiftly and silently across the dilapidated floor that seemed willing to collapse her into some dark serial-killery basement at any moment's notice. She could hear the intensely loud music and the party-goers that had somehow managed to drown out the massive speakers into nothing more than white noise. Well, that much gave Callie a clear indication of what to avoid at least. Well, at least for the first minute or so, but when the raucous chants of dozens of kids turned into something more... panicked, Callie halted herself. Screams? And no happy screams— authentic horror movie screams... What the hell happened?

The idiot couldn't help herself. She turned to parade towards the main 'VIP' party area, her steps as silent as they could be. The change of pace wouldn't last, though. The girl cracked the door just in time for someone to be slammed against it, smashing the frame closed once more. The terror that raked through Callie's being as she listened to the bloodcurdling shrieks rhythmically dying out just on the other side of the door alongside a thump... thump... thumping. The weak door started to be smashed from its hinges and it wasn't long before that telltale thumping gave way to a large crack. Callie nearly fell backwards reeling in response to the lumber axe that just pierced the frame inches from her inquisitive eyes. They were inquisitive no more however.

Callie's form twisted like elastic as she scrambled to turn from what lied before her, stumbling into a run. Whatever the hell was going on, she wasn't interested. Hell, she wasn't supposed to be here in the first place. What lied behind her— what could have followed her, she didn't know, but Callie wasn't about to turn around and find out. She crashed her way around the labyrinthine structure, splintering through and clambering over any debris that managed to try and deter her. It wasn't an easy trip rushing through some old mill that was falling apart. It was even more difficult with Callie moving so fast that she never really knew what would lie behind every one of this maze's corners, especially that final bend she rounded...

In her blind flight attempt, Callie found herself smashing halfway into someone as her momentum left her stumbling forward trying to collect herself. Callie ground to a halt, shooting a frantic gaze back towards the girl with bated breath. Jordan..? It looked like Callie wasn't the only one clever enough to get inside, but then again, maybe that was what wasn't clever. "We have to go," was all the girl managed. She looked ready to take off again whether or not Jordan would trail after her. Though, Callie probably didn't realize that Jordan had a bad leg... and she had knocked her over.

After the initial yelp, Jordan was more surprised than angry, or any other emotion. She had quickly picked herself up, and dusted herself off, but felt the stinging pain in her leg because she landed on it the wrong way. She used the walking stick she got from Derick to prop herself up as she faced the girl whom she had encountered earlier... when the party wasn't going crazy. She told her that they "had to go," but the one thing that Jordan replied with was a strained, "Not without my friend." Because she barely knew what in the hell was going on, and she wasn't leaving Kimberly in the thick of it. She couldn't run like Callie could, but sure she could walk fast.

Split decisions always messed with Callie. She wasn't one to be the heroic save everyone type, but she did have empathy... And you know... Normal human compassion. The girl stuttered a moment before finally replying. "We'd better find her quick." Callie internally sighed. Just interjecting herself into a scenario she had nothing to do with. Oh well, this seemed like life or death. She really wasn't expecting an actual adventure when she climbed in that window. Composing herself, Callie stepped forward. It was only now she was realizing the pain that seemed evident in Jordan's movements. "Can you move alright?"

"No worse than I normally do," Jordan answered as she looked back for a moment. "If you're gonna help, come on..."

Callie shook herself a bit, as if coming back into reality. With a step forward, she offered Jordan a shouldered grasp of assistance should she have started to struggle in movement. Sure, Callie wasn't the right woman for this job. She just wasn't built for it, but damn... There's just something about these crazy days that unify people. "No leads as to where she might be, I imagine?" Callie's gaze sifted through the surrounding areas, making sure there was nothing behind them more than once.

"Nope," Jordan said, as she had no way of knowing if Kimberly was in here or not, all she did was continue marching forward with the help of Callie... approaching a door.

As Callie trailed along with Jordan, she sighed deeply. Whatever all this unnecessary nonsense was, they just needed to find Jordan's friend and get out. As much as she wanted to bolt now, something kept her from leaving the poor girl behind. As the two approached the door, Callie offered a swift kick forwards in an attempt to push the door open.

---

"What in the..." Kimberly said as she squinted a bit. Where did all this fire come from...? Kimberly mused to herself as she took a few steps forward. There was blood everywhere - and fire, there was lots of fire. At this point, everyone had mostly cleared the Lumber Mill except for them... and one lone figure that stood in the bask of the fire, turning him into a silhouette of sorts. He turned around, and glanced at the two, and Kimberly immediately realized that there wasn't anything [i]human[/u] about him. At least, not anymore. His hulking figure marched towards the two, and Kimberly wasn't sure if this wasn't another hallucination, or... it felt real. The flames felt real. Everything felt real.

Ohmygodohmygodohmygodhe'scomingrightowardsus! The thoughts rushed through her head as the brute moved faster than what Kimberly thought.

"Fuck-shit-fuck-" Nate's frantic cursing was barely a whisper over the distant cacophony of shouting and hollering. "Hurry up for fuck's sake!" Stumbling forward, he near enough wrenched her arm towards his own mass, then practically shoved her yet again, this time towards the direction of the exit. Oh fuck, dumb idea.

"Hey-" Kimberly tried to shout, nearly tripping, but the brute was practically right on top of them. He reached upwards towards a loose board that had been previously nailed to the wall, now glowing at the tip where the flames had licked at it, then practically tore it away from the wall and swung it towards them in a roundhouse motion like a WWE actor with one of those 'steel chairs', only this had the capacity to maim. Nate, for his overweight mass, managed to throw himself out of the (literal) line of fire, but Kimberly's foot got caught on a loose board which had no doubt been kicked around by the constant mass of people stampeding across it and she ended up falling over.

She loudly screeched on the way down as she wondered how many damn times was she going to fall tonight. She immediately crawled away, gasping as the burning wood singed her along the way, then managed to force herself to her hands and knees in time to see Nate hurl a bottle at the rampaging killer. The thud of glass against skin was inaudible amidst the chaos, but the shrill note of smashed glass managed to escape after it ineffectively thunked off the killer and hit solid ground instead.

Not that it did any good.

Instead of staggering or even crumpling to the floor as hoped, the killer turned his sights from Kimberly to Nate and growled something incoherent, then marched forth. The teen turned to run, but found his path blocked by debris and smouldering wood, desperately weaving in and out of the room as the hulking killer simply barged their way through any obstacles until the distance closed.

They jabbed an arm forwards, grasping at the back of the teen's hoodie and wrenched him towards the ground, kicking over a smouldering table that had stood in their way. Nate sprawled on the floor, disoriented as the hulking killer adjusted the grip on his board so that he clasped it in both hands, raised it up like a hammer at a high striker.

"No no no-"

The killer brought it down and Nate fell silent, the floorboards beneath them audibly cracking at the sheer force of the strike. Disinterested, he didn't even take a moment to admire his 'handiwork', instead turning his sights back towards the girl that had evaded his wrath mere moments ago.

Kimberly was frozen in place... Oh my God Kimberly muttered to herself, almost ignoring the fact that the killer was turning his attention to her. He was dead... she barely knew him, but he was gone. Dead. The first time that Kimberly had ever seen something like this. She was frozen in place as shivers went down her spine, hands were shaking, and she couldn't even choke out a scream. She didn't even notice the symbol of a camera's eye burning into her forehead... the brute lunged for her, hand first, and the only defense that Kimberly had was her legs giving up, and she had fallen over. His hand missed her, and she cried as she ran over. Beginning this game of cat and mouse as the brute ran after her...

In the middle of her sprint, a burning piece of wood fell from the rooftop, and the bespectacled teen barely reacted in time to stop. She could fell the heat of the flames singe her hair somewhat, and felt grateful that she was able to stop in time. However, she felt the man grab her by the back of her neck, and throw her to the ground hard. She gasped as she felt the impact, and looked over her shoulder for a moment as he raised the burning wood over his head...

---

Jordan pushed her way through the door that she had seen, and just hoped it was where she would find Kim.

And boy, she was right in the worst way possible.

She pushed the door open right when Kim was thrown to the town by... a monster? She vaguely recognized him as the Sheriff's little upstart - but, he made such a jump from being a little shit, to... this thing, that Jordan couldn't hardly believe it. Since shit like this should never happen. It was shit that she sees in horror movies.

This was no movie.

Jordan wished that it was a dream, a prank, as the sheriff's bastard loomed over the only friend that she had in this madness. He raised the piece of wood - not the most intimidating weapon, but with the strength he wielded, it was definitely... lethal - over his head. Jordan tried running forward in some vain attempt to save her, but she only fell over when she fell to her hands and knees. She put her hand out, loudly screaming, "No!"

And the moment the sound escaped her lips, it happened.

A wave escaped her... it was beyond all understanding. It was a wave of inverted colors that overcame everything, and it was followed by everything stopping. A perfect stasis. The flames stopped, a piece of collapsing ceiling floated in air, and most importantly, the sheriff's child had paused mid swing... but, Jordan could move just fine. She looked at her hand for a moment, and waved.

Kimberly screamed, but she was still alive. It stopped, and she stared right at it. She had shivered in fear for a moment, as she wondered if she was dead. But, it was a miracle. She turned her head, and looked towards Jordan, who looked completely and utterly surprised.

"Kim! Move!" Jordan shouted at Kimberley, in case this wouldn't last long, and Kimberly was thrusted back into the real world. She gasped as she rolled to the side, and at that moment, time resumed. The piece of wood hit the ground, and shattered on impact. Kimberly panted, as her respite came to an end.

---

What the fuck?

Colour had bled from his vision, leaving a mass of light and dark patches which encompassed the space around him, a blinding white where the flames licked at their surroundings and figures enshrouded in a void, stood solemn where bodies had been slumped moments before.

He tried to find some measure of promise in the ground, pressing a palm down into the floorboards to stand, only to feel his entire mass lurch inwards as his arm sank into the ground, up to the elbow. Mouthing a silent yelp, he stopped for a moment, tried to calm himself down, then pulled back upwards, as though it were passing through water.

Was he dead? A ghost?

No.

The bright masses of light - the flames, he realised - seemed to swell with each passing second, the heat that rippled off them licking at wherever his skin wasn't covered by clothes. Pain and discomfort from that reminded him that he was still alive and breathing, though it was getting harder to do so by the minute as the smoke closed in. But his hand had just sunken into the floor and a part of him felt as though he could've submerged the rest of his mass in it if he'd wanted to. By all rights, Nate knew he should have died when that crazy motherfucker had brought a club down hard enough to shatter the ground under him, but instead he'd only felt a rushing sensation in his gut, like he'd been on a rollercoaster or something.

Why?

Blinking, he couldn't think on it right now - the danger was still here, still right on top of him - this time, he shifted his weight forward, drove a palm into his knee to force himself to stand and found solid ground beneath his feet. The sensation of being adrift in water dissipated and colour seeped back into view, the flickering white now a glowing orange. His path to the exit was obscured now, both by debris and by the searing heat, but he could see a tangle of figures through the smoke and flames, then...

Everything froze, like pausing a scene in a movie. Nate reached out and felt no searing heat from the static orange glow, then pushed forward through to the other side.

"Kim! Move!"

Straight in front of him was the hulking mass-murderer, frozen mid-swing - and in front of him he could see Kim and the other girl from earlier, the one with the fake leg or whatever it was, scrabbling to escape.

Escape now, questions later.

A rasping cough slipped from Nate's throat as he stumbled after them, making a clear detour around the killer and towards the exit.

---

The pair slammed through the door only to see the exact sight they were looking for. Of course, surrounding the poor girl was a blazing inferno that felt ready to engulf the whole of the lumber mill. Callie wouldn't have stopped moving if the massive boy hadn't stood ready to maul Jordan's friend to death. Callie skidded to a halt, about to call out— a sign of warning, a distraction, anything! Something had to work. Jordan collapsed in a similar vain attempt to see use in the inevitable scenario, and that's when Callie knew that hope was beyond gone.

At least, momentarily it was. Callie felt something akin to a sense of vertigo overtake her as something in her vision just seemed to... stop working... The imminent danger seemed entirely diverted. Jordan's friend was safe just out of the range of the giant's strike that was aimed so perfectly seconds before. Callie was frozen for a second in her thoughts, just attempting to comprehend what she had just witnessed. By the time she came to, Jordan, her friend, and her friend's savior after her fall all beelined for what Callie could only assume was an exit, and Callie herself was meanwhile left behind.

Shit. Without a second more of hesitation, Callie stumbled into a rush forward after the three other normal folks. No matter what happened with the girl, Callie wasn't about to stay behind and test her odds with the psycho guy.

On the front of Kimberly and Jordan, the killer was split between two ripe targets. Should he direct his rage towards Kimberly who was getting away, or Jordan, the girl who was just pushing herself to her feet and attempting to flee, and was otherwise defenseless? The killing was so ripe, that the killer got excited... his eyes glowed brighter, and an aura that was seemingly a jet-black smoke manifested. However, before he could resume, he heard a voice... a strange sound that he shouldn't have been able to understand, but he could hear it clearly.

The killer stopped and turned around, deciding to go after Callie instead. Opting out of usage of a weapon, and instead used the best weapon he had on hand; his own two hands.

Once again, Callie ripped her body to a halt as the assailant turned from his previous targets. She was frozen. What the hell was she going to do against this monster? As he tossed aside his weapon, Callie seemed entirely at a loss for ideas, but the realization struck her light pure storybook insight. The girl fumbled, shifting her weight from one side to the other as she turned 180 degrees. Determination lit across her face.

I am not about to die for trying to help a crippled girl. With terror in her eyes as she glanced back, Callie made to rush towards the door from which she came. Hell, anything would be better than the searing room with the psycho. She cared not to close the door, instead choosing to focus solely on forcing her still in shock body to surge on despite any pains. Whether she could outrun the massive guy, Callie didn't know, but with just a hallway in front of her, it would have to suffice for now.

"Calli-" Jordan tried to cry out, but Kimberly had closed the distance between them, and suddenly yanked Jordan off. She tried to protest, but there wasn't much that the two girls could do to save Callie at this point. As much as it sucked, Callie was on her own. They were the few of the last people to leave the building going up in smokes.

The brute pushed his way behind Callie, and upon going through the door-frame, he pushed the door frame down as he decided to follow after Callie. The flames that set the area ablaze illuminated him and his prey as he was quickly closing the distance between himself and his prey. He lunged at her with both hands out, quickly closing the distance as he intended to grab her.

Callie was nothing special. She was just an average girl. What the hell was she thinking trying to save people? There was no way she would ever be able to match the beast in speed, so Callie's mind finally wrangled together a better strategy. If only she'd thought of it sooner. As soon as the girl darted to the side, aiming to ram through a door, her trailing hand felt a hard tug that locked her in the doorway. Inhibited from going further, she looked back, the terror ever present in her eyes mingling with the desperation that awoke in the situation. The pseudo-monster had locked its grip around her arm. Shit. Shit....

She was no hero. She was no warrior, but Callie would be damned before she tried to avert her death by some murderous, demon-possessed classmate. Her free hand wrenched backwards, spiking its knuckles towards those demon eyes that pierced her to the bone. This thing wasn't going to let go naturally. Distraction. That was her tactic. Well, for now at least. She just had to get it off long enough for her to find something useful or an escape route. Hell, if this thing didn't kill her quick, smoke inhalation would surely soon follow. The beast was hit in the face, and while it didn't injure him as much as Callie would have liked, his grip was released slightly.

Time. Time was all she needed. That front of terror finally seemed to hold off. Was it gone? No. Callie was beyond terrified, but what washed over top of the terror was something more... her. For a moment she was calm. She was thoughtful. Callie threw all of her weight back extending her free hand to just barely reach a length of stray wood likely fallen from the crumbling structure. Had she not been filled with adrenaline, she might have noticed the nail-ridden rotten plank spiking into her hand. Perhaps it was a good thing she didn't. In her moment of clarity, Callie fought back. The sharp protrusions of the board arced along Callie's side with another strike aimed to slam across the man's skull. All the while, she ripped her captured arm back in attempt to come loose with the blow. The beast loudly groaned as he released her, stunned for a moment.

Yet a moment was all the faux-warrior needed. Once more, Callie threw her shoulder into the door just adjacent. A familiar window finally gracing her view once more. Callie wouldn't have stopped moving at all had she not tried to keep the blockhead out, but she'd need to clear away the debris before she dove for safety. With a swift kick behind her, she knocked the door shut once more, bee-lining to her safety only meters away.

A few moments later, a young girl exhumed herself from the burning building full force, nearly collapsing and passing out right there in the grass. That was it...

---

The two girls also made their exit from the building... everyone had cleared the area, most likely going anywhere but here, and the two could hear sirens in the distance. They should probably get far away from the building wreckage as they could. They needed to find Derick's car and... Derick! Shit, they forgot about him in the midst of all this madness. Jordan kicked herself in the ass yet again, as she looked back at the burning wreckage. The whole decrepit building was up in smoke, completely immolated by building orange flames. She hoped that bastard went down with it. Kimberly wondered what in the world happened here. As the adrenaline wore off, Kimberly felt sore... so very, very, sore. She could feel all the wounds she received sting.

"What the fuck," Nate broke their distant silence, "Was that?!" Compared to before, he looked even more of a disorganized mess than usual. Sweat, soot and strands of shaggy hair stuck to his forehead and in some areas of clothing were abrasions, tears of dark patches where the heat had seared them.

"Your guess is as good as mine," Kimberly weakly said as she tried (and failed) to ignore the pain. "Horror movies... ugh," She paused for a second. "Horror movies don't suddenly pop out of nowhere."

"... Maybe there's a reason why this area's fenced off," Jordan said. "Let's just get out of here already... my friend, if he's still alive, has a car..."

---

---

Derick's eyes began to well up a bit as he continued to walk within the sea of flames. The whole area was engulfed the deeper and deeper he went, more debris and flame spilling into areas he once could maneuver through. And in the flames, it hid a giant silhouette that lurked behind him. He loomed, completely weaponless, breaking a floorboard with his weight as he approached Derick from behind.

Derick continued to swiftly scan the mill, finding no other traces of life aside from himself. He even gave in to he fearful desires to analyze a few of the corpses to the best of his abilities, but he didn't find anyone that looked like his friends... at least, the ones that weren't charred to a crisp...

Brushing his hair to the side, Derick bent down low, trying to gulp in some fresh... air...

...

Between the raging flames and smoke slurred coughs, Derick was able to make out the sound of something snapping behind him. A chill shot up his spine as his heart began beating harder than ever before... the sound of breaking should of only came from the ceiling at this point. Instinctively, Derick, turned his head around as fast as he could to make sure he wouldn't disorient himself...

... and then he was certain if it wasn't for the fire and the fact that he scrambled back a bit in time to notice a floorboard come down where he was standing just a few minutes ago with a menacing thwack. He would of assumed it was just the mill coming down on him, if not for the giant of a man standing behind him...

Black veins pulsing with putrid bile through them all on what he could see as the hand, and piercing red eyes that were made the more prominent through the ashen fog.

"... what th'fuck?!" Ok, what the fuck did he walk into?! He hacked and coughed a bit more, his eyes streaming with tears as the smoke continued to invade his atmosphere. Yeah, there was no way he was going to be able to stay calm at the moment, not with this monster of a man looming over him!

The best he could do right now was slowly back up and wait for an opening to run past this fucker and get out of here! They were alright, he was certain of it! This bastard didn't get to them, did he?! With every step that Derick took, the psychopath took another step. But much closer. He wasn't letting this prey get away. He lunged, swinging his fist wide as he could

As soon as he saw that arc, he had to make a gamble. Derick swiftly pivoted around where the arm was swinging, the flank of the creature exposed. Derick stumbled a bit, coughing even more as tears blurred his vision. He was ducking low a bit, struggling to maintain his balance... but thankfully, the boy did. Something whiffed over his head, followed by a crack into something else he couldn't bother looking at, followed by a low guttural growl.

He couldn't keep doing this... No, he... he could... come on... come on... come on! Every fiber of his body was straining, his lungs struggling the most as he tried to continue keeping consciousness. He could barely make out the faint sounds of footsteps following behind his sprint. It was rather difficult to pinpoint most of the monsters steps with the roar of the flames looming over him, even more threatening than before.

Derick struggled to discover a way out, the smoke fucking up most of his vision, disabling his sight. Thoughts mingled in his head, ranging from how do I get out of here to how to I kill this fucker... the latter of which was easily answered as he stumbled about.

He managed to make out a corpse clutching a bottle of... some kind of alcohol; tequila or something? Whatever. If this bastard somehow wasn't on fire, he was going to figure out a way to make it on fire!

Shifting and scrambling about, Derick made it to what be believed was the entrance... or rather, what looked to be the entrance... this whole fucking thing was sealed! No matter what he did to try and open it, it just wouldn't budge. He pounded and pounded, the ceiling began to creak above Derick. Much to his chagrin, there was an awful truth he began to realize here.

... that he was going to die in this hellhole.

... but if this was it for it... well, should he just let this steroid piece of shit behind him kill him? The man stood, slack jawed as more tears began welling up, his breathing becoming even more difficult. Derick could barely make out the sound of it approaching. His heart was pounding, his breathing became even more heavier than before.

Slowly, Derick turned around, one hand tightly gripped around the bottle filled with alcohol, and the other one slumped, as if defeated... and through the thickening black mist, he saw those piercing red eyes once again.

He barely made out two arms moving upwards in the darkening smoke, appearing to tightly be gripping on to what he assumed was its weapon. The area around them began to light up more, the fire above them both becoming more prominent than before.

The creature swung, roaring out its eldritch battle cry...

... and Derick booked it, losing the last of his balance as the monster smashed into the door. He was certain he heard a few yelps and people crying out that it was breaking through. As Derick rolled onto the floor, he grunted in pain as he carefully held on to the bottle of alcohol. He heard the boards above them crack and rumble.

This was the only opportunity he had left. On cue, Derick popped the bottle open, and took one quick swig of the alcohol before utilizing the last of his strength to toss it at the monster. The sound of glass crackled around them, causing the monster to bellow in rage as opposed to pain, finally giving up on trying to tear out its weapon that was thoroughly wedged into the door.

As if it was on timing, Derick heard the roof finally give out, crashing onto the monster as some flames slowly engulfed it. Its roars emanated through the vicinity... but honestly, at this point he didn't feel like listening to them anymore. He did all he could, slumping down onto his back, lying amidst the fire and bodies.

So this was it then... he was going to be a corpse too... it was a lot sooner than he anticipated but still. His face was ice cold, slowly melting as he did his best to contrast the fire.

Smoke began bogging his vision as he let his final thoughts take over. Thoughts of his family, their diner, pictures of his two best friends who seemed to always drag him into their shenanigans. Despite the violence waging around him, he was going to do his damndest to have a peaceful death... even if he wasn't prepared for it.

"Later Kim, Jordan..."

And with those final thoughts, two of his eyes began to close... and two others began to open...

---

_@Surtr
Thompson Lumber Mill Inc

---

Rien had been trying to process exactly what was going on – why people were coming out of the building covered in blood. And the smoke smell certainly wasn’t coming from their cigarettes. It wasn’t a good situation. They generally didn’t care about much but they weren’t in a rush to just throw away their life by staying here.

“I’ve gotta agree with that,” Rien just gave a nod, looking just a little bit cheerful than before. They still seemed a lot more relaxed than they should in this kind of situation. “I certainly don’t have a death wish.”

They didn’t know what was happened but they knew if it was the case of someone going crazy they didn’t stand a chance. And safety in number, or something. Though the safest course of action was to probably just hike right out of there. Rien certainly wasn’t planning to stay.

“Yeah, let’s get the hell out of here.” Rien was quick to start going in the direction Claire had been about to head in, expecting the taller girl to follow.

---

---

The look in Hagan's eyes told Peter right off the bat there was about to be some kind of scrap between them, not that Peter would enjoy that but he decided right then and there that chivalry was dead so he'd hit this big roid monkey below the belt immediately, then came a halt to the music and a piercing scream. Rushing right by Peter, Hagan charged back to the entrance to see what was going on, typically screams of terror weren't commonplace at a party and the crew Hagan had been harassing seemed to have dispersed, so Peter figured he might as well follow.

"Dude what's...." There were no words he could formulate to follow up that sentence as Peter came face to face with the devastation inside, he barely even registered the frantic partygoers pushing past him and screaming for help. He'd seen deaths and even bodies on TV sure but to see blood splattered across the wall and dripping slowly onto the floor, seeing the flames dance before his very eyes, that was something else entirely. The second his faculties came back to him Peter then saw Hagan below him, in a heap of despair, it honestly suprised Peter to some degree, he'd figure a guy like Hagan would be the first one to bail, none the less there was someone creating an ever climbing number of homicides in the mill and the two of them were lingering at the entrance in the open.

"HAGAN MAN WE GOTTA GET THE FUCK OUTTA HERE, GET THE FUCK UP!" Peter yelled as he tried to grab Hagan by his arm and pull him back.

"Fuck that man!" Hagan answered. "I.. I gotta - I got friends gettin' slaughtered in there!" He pushed Peter away with his superior strength as he decided to jump into action, and go after this crazy fuck.

"Getting yourself killed isn't gonna help anyone ya fuckin moron!" Peter yelled back as he ran back towards Hagan "We gotta get the fuckin cops and the fire department down here! Now let's go!" He was met with an elbow as Hagan desperately tried to go in there and help him.

Frustration wasn't really the word for it, Peter couldn't exactly save everyone but he wasn't going to leave Hagan to get himself burned alive or cut up by some psycho.

"Dammit! I. Said. MOVE!" grabbing a handful of Hagan's vest and putting a hand on his chest, Peter began running, and in a sudden and incredibly jarring moment Peter and Hagan flew backwards out the door in a speed far too dangerous for a sudden jolt and almost certainly impossible for a regular human to reach.

The speed the two went at didn't last long as they both ungracefully fell in a heap, bouncing painfully on the ground as they did so, Peter rolled uncomfortably onto the hard road a few ways away from the mill, the place was still in sight however, along with the embers of the fire and the screams of those still inside. Pete attempted to get back to his feet and gripped onto his arm.

"F- fuck, what-" he looked down at his arm and saw a strange tribal like tattoo snaking its way around his wrist, he squinted his eyes and peered closer "the fuck..." he whispered painfully to himself.

"What in the fuck just happened!?" Hagan loudly shouted as he picked himself up. He had a few bruises and scrapes, but nothing that really impaired him. What did impair him was the fact that they fucking teleported. Went through warp speed like this was fuckin' Star Trek! It felt like he was dragged off.

Peter stared at him wide eyed, only just now realizing he'd brought a passenger with him. He held out his hands "Man, I swear to god I have no fuckin' idea!" He looked back towards the mill.

"We can... We can worry about this shit later, call the cops or at least call the fire Marshall, there's still people inside!" he added with sudden concern, realizing the situation they were still in.

"I.." Hagan was tempted to go back, but it was far too late. By the time he got there... he saw how foolish he was acting. "Well, get off your ass, Peter, we gotta call somebody!" He snarked.

Almost dumbfounded Peter stared at Hagan and gave a snort of exasperation, he pulled out his phone and began dialing the emergency number. "The fuck are we gonna tell 'em..." he said aloud as he pressed the ringer.

"Tell him that there was a stabbing or something! I don't know!" Hagan said, annoyed as he grasped his face out of shock.

"Good evening sir, please state your emergency" a cheerful voice came over the speaker, immediately cut off by the quickness of Peter's reply.

"We need you to bring a squad car, bring the fire Marshall too, there's... There's been a stabbing, there's people dead or- or dying, I don't know, the old mill is burning and I think there might still be some people trapped in there!" Peter said as if the desperation in his voice would somehow prompt a quicker reply.

"Sir, is this a prank call?"

"DO I SOUND LIKE I'M FUCKING JOKING" He yelled with uncharacteristic anger in his voice.

"Alright sir please remain calm, we're dispatching a car your way now..." And then there was a sudden click, Pete honestly couldn't tell if he'd just been snubbed or not, at least they'd be obligated to check the scene out, but would they deal with the fire in time?

"We...." Peter trailed off as he stared at the destruction of the formerly lively party, "Is there like, a hose or something we can use to try put of the fire? shit man the idiots back in town might not get here fast enough." he said with more than some annoyance in his voice.

"Don't you know where we are?" Hagan asked, "We're past the fence - there's nothing up here except for trees." He said.

"Of course I know where we are!" Peter shout angrily "But, fuck man, there's gotta- there's gotta be SOMETHIN' we can do, that fire's still burning and people are stuck in there with some psychotic murderer!" even saying that out loud made Peter feel like he was in some high stakes drama instead of a usually boring farm town.

At this point Hagan got into Peter's face, and spat out,

"There was something we could do," He started off, "But the universe said no."

"What!?" Peter fired back, matching Hagan's annoyance "Run in and get yourself set on fire or cut in half great plan dumbass! We gotta be smart or else the only people we'll fucking help are the funeral directors! Maybe- Maybe we can try open up some of the exits and get out anyone who's trapped that way?" he added, attempting to force some sense of calmness into this otherwise foreign rage and worry he'd been feeling at present, going overboard wasn't helping any more than Hagan's bravado.

Hagan sighed as he put his hands in his pockets, and turned away. Walking off with an apathetic look on his face... "Forget about it, man." He said. "There's nothing we can do..." He said with a sigh as he walked up the road.

"Hagan!" Peter yelled, for a moment he considered trying to talk him back but he glanced back at the raging inferno inside the mill and frowned. "Fine! Even I know runnin' away from this ain't your style, but hell, you go right on ahead. I'm sure this decision won't haunt you man." He said with a slight air of disappointment.

Hagan will remember this...

Peter began jogging back towards the mill, careful not have a repeat of whatever the fuck cause him and Hagan to fly several feet back from the front door. Even though in his mind Peter felt that forcing open the rest of the exits probably wouldn't do much it still felt a damn sight better than just walking away, but even then he doubted the intelligence behind his plan, the dangers and risks were ridiculously high, despite that however Peter took one more glance back up at the approaching mill.

'It doesn't matter...' he thought to himself as he bottled up any feelings of fear or doubt.

---

Thompson Lumber Mill Inc.

---

Claire needed to jump a ride out of here. The mill was going up in flames, and she was hauling ass for the furthest part away of from. Everyone had already abandoned the place - hopefully. Claire hoped that somebody got out of this in one piece. She kept running until she heard a massive crash as the lumber mill came coming down. It finally gave out because of all the flames, Claire looked behind her at the flames, as she saw someone coming out of it. Shit, Claire grit her teeth as she prepared to treat a burn victim...

... but, it was Samson running out of the flames. Not burned a inch, as he horribly coughed and wheezed.

"Samson!" Claire said as she took him in her arms. "Are you okay?"

Samson coughed a bit, "... Not dead, yet." He said with a grin. He fell to his knees as he violently coughed, and Claire knew that he probably suffered from some pretty bad smoke inhalation. She was amazed that he stayed alive in all of that! She knelt down, and said,

"Take deep breaths Sammy," She softly said to him as she held both sides of his face. She heard another crash, before she looked up... to see that psychopath standing in the burning wreckage of the building. In the flames, he was nothing but a barely illuminated silhouette. Staring at Claire and Samson.

"Shit..." Claire said under her breath as she looked up at him. She patted Samson's cheek as she said, "C'mon, Sammy, we gotta go!" She tried to pull him to his feet, as the psychopath stepped out of the wreckage, barely phased by the flames. Samson also tried to push himself up, but it wasn't long before the killer was getting close...

... Then the psychopath turned, and darted off into the woods. Claire was paying attention, and noticed that he was running towards the mountain. It didn't matter where he went, long as it was away from her... Claire sighed in relief.

"Thank God..." Claire trailed off, before she mused, "... Maybe I should start going to church..."

---

---

After the bloodshed, the killer... known as Scott Reese dragged his feet deep into the woods. His transformation seemingly halting as he went through the dark woods. It was one fuck up after another. Scott had failed yet again. On the way, he punched a tree and sent chunks flying. The tree fell over as he walked away, completely uncaring. He had a destination, but he didn't know where. That voice... that eldritch voice was compelling him to go somewhere.

It ended up being in the embrace of the mountain... his very presence drove off any animal that had the smallest amount of self-preservation. They weren't his object, and he was unconcerned with them. He just wanted to know where this voice was leading him.

He approached the mountain, an abandoned mineshaft that was fenced off. Scott approached it, and gave it one firm kick and it went over. He walked into the darkness of the caverns, guided by a strange voice. He didn't need light when there was a power above him guiding him to everywhere he needed to be. Scott walked deeper and deeper into the confines of the cave, spending hours as he went deeper and deeper into the endless caverns. Eventually, Scott hit a dead end.

There was nothing but a large chamber, with only one entrance.

Why did he come here?

What compelled him to come here of all places when there were sooooo many other places Scott could go? However, he stood there, patiently.... until an orange light materialized, and he was mesmerized by it's brilliant glow... it's power. He fell to his knees and knees out of sheer respect. Out of the orange light came strange, black, appendages that seemed to be made out of a black tar that took the shape of bony spider-legs. It was an infinite mass of these appendages that was connected. Some pieces of the limbs were coming out of the other.

These limbs extended forward towards the kneeling Scott, and they grabbed him. Raising him up into the air before the limbs touched him, poking him with their otherworldly embrace. With each point of impact, a ring of orange light surrounded it, and it caused his wounds to heal. But, it caused him to further mutate. His muscles bulged further, cracks in skin that exposed bare flesh... Out of the light, the limbs delivered a metal mask and pushed it against Scott's face. The mask was twisted, covered his entire face, but left his mouth exposed - his teeth being rooted and decayed, and a green bile leaking from the corners of his mouth. Once it was pushed against his face, flesh had grown over it and firmly attached itself to his face. The other gift from this otherworldly being was a weapon. A massive, twisted blade, made out of some kind of metal, but it appeared like an oversized butcher's cleaver. Heavy, mangled, designed to cause the most brutal and bloody wounds possible, it was pushed into his hand.

With that, Scott's transformation was complete. The limbs lowered him to the ground, and quickly retracted into the orange light. He was now armed, healed, and dangerous...

I won't fail you...

Scott thought to himself as he marched through the tunnels back outside. The orange light disappeared.

... Master.

---

Wha-what the hell...?

Claire thought to herself, as she rubbed her eyes. Last time she checked, she was in bed... but, when the girl moved her hands, she realized that she was in a... forest? What the hell, she was supposed to have left that godforsaken forest behind, why...? Claire looked at her hands for a moment, and realized that she was blue. Her hands were transparent as if she was a phantasm.

Okay, I should lay off the drugs...

Claire groaned to herself as she looked around. There was fog in the distance that made it impossible to see past a certain radius. Okay, it was obvious that she was dreaming, but why did it all feel so real? Like... she was here. Ugh, probably nothing. Claire heard small footsteps and chatter, and walked forward after it. Eventually, she caught sight of some lights, and went for that. Claire saw a pair of kids that looked scared out of their minds, holding flashlights as they looked around. One was a young male with darkbrown hair, probably around thirteen, wearing boots, blue jeans, and a white t-shirt. The girl at his side had wavy blonde hair, and wore a summer dress.

It was the middle of night, what were these kids doing? Don't they know there was all sorts of shit out here in the woods that'd love to make them a snack? Claire rolled her eyes as she moved forward with a hand extended, and said, "Hey, are you kids oka-"

Then her hand went through the kid like she was a ghost, and she froze.

Oh boy, Claire dryly thought to herself. I'm dead.

Holy shit. What was going on...? Maybe this was just a dream. A dream that Claire was going to try to wake up from now....

Okay, she was still sleeping. So, Claire tried harder.

"I'm gonna wake up now - shit." Normally Claire could force herself to wake up out of these shitty dreams, but this time was different. She rolled her eyes... looks like ol' Claire's gonna be in la-la land for a little bit, eh. She followed the kids, as she heard a conversation between them.

"... Arrow's not out here," The girl said. "Let's just go home before we get caught."

"No," The boy said, determined as ever. "He's out here, see these tracks." The boy shined the flashlight on the trail of footprints that looked much like it was produced from a dog.

"John," The girl said, "Those could be any tracks, how do you know it's a dog?"

"Have you ever read a nature book, Amy?" John said to his female cohort, very irritated by her. "There's no other animal that could leave a trail like this."

He shook his head, "Arrow!"

"John, will you keep it down?" Amy said, "You don't know what you'll attract."

"Then leave," John said as he walked forward, leaving Amy behind.

"I... can't leave you, you're my best friend," Amy somberly said. "I don't want you to pop up on the news as missing."

Awww, young love, Claire thought to herself, a mixture of bitter and had her spirits genuinely raised. Bitter that she passed the point of experiencing that kind of love. Claire followed behind the kids as they talked.

"... I'll help you find your stupid dog," Amy said. "Just let's hurry up and get out of here." They both nodded as they continued to walk down the trail, with a ghostly follower behind them.

Though, as they continued down the path... the trail of footprints came to an end, and was replaced by a trail of blood. There was blood splatters on the ground as if something was slashed, then the trail as if the same thing was dragged. The two thirteen year olds paused, nearly choking as John prepared for the inevitable. He hoped it wasn't so, he prayed it wasn't. When he raised the flashlight, it landed on the corpse of a german shepard. The two gasped, and John's eyes were full of tears as he looked at the traumatizing sight of his dog, Arrow, devoured by... something. His dog's chest was open, and the blood was still fresh. John didn't know what happened to Arrow, but Amy sure as hell didn't want to find out.

"John... let's go..." Amy trailed off as she grabbed John's arm to pull him back down the pathway they came down. Partly out of pity, and the other part was merely out of fear of whatever was lurking around.

"... Hey, what are you two doing out here?" A third voice spoke up that made the kids jolt, they turned around to see a tall stern man, in a green park rangers uniform. He had his arms crossed over his thin frame, and had an eyebrow raised.

"We were just-" Amy tried to plead, before the park ranger grabbed onto both of them.

"I don't have time for excuses, I'm going to get you two out of here, and right back to your parents." The ranger said as he dragged both of them away. They thought out of the woods, but it felt like they were going deeper.

They ended up at a shack. A "wilderness center" as the sign said... but, this place looked like it wasn't used in literally years. That made a knot form in their guts (and Claire's by extent), and the ranger kicked the door down, and lead the kids into the shack as he closed the door behind them. There was an awkward silence as he closed the door.

"Um... I thought we were leaving?" Amy said. "And you said you were taking us back to our parents? This..."

The girl trailed off, as she looked around, "... This place is abandoned."

Then the park ranger laughed as he finished closing the door, and slowly turned around. Softly saying, "... Why is every kid that wanders through here so gullible?"

The two kids gasped as they caught sight of the man's face cracked, revealing a layer of skin underneath that looked like a predator's jaw. Except made out of a ethereal white light with black symbols. That was when the rest of the man's form cracked to pieces, revealing the beast underneath. Seemingly a ghost-like being that was at least eight feet tall, made out of a white light, and had long limbs, with long, spiny fingers. It had the head of a deer, and it's rib cage was exposed. It looked down at the two children, and without another word... it lunged at John. Slamming the boy to the ground, and immediately feasting on him. Wildly biting his shoulder, and taking huge chunks of flesh out. John loudly screamed, but there was no one to hear him, save for Amy.

Whom was terrified, she immediately pressed her back against the wall as if she was desperately trying to look for an exit, but there was no where else to go. She loudly panted as the beast savagely mauled John, but she was helpless to save him. It was only a matter of time before she was next... Amy loudly screamed, and that was when her abstraction saved both herself and John. When she screamed, it was carried by a massive blue wave that engulfed everything in a blue light, sending it flying away from her. Before it was frozen solid by a sudden wave of cold. It was frozen solid after it hit the ground.

Amy didn't have a single clue what happened, but she was the least bit concerned. She knelt down to John, and realized that he was still alive! Thank goodness! Though, not for long, he was bleeding... He looked a little dead-eyed, too. She pulled John to his feet, and slung him over her shoulder. She was going to get the high hell out of here, she didn't know where. She opened the door, and with John over her shoulder, she made a break for it. Going fast as she could.

Though, she didn't make it far before the man eating fiend broke free of his ice capsule, and roared. He slammed a claw onto the ground as he forced himself to his feet. He quickly ran through the door, breaking it, and made a mad sprint for the two with his hands ready to kill. Amy fell over with John, screaming loudly as it was the end.

His plan hit another snag as a barrier erupted between the two. One that the wendigo crashed into, and groaned as he tried to figure out what just happened. That was when a fireball hit him, and he was sent tumbling over. He did a roll, landing on a knee, as he looked over to the source of the transgression... and his eyes went wide with fear. Three robed figures, each a different color (one was green, one was red, and one was yellow) with symbols all over them. The green robed figure held a medieval styled long-sword, the red one held a staff, and the last had a book... one that had the pages rapidly turn by a seemingly outside force as a intricate series of symbols floated above it.

"Take him out!" The book wielded magician shouted, "I'll keep the kids safe."

His companions nodding, the two immediately rushed the monster. He tried to run away, but symbols appeared in the ground, followed by pillars of fire that stopped him in his track. At this point the sword wielder had closed the distance, and slashed at the beast's leg, and he tumbled over. He quickly pushed himself to his feet as he slashed in retaliation, and that was promptly blocked by the sword with zero effort. It was counted by a quick slash to the chest, and the beast stumbled backwards. It also couldn't handle the barrage of fireballs being pelted on it from the back.

It grabbed the sword wielder, and threw her at the fireball magician like she was a baseball. She yelled as her friend caught her, and let her down gently. Instead, the beast ran attempted to flee. However, it was promptly stopped when a powerful explosion of flames went off in front of it, and forced it to stop and guard it's face. The woman with the sword had recovered, and was right behind it. It roared as it whipped around, and slashed part of her robe, and she was bleeding. But, she was undeterred as she slashed the beast's arm off with one powerful swing, followed by a solid swing that removed everything under the knee. It roared as the woman held her longsword to the beast's head.

It weakly raised a claw, but the woman just said, "Die aberrant." and stabbed the otherworldly creature in the head. Splitting its skull in half, and causing it to fade from existence.

"Floris!" The man in the yellow robe shouted out to her. "Get over here, we need your healing!"

The woman ran over to them... and realized what a shitty state the boy was in. She should had healed him first, instead of fighting the aberrant... but, she could fit this. She held her sword with both hands, and close to herself as she focused. A floating rune appeared on the hilt of the sword. The wounds John received on his shoulder were closed as a green light engulfed them. It took a few moments, but he was instantly healed in no time. But, as the green light faded, something became apparent. On John's chest, there was a symbol of a chariot.

The strangers in the robes looked at each other before they said to each other...

"He's... an awakened."

---

Grand Ridge Academy, Kimberly's dorm.

---

Kimberly arose from her slumber around this time. Briefly rubbing her eyes, she muttered the last words she heard from a particular dream she had...

"... He's awakened?" To nobody but herself, out of some strange compulsion because that dream was a bit weird. Kimberly was quick to climb out of bed after realizing that, in fact, she didn't wake up in a forest, or anything. But, instead, she woke up in her dorm room. It was neat and prim as always, with her posters on the wall, and on her computer desk, she had her camera and all the parts for it. Neatly laid out for her to put it together.

Recently things were a bit... fucked. She couldn't focus in school after seeing all that death and destruction inflicted at the hands of Scott Reese. But, yet, the school just expected her to carry on like it was nothing. The same with her job. It was hard, especially since Kimberly didn't want to leave her room after what happened. She just shook her head, and went over to her computer and started putting back together her camera. For once, she was going to try to go to work today. Or else her mother's going to kill her... God, she hated this town. She sighed for a moment.

Though, in the reflection of the camera's lense, she saw something weird... well, saw it again. The symbol that appeared in the center of her forehead. The camera's eye. It was there for awhile now. She rubbed it, hoping that it'd come off then, but it didn't. She shook her head. Kimberly noticed it the next morning after the massacre... and thought she was going crazy. Her job had a strict policy on no visible tattoos, and she was soooo going to get fired. Her parents were also going to kill her! Yet, not a soul mentioned it. Maybe her defensive measures were successful, and nobody noticed it. Or maybe... it was all in her head.

Like that strange dream.

After she put her camera together, Kimberly walked over to her dresser and pulled out her outfit for today - a sweater, some jeans, and some converse sneakers. She walked out the door towards the community showers - a concept that she found incredibly loathsome. The halls of Grand Ridge Academy were rather dead. As either people were still reeling from the fucked up massacre that took place, or from fear of being next. There were a few other gruesome killings taking place after the massacre. So that meant Scott was still out there.

She found the showers and opened the door, and immediately felt bare feet touch the humid tiles. She sighed as she realized that the showers weren't that packed at this hour. Most of the people were still asleep on a saturday at eight, or were already up. There were a few people who were in here, but Kim paid them little mind. She found herself a stall, and placed her new attire on a bench outside of it. Stepping inside tripped herself of her kitten patterned jammies, and turned on the water. Hot as possible... heh, regardless of how the weather was outside, she always turned the water on. She took the time to thoroughly wash herself off, clean her hair...

Then she stepped out of the stall shower with a towel on, and at the corner of her eye, she saw a familiar sight. Jordan Nichols. Drying herself off, baring it all in the bare view of everyone here. Kimberly felt a little embarrassed, looking at her friend like that, but she caught a quick glimpse at Jordan's back. She saw a large tattoo of an hourglass on her back? Weird. Last time she checked, Jordan didn't have any tattoos like that.

While Jordan was pulling up her underwear, she felt someone gawk at her, and saw Kimberly - and she wasn't even worried anymore. She nodded her head, and kept putting her clothes on, as Kimberly did the same. Once the two girls got dressed, then they felt it appropriate to engage in conversation.

"Hey, Jordan, where are you off to?" Kimberly asked Jordan as they walked alongside each other, she had to slow her pace in order to avoid walking away from the girl, but they managed to hold a conversation.

"I don't know, I'm just chillin'..." Jordan replied with a smile as she made small talk. "I was supposed to have classes, but my professor's daughter was killed in the... you know..."

"Yeah..." Kimberly said as they conversation went dead for a moment, before she decided to ask about the tattoo. "So, Jordan..."

"Hm?"

"When did you get that on your back?" Kimberly asked.

"Get what?"

"The hour glass?"

"Girl..." Jordan trailed off for a moment, "You checkin' me out?" She stopped, putting a hand on her hip as she gave Kimberly an inquisitive look.

Immediately, Kimberly's face went red as she stammered out, "No-nonononono! I just caught a glimpse of you, and saw that." Kimberly said, "I wasn't checking you out."

Jordan forced out a chuckle... before she said, "I'm... not sure myself." She said convincingly to Kimberly. "I didn't notice it for a few days, but I saw it on my back one day in the mirror... I thought I... I don't know, but when I went to get it removed, guess what? She said she didn't see anything."

Kimberly raised an eyebrow.

"... But, you can see it, right?" Jordan asked.

"Y-yeah," Kimberly said. "I see it clearly."

It was weird, and the conversation went dead, before Jordan said, "Are you workin' today?"

"Y-yeah," Kimberly answered.

"Let's go," Jordan replied, "I need somewhere to hang out..."

Before she squinted at Kimberly, before her eyes went wide when she realized something. She kept her mouth shut about it... but Kimberly definitely noticed it. She just chose to do the same, and remain quiet as the two walked out of Grand Ridge, to the Sucre Cafe.

---

A few minutes later, and Kimberly was there. Dressed in her uniform... which just consisted of the clothes she was wearing, but with a red apron that had SUCRE written on the front. She attended the front counter, with a smile on her face. As she greeted a guest, and took his order, Kimberly looked over at Jordan, whom was sitting down at a table with a coffee in hand, drinking out of it.

Business was good today, and there was plenty of opportunity for fun!

---

Rosewood Meadows, Market Square.

---

Rosewood Meadows, a place that Samson occasionally spent time in when he needed to cool off a bit.

Though, recently, he had been spending a lot more time here as of late. One part because he needed some fresh air, and the other part because he was training this weird ass superpower of his. He didn't know what had happened... he just went from being near death, to engulfing that Scott bastard in flames. He sat down on the bench, with a hand in the air. At will, it was engulfed in flames, a white flame that shimmered against his hands. Engulfing it in a white light, that nobody seemed to be able to notice. A woman walked by in a baby stroller, and didn't even bat an eye. Samson wondered what the fire could do... from his earlier tests, it didn't burn.

How do I replicate that burning effect? Samson thought to himself as he made the flame just a biiiit more intense. He stared at it for a moment, before he looked to the woman and her child. He wouldn't do that... especially since he doesn't know what it could do. He didn't want to hurt her.

"... Hey, what are you gawking at?" Samson nearly cringed upon hearing the voice of Hagan Rosefey. Or Rosefag, as many would say. Though, there was a level of Hagan that nobody else could see. Samson could see the boy's aura, and the fire that was inside him... it was weird how he could read it. It was a small flame that kept burning itself out, or... if he thought the fire was what he thought it represented - rage, hatred - it was directed at himself. So he essentially got the power to see the obvious. "Was there something on your hand?" He sarcastically said.

With another roll of his eyes, Samson dispelled the flames as he bit, "Not currently, but it's going to be covered in your blood after I clock ya'." Samson answered as he stood up, and stared Hagan square in the eye.

"Oh, you wanna talk tough now, Sammy?" Hagan puffed out his chest, and Samson could feel his anger rising, "I'm gonna meet the challenge."

Though, an idea appeared in Samson's head; Hagan was the perfect test dummy... if it didn't kill him, or horrifically burn him alive. Was he willing to take the risk? Hagan continued to mouth off, and Samson rolled his eyes. Yeah, he definitely was. He summoned the flames which exploded in his hands, and then he jabbed his hand forward, and hit Hagan with an open palm. The fire faded, as Hagan grabbed his head. Samson heard the fire crackle as if it was burning something... but, there wasn't a single burn on Hagan.

He saw his aura dim a bit as his anger faded, but so did other things. Hagan quickly forgot what was going on, and why he was angry... until he couldn't feel angry anymore. As he had the memories that made him furious burnt away, Samson let go of him, and took a step back.

"The fuck?" Hagan asked, "What am I doing here?"

Samson smirked as he said, "Shit, Hagan, you hungover?" He asked as he wiped off a corner of his mouth.

"Nah, I'm good..." Hagan grabbed both corners of his head, and sat down. "I... I just need to have a seat..."

So, the flames burn something away. On like a mental level? Weird, he'll have to give this ability some thought and more practice. Though, he realized something... if he wanted to see the effects it had on Hagan, he'd have to stick around. Near him.

He loudly groaned.

"What was that, man?" Hagan asked, probably having his douchey tendencies reduced.

"... Nothing."

"Can I ask you something man?"

"Yeah, sure..."

Hagan took a sigh as he clutched his head, "... I had a weird ass dream last night, one about kids in the woods that run into this monster, and run into another monster then get saved by these three Gandalfs."

"O-oh...?" Samson was completely caught off guard... because he had the same dream last night. He paused, slack jawed as he thought about it - but, ultimately, chose to keep his mouth shut, "... Heh, need the lay off the TV, man." Samson said with a warm smile.

"Yeah..." Hagan trailed off.

"Hey, I'm going to head to the Sucre and get something, want something?" Samson asked.

"Yeah, sure." Hagan replied.

"Be right back," Samson said... if he's going to sit through this, he's going to need a nice, warm, cup of coffee. One for Hagan, too. Though, he should keep Hagan's name out of his mouth, or else the baristas might piss in it...

... Samson swore he heard screaming. Like very distantly... it was so faint, that he didn't even know if it was screaming. He paused for a moment. Farmer Hill wasn't New York or Los Angeles... when there was screaming, it had to be for real.

Claire suddenly rose awake, thrusted awake by that weird ass dream of hers.

For the last few days, she was having dreams related to that bloodbath that took place at the lumber mill, but now... that was a whole different experience. Almost like it was something that happened. Claire was probably reading a bit too much into a dream, but it felt like a recollection of some sort. Ugh, it was probably just something that Claire should just forget about. Rubbing her eyes, the girl looked around her messy room with clothes draped around because Claire couldn't bother to put them where they belong - not now, of all times. Her room had white wallpaper, which was hard to notice given all the various posters Claire had draped around. She shook her head as she climbed out of bed...

... and into some comfortable bunny slippers.

That she would be embarrassed to be seen in, but at her grandparents house, she couldn't care less. She'd also be embarassed to be seen in her underwear, but it wasn't like anyone can see through walls and stuff. She shook her head as she grabbed her phone and went straight out the bedroom door. She stepped into the kitchen, where her grandmother - a kind old lady in her sixties, with greying hair, was preparing food. Which Claire could tell was bacon, pancakes, and etc.

Which told Claire that she was awake too damn early.

"Hello, Clairey," Riley said in an accented voice.

"Grandma, I'm not ten anymore..." Claire said as she slumped down on the dining room table. She sighed, as she looked to her left, and saw the television. The headline being TOWN REELING AFTER MASSACRE. A reporter chick from the city prattled on about how the massacre was a tragedy, how people across the states are praying for the lost, and how the police are on the hunt for the killer. Bah! It was just a reporter chick hamming it up for the ratings, and to Claire, she was background noise.

And when one press of this shitty TV that was bought in the nineties, she wasn't even noise. Claire rolled her eyes... many of her friends were killed in that incident, and yet they haven't even found the bastard yet. Probably papa sheriff helping his boy escape punishment again. Claire found it real hard to care at this point. Though, the only thing she could care about was the fact that he was still out there, and there have been a few more deaths in town...

Now, Claire wasn't no vigilante, but if the authority won't bring Scott down, then it lies on people like her. Her thoughts were interrupted when her phone buzzed, and she was curious as to who in the hell was texting her at nine in the morning? Someone's gonna get a boot up their ass... Claire thought to herself as she flipped her phone open, and unlocked it.



Oh, what a pleasant surprise... she was messaged by Britney Williams, the big bad bitch of Farmer Hill. A rich girl that... was very close to Claire back in the day. They drifted apart, and for good damn reason. Claire didn't want much to do with the Williams girl. Claire kept her number only out of some vague sense of nostalgia (and if she needed to bum money off her).

Claire typed out an exasperated reply.





"Oh... now you're playing hard ball," Claire immediately knew that something was up. Part of Claire wanted to (politely) tell Britney to fuck off, but if she's willing to drop her debt, then it must be serious. While Claire didn't want to, she didn't want to owe a debt to the Britney gal. Especially since she never liked being in debt to someone (especially when she blew the money on weed). She nodded as she replied.

From: Brit
Oh, I will. Just keep YOUR end of the bargain, and get here.

Claire didn't respond, and figured that she should finish eating, and get dressed. Before, Claire wondered something...

"Grandma, where did Grandpa go?" She asked, with a raised eyebrow.

"I'll stop calling you Clairey if you stop calling me Grandma, Clairey... it makes me feel old," Her grandmother said as she sauntered over, and put a plate of food directly at Claire's place on the table. It included pancakes, bacon, and scrambled eggs. Claire prepared to dig in, but her grandmother answered, "If you must know, Connor went to the store to pick up some groceries...."

She trailed off, and Claire mentally swore. That meant that her method of transportation was gone. She shook her head, and realized how horrible the prospect of walking from one end of Farmer Hill to the other, in order to get to Market Square. She thought about it, before a lightbulb turned on in her head. She flipped her phone over, and went to Dex in her contacts (Or as she had nicknamed him "The Virgin Dex").

Dex was a swell dude, was of her few friends in this madness, but she couldn't get the feeling that he was just nice to get in her pants. At least he's not so damn direct. Claire thought to herself, as she went to send him a text message.

To: The Virgin Dex
yo dexter, i need a favor

---

Meanwhile...

---

Dexter's life was a little less complicated at this very moment. He was going through the motions of his daily morning routine, which begun and ended with him practicing his little flashing ability. It had become somewhat of a daily ritual, and he had really thought he was starting to get a handle on his new party trick. Today was different though. He had been training himself to trigger his flash by snapping his fingers, but he just couldn't do it this morning. After that incredibly... gruesom dream. Every time he snapped, it would fizzle, almost like he was striking a flint, and eventually it stopped doing anything at all. Once his fingers started to hurt, he decided to give it a rest and just go about his daily routine. He had flipped the light switch in his bathroom on, and had gotten through brushing his teeth when he decided to snap again.

The lightbulbs went out.

Dexter furrowed his brow and fiddled with the light switch, which would turn on for a split second and then turn off again. He thought again for a moment and realized, it must be the fuse box in the basement. He snapped his fingers in realization, and his little party trick decided it wanted to work again.

So now, Dexter was currently in the bathroom, on the ground, in the dark. His hands were holding his eyes and generally, he was not having a good time. He spent a few minutes groaning on the floor, attempting to bring his vision back at least somewhat. He phone, which was on his bed, buzzed. and stumbled to his feet and out of the dark bathroom. He blinked rapidly in an attempt to bring his now fuzzy vision back into focus, and stumbled over to his phone.

From: Confused Penis
yo dexter, i need a favor

He had received a text from Claire O'Sullivan? He hadn't heard from her for a hot minute.

Dexter and Claire became friends long before Claire earned the reputation she had today, and maintained a friendship because, well, Dexter just wasn't a dick like Hagan or others who wouldn't be named. They didn't have many classes together, but they had shared electives, and their adult friendship began because when he offered her pencils, he didn't complain when they were returned a little chewed up. Things just kinda cruised from there. They didn't talk often, but she kept Hagan off his ass at parties and he helped her out with classes when she needed it. He hadn't heard much from her since school ended. He blinked another few times and rubbed the palm, of his hand, creating a dull glow in the palm of his hand. This was a new trick he had begun to practice. He messaged her back.

To: Confused Penis
How can I help?

It wasn't much longer before he received his reply.

From: Confused Penis
can u drive me to the sucre?

To: Confused Penis
Yeah sure, what time?[

From: Confused Penis
how soon can you, dex?

Dexter looked away from his phone and to his watch, because he was trying to train himself out of relying on his phone for literally everything. He squinted his eyes in an attempt to discern the small lines with his still somewhat blurry vision. It was, what 8:35ish? Most people their age wouldn't be awake yet. He had an excuse with his flight training to be an early bird, so she was the oddball.

To: Confused Penis
8:45? Why are you up so early lol

It was a minute before Claire replied.

From: Confused Penis
having problems goin to sleep

Dexter knew Claire well enough to not question any further. If she wanted to tell him, she would.

From: Confused Penis
Okay, see you soon!

Dexter continued his daily routine, spare of any flashes, and left his house at 8:40. It didn’t take long for Dexter to drive across town. While he didn’t frequent these older and slghtly more sketchy areas, he was familiar enough with it’s layout to navigate to Claire’s house without the use of google maps.

When he pulled up in front of Claire’s residence he shot her a text to let her know he was there, and then snapchatted a picture of his steering wheel with the caption of “Eat my entire ass”. While waiting, he decided to practice his snapping ability some more. With sunglasses on, of course.

---

When Dex had said yes, Claire immediately took one last bite of her pancakes, before she got up. If she's fast enough, she'll get done getting ready. She wondered if she should ask Dexter about that dream she had... but, he'd probably think she's crazy. Or maybe she was crazy. She read somewhere that dreams reflect the subconscious - and an adventure where kids get attacked by monsters in the woods doesn't reflect that well on it, now does it? The girl made it back to her room, and decided to omit a shower... because she intended on going the hell home after hearing what nonsense that Britney had to say. She smelled her armpit for a moment, before just spraying herself with some perfume to drown out the smell. She quickly threw on some old torn up jeans, a tank top, a brown jacket she had, and heavy combat boots. She quickly returned to the table...

... only for her phone to buzz.

She sighed to herself for a moment as she just knew that Dex was here. Just to make sure, she turned on the phone and the notification appeared right on her screen. In a fit of desperation, Claire shoved as much food as she could into her mouth, before she quickly got up and said, "Alright, Grandma, I need to be somewhere... can you wrap that up for me?" She asked.

Her grandmother shot her a worried look, before she said, "... Be careful, Claire."

"Yeah... I will..." Claire said as she walked out the door and saw his gay little Masda Miata...well, it was better than her grandfather's pickup truck from the goddamn nineties, but Dex drove a car that stuck out in the rugged Farmer Hill. Not that she was complaining - he was her only option (other than walking for an hour). She walked over to the car, leaned over, waving to Dex as she opened the door. "Dexter! Thank you so much for this," Claire said as she climbed in.

Dexter raised his eyebrows. Normally people, and by people he ment Ryu, just vaulted into the car since he drove with the top down most of the time. Opening the door like a normal human being was a nice change of pace.

“Oh, yeah. No problem dude. Good morning, by the way. Sleep okay?” He said, forgetting her text from earlier. He shifted gears and began pulling away from her house.

Claire sighed for a moment, not realizing that he forgot. She interpreted it as he wasn't going to drop it until he got a straight answer. Though, he felt a bit more comfortable around him because at least he didn't treat her as one big piece of fuckmeat. "I'll be straight with ya' here, Dex," Claire said, "It's been going badly."

She rolled her eyes, "Been havin' some weird ass dreams lately, but they felt a little different from dreams... dunno."

Dexter rubbed the side of his head with his free hands and shifted gears again. "I know how you feel. I dreamt about some people fighting a monster last night. Was like something out of an RPG. Some chick had a sword and everything." He sounded much less concerned than she felt about it, but then again there had been some weird shit happening in this town as of late.

Claire's eyes went wide for a moment... as she stopped in her tracks. "I..." Claire trailed off. "No... I..." She was at a complete loss for words, before she just stopped dicking around the question, and just came out with it. "... I had a dream just like that. It started with the two kids, right?"

"Yeah! Looking for their dog that..." Dexter trailed off, motioning with his hand as if he really didn't want to talk about the animal's fate. "Got taken by a guy who..." He trailed off again, realizing by Claire's face that she knew exactly what he was talking about. He waited for her to fill in the blank, just in case he was insane or if she was just playing him for a fool.

"... turned into some deer thing?"

"That's certainly the lightest way to put it."

"Okay, okay, okay," Claire said putting her hands up, "Before we jump the gun here, let's remember that people don't have the same dreams..." She tried to deny it. "It's... just a coincidence, something, I don't know. There's gotta be a reasonable explanation for this."

Dexter stopped the car and handed her his sunglasses. "Put these on. When I snap my fingers, whatever you do, don't look directly at my hand."

"Ummmm...." Claire raised an eyebrow as she stared at him, then the sunglasses.

"Just do it."

She shrugged. "Okay." She put on the sunglasses, and then (sarcastically) said, "These are cool shades, if I might say-"

"I actually really appreciate that." Dexter said, being genuine. He turned his head and snapped his fingers, and on command his hand created a flash of impossibly bright light. He did it a few times, and then spoke again, "I don't think this is coincidence. This started at the party a few days ago. Ryu and I and the girl we helped had something... happen to us."

Claire's jaw dropped as she was amazed... but, then she shook her head and said, "No, no... don't give me that shit. This X-Men shit ain't real, how in the world did you do that?"

Dexter shoved his hand in her face, this time emitting a dull glow that illuminated from within his hand. The bones in his hand were the only parts not producing light, contrasting against the light. "I don't know! It just started! I've turned into a fucking lightbulb!" He yelled. He stopped and held the glow for a moment, then stopped and pulled his hand away. "Sorry, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you."

"It's... alright," Claire said. "I'm just trying to figure out what the fuck is going on in this town." She answered.

"First someone grabs an axe and goes on a rampage, and now you're fuckin'..." Claire trailed off as she stared at Dexter's hand. "... Superdex."

God, I'm corny as fuck.

"I personally would've gone with DEXterous but if we're talking superhero names I'm all for suggestions. As long as I dont have to wear spanDEX" he said, giving her a smile. He put the car in gear again and pulled off. They were almost at the cafe at this point.

"Please Dex..." Claire trailed off... suddenly, that surprise and disbelief was replaced with intrigue. She didn't know what she was going to do for the rest of the day, but now she's found something. "Okay, I think we need to figure this out. You may be the only one capab..." She trailed off as she remembered something that Dexter said.

"... you said two other people have powers like this?" Claire asked.

"Yeah uh..." Dexter trailed off. "Ryu and I went back into the lumber mill to try and help others out. I can create light. Ryu was able to create a... black hole or something. The girl we helped out healed her broken leg in minutes." He said. He was focusing on the road, because he didn't want to see Claire's face. She probably thought he hung out with a bunch of freaks at this point.

"It was kinda metal. I hit the sheriff's son with a shovel. Almost died."

So, there's more... Claire thought to herself, as she looked at Dexter. She didn't know if this was truth or not. Still... Dexter had no reason to lie, and he just turned into a fuckin' lightbulb. She knew of Ryu, but she definitely didn't want to interact with him at the moment. At least, not after what happened. They were on good terms, but she avoided him.

"So you're light, and he's darkness?" Claire playfully said.

"I mean, I'm comfortable enough to say that we're the straightest gay couple in existence." Dexter said, shrugging. "He's my best friend, it's almost fitting."

"But," Claire said, "I'll have to talk to you about this a bit more after I'm done at the Sucre... but, not one word. To anyone." She said. "Next thing we know, you'll be wearing a hospital gown with scientists putting tubes into you."

Dexter smiled, and elbowed her lightly. "You're the first person I've told who isn't... y'know, themselves." he explained. "Mom always said I have good intuition on who to trust, so I'm trusting you."

"I... I'm touched you'd tell me that," Claire said... it was a good thing that she told him about the dream. Because in this town, everyone thought that she was a slut, or something else nasty... but, Dex? He thought of her as a person.

At this point, Dexter pulled into a parking spot just in front of the Sucre. He said something under his breath about 'rockstar parking' and touched the outline of a thin silver chain necklace under his shirt, which was his dad's at one point. He stepped out of the car and walked around, opening the car door for Claire in an over-the-top manner. "Your coffee and breakfast pastries await, madame." he said, bowing with the arm that wasnt holding the door extended in the direction of the cafe.

Claire smiled, "Why thank you kind gentleman." She said. "Do you want something while we're here? I got a few bucks, and you did just drive me halfway across town."

Dexter waived it off. "Thank you, but it's all good. It's what friends are for."

Claire shrugged as she walked on to the cafe, "Yeah, Dex," Claire said as she looked back with her hands in her pockets, "See you 'round."

Dexter enjoyed the view as she left but didn't make a scene about it, he simply leaned up against his car to do his daily snap-streaks. It was a nice day, might as well enjoy the weather out here in the parking lot. Plus, he knew Claire was probably going to need a ride elsewhere. He wasn't much of a coffee person anyway. He swiped to his messages app and shot a text to Ryu.

To: Lord Thunder Cunt
Skidaddle skidoodle your dick is now a noodle

---

@Grim

---

Cafe Sucre.

---

Taking the first few steps, Claire noticed Britney in the flesh. The African-American girl was wearing a flowing white double-cross dress, with sunglasses, and a matching white hat. Hm. Stylish, Claire will give her that. She sat down at the table, ungracefully flopping down in the chair, and crossing her legs. Eliciting nothing but a smile from Britney.

"Claire, how have you been?" Britney asked with a smile so dumb and forced that Claire was about to sock it off her face.

"Shitty," Claire replied with a cheeky grin that made the prim Britney tense up a bit. "How's about yourself, Brit? Did your daddy buy you a hummer made out of gold yet?"

"Really funny..." Britney rolled her eyes as she looked at Claire and sighed, "But, can you just be formal for once in your life?"

Claire also rolled her eyes as she decided to end this bullshit masquerade. She leaned in aggressively glaring down Britney. "How about we cut the formalities?" Claire spat out. "You called me out here for a reason, Brit. So, please tell me that I didn't walk all the way here so we can ask each other how our days are going..." Claire leaned back in her chair, and put her boots on the table.

"That's very rude of-" Britney tried to protest with Claire.

"Don't care, sweetheart."

Britney sighed as she realized that she wasn't going to get anywhere like this. She wondered what had Claire in such a rush. What? The next bed to jump into, or the next joint to roll. Britney was going to cut to the point. Like Claire wanted. With another sigh, Britney gave in, and asked, "Do you want to grab a coffee before I start? It's on me, I told Kimberly."

Claire thought about it for a moment, before she said, "... After."

"Good, then let me start," Britney reached into her purse, and pulled out a photograph of an African-American girl with brown hair tied into Afro-puffs, and vaguely Indian facial features which hinted to Claire that she was mixed. Mostly her nose. She had on glasses, and a nose piercing. After examining her, Claire looked up... she had absolutely no idea who this girl was.

"... That's my cousin, Cindy." Britney answered. "She arrived here a few days ago with her dad... just to visit, but then she went missing..."

Claire leaned back, intrigued.

"I was wondering if you by chance... seen her." Claire could hear in the sorrow in her voice, but she could only sigh and answer with a no.

"No... sorry, I haven't." Claire answered flatly. "I've even seen a girl that looks like her before."

Britney sighed in response, "That's the problem, she's an outsider in this town..." She simply trailed off and decided to pitch her little mission to Claire, "Look, Claire... can I ask for your help finding her, then?" Britney suggested.

"What's in it for me?" Claire asked, crossing her arms. "Why don't you just ask the police for help?"

"Because they're..." Britney nearly snapped at Claire, before she slowed down and responded. "Okay, Claire, I did the research; do you want to know something about our little town?"

Claire snorted as she anticipated Brit being condescending towards her yet again, she leaned forward and put a hand on her jaw while resting her elbow on the table, "Well, enlighten me, Brit."

"There's an awful lot of unsolved mysteries here in Farmer Hill," Britney said, shaking her head, "Like, Farmer Hill has the highest amount of disappearances, and unexplained murders in Montana - and you want to know why?"

"Why?" Claire asked to keep her going.

"Because nobody gives a damn, the police just either give up after a week, or they just pin the crime on somebody else," Britney bitterly said. "And... we're just a small town in the middle of nowhere - Farmer Hill isn't even on some maps."

Hmmmm... Claire always did find it a bit suspicious how a lot of people just suddenly moved out of Farmer Hill, or just disappeared. Including a few of Claire's childhood friends...who just... disappeared. Claire shook her head. She knew just what Brit's drift was.

"... And lemme guess, you want to take matters into your own hands?" Claire bitterly said.

"Yes."

"... Well, ya' still didn't answer my first question."

"Well, just for coming here, your debt to me has been cleared," Britney said, before sighing with a roll of her eyes, "But, I'll offer you more money, no strings attached - it's yours - if you find her with my help."

Claire carefully considered it for a moment, before she replied,

"I'll do it," Claire started off, but before she could reply. "... Free of charge."

"Really?" Britney said. "Money's not an issue for me."

"You can't put a price on kindness," Claire answered. Besides... not having to pay you back five-hundred I can't pull out my ass is payment enough. Claire thought about it. And... this could lead into the grand mystery of why there's people with superpowers.

"Thank you." Britney said.

"I may have some other people who could help us," Claire answered.

"Like who."

Claire grinned.

"A lovable bunch of idiots," Claire laughed as Britney's face contorted with worry. Which was what prompted Claire to end the discussion, and go find Dexter. "Let me go consult them now." She said as she got up, but she was stopped by Britney.

"Wait, before you go..." Britney made Claire halt in her tracks, and she raised an eyebrow as she looked at the girl. Awaiting to hear what she had to say, "Have you noticed anything weird going on in Farmer Hill lately?" Britney asked Claire. "Like, things that shouldn't even be natural."

Claire raised her eyebrow for a moment, before she opened her mouth to say something - before stopping herself. "... Besides an entitled fuck becoming a veiny serial killer; no." She said, and Britney nodded her head.

Claire wondered if she knew something about these powers. She wanted to press on, but she should definitely consult Dexter first.

---

Oh shit, oh shit, oh God!

Greg desperately panted as he ran through the woods of the part, leaking red as he ran desperately.

One minute he was exploring Farmer Hill, and then it came. He didn't know what in the world it was, it was a twisted figure of a man warped into a hideous beast. Wielding a blade. He took one slash, before running for it. His vision was getting blurry, but he was going to make it. He had to. Greg chanted to himself as he hoped that adrenaline would keep him conscious. Though, too much of his life was leaking out onto the grass, and he heard the footsteps behind him picking up.

He felt something slash him, and brutally cut through the flesh and bones of his back. Nearly detaching a limb from his shoulder with the amount of force that was applied. He fell forward, desperately crying for help as he tried to crawl away - but his misery was promptly ended with Scott brought down his makeshift machete on his skull, and split it in half. Gore was shot in all directions, and Greg's eyeball fell out of his head as Scott pulled his blade away.

Though, Scott didn't move onto the next kill... he lingered for a moment as he examined the boy's corpse. He saw a glowing insignia on his shoulder, and his shin. He slammed a foot onto the corpse's back, and cleanly slashed off his leg, and his arm. He grabbed both of them, and held them in his hand... as the orange light appeared and consumed both of the limbs. Scott walked away into the distance, and a orange portal appeared in front of him, surrounded with the same spider-like legs he seen before. He disappeared as the portal closed, and he left just another body to be found by the authorities.

None of his concern. He got another insignia for his master, and that was all that mattered.

The portal opened up again in an alleyway not too far away from the Cafe Sucre. His master's voice told him that there was a congregation of them nearby, and that there was more coming. Excitement to kill nearly overcame him, but his master's voice told him that it was foolish to go headlong into so many of them. Not without a plan. His master suggested luring them into a trap, and wiping them out one by one.

Scott slid into the shadows, as he heard his master's voice again, and told him that one of them was heading straight for the cafe all by herself.

His master told him to be patient, as more of them were inbound.

The Sucre was in sight, and Samson smiled upon smelling the sweet scent of coffee!

Okay, that was incorrect. He hated the smell of coffee.

He was never a coffee drinker... he drunk it in small amounts so he could wake up sometimes, and that was it. He walked up to the building, and noticed Claire talking with Brit... the town's queen bitch. He kept his distance for good reason. Though, there was something strange that made the teen halt to a stop... he could see through the building. This was something he noticed over time, but people were illuminated to him. Though walls... long as they were within a certain distance, Samson could see them. He could see something inside them, too. A fire. Like Hagan, he thought that it was an anger of sort, as it flared during their confrontation. It felt like Hagan had anger hidden deep down, at himself. Samson briefly glanced at Claire, and the flame inside of her was a bit more intense, not that she was actively angry, but she had a simmering flame that was ready to burn all over.

Samson sighed as he pushed inside. He'd figure out his superpower another time, he walked up to the front counter, and ordered two of the strongest coffees they had. He had them on one of those weird paper tray things (hell if he knew what these were called), and quickly turned around to walk back out. He had to get back to Hagan before that knucklehead wandered off, and continue testing... As he stepped outside, he caught sight of an insanely bright fire. Not matching Claire's, but still angry. Hmm... He wondered if he should investigate. Just out of curiosity, and to figure out how this damn power works. He turned, and sauntered towards the fire, the person who it belonged to was probably not someone he wanted to cross.

They're probably that type who'd explode at him at the slightest provocation, and would tear Samson a new one. That kind of anger boiling inside told Samson nothing...

... It was Dexter.

Samson stopped as he caught sight of the kid. The dude was pretty nice... they talked a few times, but Samson, otherwise, didn't go out of his way to befriend him. He had other things to worry about, and he now realized why. Maybe he could always sense anger in a way, and knew Dexter wasn't what he seemed. Either way, Samson was going to be cordial. Only so he can learn something new. He walked over to Dex, and smiled.

As Samson approached, Dexter looked up from his phone. He had been browsing instagram when something grabbed his attention. It was almost instinctual, but when Dexter caught sight of the one and only Samson Jeross approaching him with a smile, he understood why. Much like Claire, and Ryu, and Madeline, Samson had a thin red hue surrounding his figure. Another person to add to the list. Dexter stuffed his phone into his pocket and extended his hand for Samson to shake.

"Samson! It's been a while! How've you been?" he said, legitimately cheerful. Dexter and Samson hadn't had a whole lot of interaction, but several times in eighth grade Samson had gotten Hagan to leave him be. It wasn't that he wasn't capable of defending himself, rather that he just was more of a pacifist when it came to standing up to physical bullies like Hagan. In the school yard, he always had the soft power over most would be bullies and was left alone as a result, but Samson had the hard power necessary to really chase off people like the infamous Farmer Hill thug. So as one could assume, while Dexter was certainly no suck up, he did what he could stay on Samson's good side when given the opportunity.

"It's been..." Samso. wanted to bring out the bloodbath at the mill, and this new awakening of his, but he kept his mouth shut. "... Great man!" He widely smiled as he grabbed onto Dexter's hand firmly, and then patted him on the shoulder.

"You been stayin' safe out here?" He asked, "Lots of crazy shit going on..."

Dexter shook his hand firmly. He leaned against his car and rubbed his forehead.

"Yeah it's been... well, to see last time something like this happened, I'd probably have to go into the town history books." he commented. He looked Samson up and down and figured that now was as good a time as any to bite the bullet. "How about that dream, huh?"

"... What dream?" Samson leaned back, and gave Dexter an incredulous look. Not like he had no idea what he was talking about, more about being suspicious....

Dexter winced a little. Okay, maybe not everyone had the same dream, but thusfar everyone who had this glow to them had abilities. Was worth a shot. "I know this may sound really weird to you but..." Dexter started off, trying to find the words to continue his sentence. "Ever since the mill, a few people have been experiencing things. I can just... tell who has and who hasn't."

He understood it was a pretty weak explanation, but it was all he had for the time being. At least, not without blowing his cover. He looked to his left and right, as if to check if someone was watching, and very quickly demonstrated the dull glow from within his palm that he was capable of creating. Without another thought, Samson put the coffee tray down, raised his hand, and snapped his fingers. His thumb was alit with a small white flame, casting a white glow on his face. "... Could you, by chance see this...?" Samson asked.

Dexter watched the the fire for a moment and grinned. He had found another one of... whatever they were. "I cant tell what ability you have, I can just... see that you have one. One of my friends creates a black hole. A girl we helped healed her leg really fast. It was..." he trailed off, making a connection between Samson's fire based ability and how the lumber mill caught fire. "You weren't at the lumber mill when.. it happened, were you?"

Samson looked down for a moment, before flatly saying, "... Yeah."

He sighed as he probably attributed to the death count... or the amount of people that had to be hospitalized due to smoke inhalation. "... When that bastard came at me... it just happened..." He put his hands in his pockets, banishing the flames. "... I just see fire coming out of my hands, and burning him to a crisp... I didn't know what happened."

Dexter sighed, and stuffed his hands in his pockets. "I dont know about any of that, but you helped saved all three of our lives. Ryu and I and the girl we helped. I don't want to think about what would've happened if my mom had lost me too. So... thanks, I guess. It made a difference. At least to me."

Samson didn't know what to say. He wasn't even trying, but he somehow saved these people? People he barely knew as is. Yet, he felt inspired that he saved people... even accidentally. "You're welcome." Samson said, but a question crossed his mind. He quickly crossed his arms as he asked, "But, wait," He started off, "You're saying that there's more people out there with these weird...?" He trailed off. He pulled his hands out of his pockets, and materialized the white flames in both of his palms, "... Hell, I don't even want to call them superpowers." He said. "And... not just that..." He turned around, looking back at Claire through the wall. "I can see a fire in people... I thought it was passion, but after running into that roid munchin' asshole... it's anger."

Dexter shifted uncomfortably, but decided that at this point, he was in deep enough that he might as well try making a friend out of it. "I'm not one for god and heaven, but if we hadn't gotten my ability when we did, or Ryu's or Madeline's, we'd probably all be dead. I like to think of them as gifts." Dex crossed his arms and looked at the ground. "Am trying my best to find some silver lining in all of this."

Dexter was quiet for a moment, trying to understand Samson's sensory ability. It was different than his own, but it was still there. He followed Samson's gaze into the cafe and saw that he was looking at Claire, a person who had no glow associated with her. What Samson said made sense, Dexter wasn't stupid, knew that Claire was... upset. He didn't know any details, but people didn't rebel like she did without reason.

"So you can see people who are angry, and you have fire abilities..." Dexter trailed off. "...And I have light based abilities and I can sense others like you and I."

There was a pause between the two of them.

"I know this may sound weird but, do you maybe want to practice sometime? I can bring Ryu and have him show you his... power-thing."

Dexter internally cringed. It felt like he was asking someone on a date.

"... Sounds like you're asking me on a date!" Samson playfully teased.

Dexter visually cringed. God damnit. "Are you able to read minds too because I just thought that same thing."

Samson will remember this.

"Maybe." He said.

"But, that ain't important," Samson was open to training, but he felt that there was something wrong here. People just don't get superpowers when some kid snaps and goes on a axe rampage. "We still have to keep our eyes open... Scott's still out there."

Dexter shifted uneasily at the prospect. "I hit him with a shovel..." he said, giving Samson a shy grin. "At this point I want to be able to hit him with something more effective if he does."

"A bigger shovel?" Samson snarked.

Dexter laughed. Samson was beginning to question why Dexter ran so hot.

"At this point, I think if we're going to find out anymore about this, it'll be by figuring out what we can do. Who knows, maybe we could end up being some small town heros."

"Agreed," Samson said. "Guess you got ol' me on board with your little Avengers Initiative." Samson laughed again.

"But, speaking of figuring out more about powers..." Samson trailed off, as he set his hand on fire again. "I hit Hagan with some of this, and he, for once in his life, stopped acting like such a dick... but it didn't burn him. I'm trying to see what else it does... like, y'know, long term shit?" Dexter was... interested in the prospect of Samson's discovery. His fire didn't burn Hagan? That's new. Dexter looked down to his hand and licked his lips. Now or never. He stuck his hand directly above the fire Samson had created. It was definitely hot, it almost felt like he was sticking a his hand in boiling water like he did when he was seven. But just like Samson said, it didn't burn him. Dexter pulled his hand back. It had only been a few seconds but his hand was red and inflamed, as if someone had stepped on it. While the fire was not like normal fire, it was still not to be messed with. He shook it a few times, swearing under his breath and stuffed his slightly injured hand in his pocket.

"I can..." Dexter began, finding himself at a sudden loss for words. He shook himself, and continued. "I can... can basically flash-bang people, and create light. I, uh, I found out this morning that I can turn off my bathroom light without touching the switch. Dont know how to do that on purpose yet. Ended up flash-banging myself. It was, ah, it was great." Dexter explained. He was stuttering some. "I visit the mountain every evening. These abilities seem to act a little different there." He pulled his hand out of his pocket and shook it again. "That fire of yours is... weird. It felt like sticking my hand in boiling water. I did that when I was younger but I don't remember how long ago."

"The mountain?" Samson asked Dexter. "Like how different?" He was genuinely curious about that. "I'm just trying to figure out why it doesn't burn people anymore? Was it like a one time thing?" Dexter rubbed his head, fighting the sudden onset of a headache. "Uh, yeah. I just... I felt different. It's where I learned how to do this glow thingy." he said, raising his now glowing hands as if to attest to it. He threw his hand in the direction of the mountain, as if to point towards it, and from the tip of his index finger a thin, soundless beam of light fired out. The air around it waved with the heat, and it dissipated after only a few feet. Dexter brought his hand back in front of him. It was daytime, so the flash wouldn't have been very noticeable, but that had still just happened. "Well, that's new." Dex stated, dumbly. "I hope no one saw that."

"Nope," Samson said. "Didn't see a thing, Dex." At this point, Claire came walking up to them with her hands in her pockets, and a incredulous look on her face as she looked at theirs... they looked like a pair of morons. But, right now, she had bigger things to worry about. Like convincing Dex to help Britney... though, she didn't want Samson involved in this. There was a matter she had to discuss between Dexter and herself, but yet she couldn't help but ask.

"Hey, I got a question for you two," Claire said as she reached into her pocket and pulled out the photo of the missing girl. "Have either of you seen this girl?"

Samson looked at the photo for a minute before replying, "Never seen her before in my life," He flatly said, before playfully adding on, "I'd like to, though. She's kind of cute."

Dexter took his phone out, and shot Claire a text.

To: Confused Penis
Samson is like me.

Claire read the text, and looked up at Samson, then nodded at Dexter as she got the point. Dexter looked up from his phone and took a moment to examine the photograph. "That's..." Dexter trailed off, as if his brain was still somewhat slowed for some reason. "That's, uh, that's Britney's cousin, right?"

"Yeah." Claire answered, and Samson crossed his arms. He didn't mess with Britney only because of a few nasty incidents with her, but he listened.

Britney and Dexter had been friends for a little while now. When his dad had gotten into the accident, Britney's family had helped shoulder the financial burden of hospital bills before he passed away. While their family had never requested any form of repayment, Dexter and his mother often had the the William's family over and vise-versa for Thanksgiving. The two had often spent holidays together, and Dexter had become fairly familiar with most of her family. Cindy was missing? Dexter thought back to the lumber mill and winced at the thought. He doubted Cindy would've been there. With all the strange events happening in this town, he couldn't let himself think the worst. "That's Cindy, right? How- how long has she been missing?"

Claire raised an eyebrow as Dexter demonstrated how much he knew. Good. This will go a lot easier than she thought. "According to Brit she went missing a few days ago - which is a bit vague, but I assume like... within the week?" She shrugged as she realized she should had grilled more out of the Williams girl

"But, I think we should look into this," Claire said, "Miss Williams left a little hint that she may know a little more about this little 'new development' than she let on."

"She's in the cafe isn't she?"

"Yeah."

"Should I go in and talk to her?"

"Well..." Claire shrugged. "You'll probably get more answers out of her than I would."

"Wait," Samson halted them before they could go any further. He crossed his arms as he sternly asked, "What are you two talking about?"

"I'm just gonna cut the crap, Sammie," Claire looked at him, before she just bluntly said, "You have a gift like Dexter, and don't worry, hun. Your secret is safe with me."

Samson was taken aback for a moment, but he... trusted Claire. He looked at Dexter, who was doing some stupid gun fingers thing at them both, and decided that he also trusted Dexter. It was good to know he had another ally in all of this. He uncrossed his arms, and asked, "Well," Samson asked. "I trust you... but, next time Dex, please tell me before you tell other people."

Dexter shook his head. "Didn't want to freak you out. Wont happen again."

"But, don't worry about it," Samson replied with a smile. "But, yeah... I think if you can, go talk to her. I need to go back and check on Hagan... who's probably pissed right now." He grabbed his tray of coffee. "I'll keep in touch with both of you... and you two do the same."

Claire nodded her head. Dexter gave him the thumbs up. Though, as Samson walked off, Claire wondered what exactly she should do... there was still a bit about Samson's ability she wanted to know, and on the same note, she wanted to get more information about Britney.

"I'm going with Samson," Claire said to Dexter, "No offense, but I want to get more ground about this power thing, and I think stickin' around the cafe will tip Brit off to something...."

She trailed off as she took a few steps, before she stopped and looked over her shoulder, "Just be careful, Dex."

Dexter nodded, and locked his car and heading towards the cafe. He heard Claire's comment and turned around to walk backwards. He waved. "Always, see you soon, guys."

---

---

“He’s… an awakened.”

With a startled snort, Peter Grey awoke, his eyes snapping open as the daylight dripping through the half closed shutter immediately assaulted his eyes.

Letting out a pained sigh Peter made a halfhearted attempt to sit up as he took note of his surroundings. His bed was bare with the cover laid out on the floor and his room was its usual state with clothes littering the dressers and carpet along with the lamp missing its shade and a whole treasure trove of crap clogging up his wardrobe, so long as he didn’t break anything the academy owned he didn’t have to pay anything back on his dorm room. That didn’t mean he couldn’t leave it looking like ground zero though.

Peter rubbed his eyes once more and blinked twice.

’That dream…

He’d been having these weird moments on and off for a while, bouts of paranoia or gnawing feelings that seemed to claw up against the back of his head. But frankly all of that was the least of his worries, Peter had powers, as in honest to god “The-Human-Body-Is-Physically-Incapable-Of-That” powers.

After Hagan left Peter made good on his idea and opened up any exits he could find, which wasn’t much as by the time he and Hagan had finished arguing people had either broken through themselves or simply hadn’t made it. Even still Peter loitered around the Mill for some time after. He didn’t see anyone leave.

Eventually, as is custom when calling them, the police showed up, most attending to the student who had simply broken down and cried in the middle of the road, Peter had passed a few on his way, a few were either cased in soot, or blood. Peter tried his best not to make eye contact with them. Not wanting to be one of the few coherent enough for the laundry list of questions they’d have for him after an ordeal like this, Pete fled through the woods. His speed picked up and yet another nasty crash into the foliage awaited him.

’What the hell is happening to me… Peter remembered thinking as a small smile escaped from his lips before going back to exhaustion. Finally, he stood up and got off his bed, shambling towards his bathroom where he stared at his disheveled face in the mirror.

Grunting in frustration Petere focused on his eyes as the bags underneath them would be quite difficult to conceal, he considered wearing shades before shaking his head and deciding to just bare with it for the time being. He opened up the door to the medicine cabinet and thankfully the mirror the rested on the front disappeared. Peter pulled out a small white bottle and shook out two pills onto his open hand, he quickly threw them into his mouth and swallowed immediately with a slight cough, the pills were tasteless but they never went down easy.

As he walked back into his room Peter took the time to look down at the new “tattoo” he’d acquired, chances were his mom would kill him if she knew about it and the rest of his family already thought he was some kind of punk so Peter had been hoping it might just go away by itself but as currently proven, no such luck. With a frown he took a wristband off the top of his dresser and slid it over the offending symbol, then moved on to trying to scrounge up some clean clothes from the less cluttered side of his wardrobe.

As Peter slid on his shoes he buried his face into his hands and let out a yawn, It’d been a week since that massacre and the way it seemed to weigh everyone, Peter included, had been exhausting. That seemed to be the thing with tragedies like that, it seems to be all everyone wants to talk about but most can never find the words, when they do it’s either to callously gossip or it just comes across as something akin to talking about the weather.

’Man fuck this. Peter said rubbing his eyes. He’d been training his new “gift” of speed when he could at the abandoned fields but it was exhausting work, he was hardly going to start studying so if he wanted to do something worthwhile with his time he needed to perk up. He needed caffeine. Well, that or cocaine but Pete wasn’t really into that scene.

---

Cafe la Sucre.

---

The sun was still more or less out and pissing Peter off as he shuffled ungracefully towards the cafe. He still looked messy and unkempt but tidied himself up enough where it wasn’t really too dissimilar to how he normally appeared, that said his tiredness was making it quite difficult to put on the air of casual happiness that he usually presented himself with, the last thing he wanted was have someone corner him on if he was feeling okay.

As he neared the establishment Peter was sure he’d seen Hagan, whether he was right or not was irrelevant, just the possibility brought a frown to his face and he kept his eyes straight. Hagan had always been a bully and a pain in the ass but Peter had never had any issues with him, the night at the mill however had soured any sympathy or positivity Peter had felt towards him. It was most likely projection for how useless himself Peter had felt in that incident but he was hardly going to act like Hagan was anything more than a stranger to him.

Peter closed towards the entrance and came across Samson with Claire not too far behind, he swore slightly under his breath, he didn’t know either very well, more or less by reputation alone but he himself was aware reputations are typically bullshit. Still he wasn’t really in the mood to risk any stilted conversations, he kept his head down and averted both of their gazes. As he did so however Peter was sure he saw or felt something. Something not exactly normal. Regardless he made it to the entrance of the cafe safe and sound.

With a jingle from the door he entered and the faint smell of coffee from outside turned into a full on battery. Peter wasn’t really much of a drinker but something about the smell was really off putting, even still he braved the bitter aroma and made his way towards the counter, as he did so he found himself next to Dexter, someone else he knew only slightly well. He’d seen him and Ryu together a lot so was surprised to find himself alone, while they’d never shared much conversation Dex had always struck Peter as a pretty nice guy who tended to be well liked with a sizeable group of friends so it mildly surprised Peter to find him alone at a cafe.

’Maybe he’d been with Samson and Claire he figured and waited his turn behind Dexter, hoping the line would go quickly so he could stop looking like a Dawn Of The Dead extra.

---

Lee’s momentarily house.

---

The monster with its jagged jaw. A pair of kids looking for a girl’s dog. The panting, the shouting, the fast breath of the being as it was being attack by three figures wearing dark robes.The desperate on the girl face toward her boyfriend’s broken states were just as real as the battle. And the dream stop with the strange men and women saying the word “awaken.”

But the dream did not end there, not for Lee at least. From the chariot, Lee saw the eyes of the victims. They were slashed and chopped into small pieces. Their blood ran a dark red color and filled the wooden shack. Yet they could not stop looking at him. Voices of chaotic and missing words coming out from the flame. Suddenly, the ground grew a murky eye. Then came another one. And another one. In a few minutes, the place was filled with eyes of the dead. Voices of the victim rang in Lee mind, circling him in a ball of chains created by words. Its was meaningless, yet somehow those words carried a certain weight. The sight he saw was stupid, yet unexplained somehow. It was fake, and the thing caused him to be afraid. It was utterly disgusting, yet somehow familiar.

Lee sprung up from his bed with sweat soaked his red shirt. The electronic clock with its green light showing that it was only 5:43 in the morning. Slowly dragging himself to the shower, Lee began preparing for his daily chores. It is true he involved in a mass murder case, interrogated by the polices, and receiving a “A-” in his English class due to Mrs. Adam encouragement. “Your essay is good. Its grammar and structure are unopen to debate. But its message was too dry to swallow. Now being your professor, I could give you an A and let you to get away with it. But I want to see your improvement, so I will give you a B+ instead and wait for the improvements I desired on your next assignment.” Lee clenched his jaw as he remembers his teacher reason for giving him such a stupid grade. Isn't that Lee had already provided what Mrs. Adam asked in his rubric? Lee grabbed the green towel nearby to dry his face before releasing a long sigh. It seems he will just have to do more on the next assignment to get that A.

Opened the restroom, Lee began to clean the whole house. It was a long process as his grandfather provided no help nor thinking about the fact that he should keep the house clean. Spending 5 hours, Lee had vacuum and mobbed the whole house floor, cleaned the kitchen cabinets, sorted unidentified green objects in the refrigerator as well as the garage, did the laundry, prepared his grandfather's toolbox which he used to sculpting something, and took out the trashes. Looking pridefully at the task, he just completed, Lee left the house and headed straight toward to the Cafe de Sucre to buy his grandfather's lunch.

---

Cafe la Sucre.

---

Opening the glass door of Cafe la Sucre, Lee catches a faint smell of coffee rushing in his nose. It seems there are not that much of a guest for the only cafe in the whole town. But such thing could easily be explained by the town population. And besides, who would want to walk out when a mass murder is still roaming free on the mountain. Ordering his meal, Lee grabbed the newspaper and sits on the couch near the door. Pulling his black cap down and fixing his grey jacket, Lee began to read today newspaper. The first page was an image of the chief and his promises to bring his son out. The news dived deep in how far the investigation has come. But such thing only raised a smirk on Lee's face as the newspaper slowly turned into a white chrysanthemum, his mother favorite flower. It was pure white and letters decorated its delicate petals. Letting out a small sigh, Lee observed the small flower slowly turned itself back into a crumble pieces of papers.Holding of what used to be a white chrysanthemum and now a crumble piece of paper, Lee let out another sigh as he patiently waiting for his meal.

---

"He's... an awakened."

Light spilled into the room through where the curtains had been left parted, momentarily blinding Nate when he first opened his eyes, startling him further. Only half-undressed, he still wore the same boxers and shirt he'd thrown on the day before, the rest of his clothes haphazardly draped over the back of his chair at the other side of the room. "Ugh," he barely mouthed, his mouth feeling dry to the point it was like tone, before fumbling around the side of the bed for the bottle of juice he'd left there the night before. First time he felt it, he knocked it over, but a half-assed effort to lean over the bed and pick it up rectified that and his notions of thirst were quenched with a couple of gulps. Despite actually getting down at a reasonable hour last night, he felt as tired as he would've if he'd been sat at his desk until two or three in the morning - he even checked the clock to make sure it wasn't an early hour.

The dream was probably to blame for that.

Awakened?

In that dream, Nate had seen something that looked like a tattoo on the kid's chest. There was a familiarity to it, one he realised when his thoughts drew back to the mark he'd noticed out of the corner of his eye whilst toweling down from the shower, an abstract symbol seared into the back of his neck. Touching it didn't seem to bring about any sort of sensation different to what it normally would've felt like, but the fact it had just appeared overnight was enough to raise questions. The weirdest part? At first, he'd thought it was pure luck that Aunt Viv and Quent hadn't yet seen it, plus his own habit of wearing a hoodie or a shirt which allowed him to keep it covered up. That in itself would've taken some explaining to do, not to mention it would have probably meant getting a lecturing call from Dad about impulsive decisions. Yet, in the end, it seemed only he could see it - Quent had caught him quickly making his way back through the house after a shower with just a towel around his waist and made no mention or glance towards the new 'tattoo' and these suspicions had been confirmed when Aunt Viv had noticed a 'discoloured patch' on the back of his neck - not quite yet healed from the night of the party - but made no mention of the brand either.

It was yet another reminder that this wasn't a long-term hallucination induced by the shrooms, as he'd joked moments before things had gone to shit at the party.

People had died, seen some fucked up stuff. He almost died and he'd definitely seen some fucked up stuff there, no amount of desensitisation able to blot out the thoughts of people stampeding to get out of that fucking claustrophobic lumber mill, dead bodies left right and center.

Blinking, he checked the clock again and realised that about five minutes had passed since he'd last taken notice and groaned, eventually shifting his weight out of bed. There was a faint, almost musty odour in the air and Nate quickly figured out the cause - himself. Grumblling again, he slipped out of his old clothes, kicked them towards a small heap on the corner to put in the wash pile later, then gave himself a quick spray of deodorant. Better.

Once that was done, he threw on some fresh clothes and headed downstairs, ready to grab something to eat. Viv would probably be sat downstairs or something whilst Quent, he figured, would've been out working again. No surprise there - it had been a busy week for the man since that clusterfuck at the lumber mill. The way Nate had heard it, Sheriff Reese was barely a couple inches from becoming an exhausted wreck in the wake of hearing from over a dozen eyewitnesses that it had been his kid who'd gone on a bender, butchering people left and right, to the point he'd left most of his deputies to pick up the pieces, taking witness statements and co-ordinating with other agencies from out of town.

This shit was on the national level, even.

And Nate, for his part, had bullshitted his way out knowing any part of it - when Quent had inevitably checked by to figure out where he'd actually been that night (and if, by extension, he'd seen or heard things happen at the party) he played dumb. To corroborate his story, that night he'd got home, slumped into the shower and stuffed his damaged clothes under the bed, out of sight and acted as if he'd got lost, wouldn't have known how to get there. Most of the other folks who'd been there couldn't have known him yet, so he'd hoped that nobody could ID him.

Besides, even if he told the truth, how could he have explained it without causing any more bullshit for himself? Oh gee wiz, Uncle Quent - you sure aren't gonna believe this, I went to a party to get wasted and have a good time but instead had to narrowly escape being skullfucked by Bruce Banner's redneck cousin! Aunt Viv didn't need any of that crap on her plate and neither did Quent, not when they'd been good to him like that.

On top of that, there was one other thing that definitely went beyond explanation. And guess what? It turns out that I can pass through shit! Nate had no means of explaining it, no idea what it meant. Time to think on it had given a little more gravity to the fact that he nearly died, would've died if that club hadn't phased through him.

The morning after the shitshow at the lumber mill, he'd woken up from a shitty dream about it, only to find himself half-sunken into the bed, that same sensation of being immersed in water overwhelming him. Another time he'd been caught off-guard by Viv's early return from work when he had first been trying to hide the mark on the back of his neck, accidentally backing into a closed door - only for colour to bleed out from sight and for him to step through, almost seamlessly. A dozen other accidents of the same caliber had occurred, all caused by necessity or by something catching off-guard.

His thoughts drifted back to the dream again, of the two kids who'd narrowly been saved from that thing by those three weirdos in renaissance garb. Never before had he dreamed about something with that degree of clarity, nor had he ever dreamed up something like that before.

What would Mom have figured?

No, Nate shrugged the thought off. She wasn't here, no point thinking on it now. Instead, he gave off a low chuckle at just how fucking stupid it all sounded, even more stupid that it had actually happened.

"What's funny?" A feminine voice asked, jolting him from his thoughts. His gaze shifted over to find Aunt Viv, reclining on the couch as she filtered through the newsfeed on a tablet. She remarked again, "Something must be, otherwise I wouldn't be seeing you down here so early."

"That's very observant of you." Nate shot back, deadpan. Living with Viv and Quent was like living in a boxing ring, only instead of sparring with fists they used words. "But the only thing that's funny around here is your taste in daily propaganda." He thumbed towards the crappy reality show that was being broadcast on the TV.

Sucking in a breath, she idly reached out with the remote and shifted to another channel - the news this time it seemed, judging by the faint noise about the recent spate of murders in the area, "You can skip the sarcasm."

"Hey, don't hate a critic for peddling his craft," Nate threw his hands up for a moment, then turned towards the direction of the kitchen and headed over to the fridge, leaning down to get a peek inside. "On rations?" he groaned, finding it relatively sparse. Viv didn't take long to call back, "Forgot to fetch some groceries last night and I don't have the heart to make your poor Uncle Quentin head out when he's busy with things already."

"Sorry I asked," he said, a pang of genuine remorse for his blunt remark hitting him, "Screw it, I'll get something in town, I guess. Any suggestions?"

"You know where the Sucre is?" Viv asked.

"Yeah," he nodded, "I've dropped by there after classes before."

"Breakfast there is good for the money." There was a pause, just for a moment, before she spoke up again, "You good on that front?"

"Yeah." Nate admitted. He wasn't about to bullshit and try and bum more cash off Viv of all people, especially not when Dad mostly had him covered. It wasn't like she couldn't afford it, but there was something in that which felt wrong - like taking advantage of their decency. After all, they never had to take him in, Dad could've easily got him a spot in a dorm at Grand Ridge if that had been the only option on the tables. "Thanks, though, Aunt Viv. I'll see you later, yeah?"

One more time, he heard a reassuring note, "Call me if you need anything."

The only thing on his mind that he needed right now, food aside, was beyond her help. Repressing a faint, half-assed snort, Nate stepped out and set off for the Sucre.

---

Cafe la Sucre

---

It wasn't a particularly long journey in the end - Nate had gotten used to it enough that he could quite comfortably brisk-walk through town when he wanted to - and right now his interest was getting some good breakfast in his stomach which counted enough to hkm. As he approached the cafe, he made a renewed effort to wipe and brush at his hair with his fingers, willing a few stubborn strands to stay down when he pressed his bunched fingers on them.

His arrival hailed by a bell, Nate briefly shot his gazeacross the room where a few, vaguely familiar faces were in the periphery of his vision. That Hagan guy from the party at one table and the girl he'd been talking to near the VIP entrance by another, plus others he couldn't distinctly put down but looked like he could've walked past them there. It's a small town, he told himself, figuring it just a weird coincidence. The events of that night were going to be fresh in his mind for many years' worth of therapy sessions to come, so it was hard not to dwell on it. It was a little more disconcerting when he noticed the dark-skinned girl, Kimberly's friend, who he'd figured had a fake leg or something. She was enjoying a coffee and seemed to be happy minding her own business, but he had questions that had gone unanswered over what happened that night and...

His priority right now was getting something to eat. Questions could be asked later, when his stomach had finally shut up. Shuffling towards the counter, he shot a brief glance towards the menu board fixed to the wall without so much as making eye contact with the girl manning the front counter.

"Hey uh, can I order a waf-fuck.." Nate caught himself before he could insert any more startled vulgarity into his order. Very small town. Recognising the girl at the counter as the same one he'd rescued twice at the party, that he'd almost died helping, definitely threw him off guard. Kimberly wasn't what he'd normally have called a scary person but given the whole clusterfuck of all this and... yeah.

Maybe he hadn't taken notice or something that night, but she had some kind of tattoo in the middle of her forehead in the same kind of vein as his own mysterious brand - except this one looked like some kind of eye or a lense.

"I mean - waffles... what?"

Having been roused from her sleep, Madeline had quickly changed into her normal outfit, and went out and to the cafe for some breakfast, making sure to leave a note for her brother for when he woke up. As she walked through the market square, the dream she had seemed to be the only thing on her mind. "Awakened." Why did that bother her? Maddie hadn't watched any fantasy shows for a few days either, so what does it mean? Sighing in resignment, Maddie decided to keep her mind off the dream by turning her atention to the lotus symbol on her wrist.

Ever since the massacre, any cut and wound Madeline got would heal easier. She didn't want to think it was real, that she could've drank too much, but with her leg being healed quicker that a month or so, it was said otherwise. However, there was a shadowy monster lurking. Stalking her from the alleyways, and keeping an eye on her every movement. She could feel something stalking her... a vague outline of Scott's frame, all because Samson burned him the other night.

With a gulp, Madeline threw her hood over her head, and continued walking. Scott or whatever the beast was couldn't have survived the lumber mill burning down... Right? Tensed up, she picked up the pace in hopes of the feeling of being watched was just her paranoia. That same aura kept pursuing her, except much faster. Disappearing, and reappearing in completely different places.

Stay calm...stay calm... Madeline was almost running at that point. If her suspicion was true, then it was only a matter of time before the beast stalking her struck. As she was running, an orange light appeared in front of her. It started out as an orb, before it expanded a great deal... and Scott stepped out from behind her wielding his machete, and his new, considerably more intimidating, appearance. He looked at her, and to her right was an alleyway she could escape into...

So she took that chance. Before Scott could attack, Madeline sprinted to the alleyway, in hopes that she could get the beast off her tail. She was in no condition to fight, so she hoped to find someone to help. But, Scott followed her into it, grinning as the thrill of the hunt overcame him. He charged after her with astonishing speeds, and held his cleaver tightly in both hands. Maddie was only able to run so far till she hit a dead end. Her face contorted in fear, she slowly turned around to face Scott, walking backwards into a corner. He maniacally laughed as he closed the distance and swung his blade at her midsection with no impunity and slashed her in the gut. Immediately the blue light appeared to heal her wounds, but she fell over with Scott grabbed her by the hair and pulled her to the ground. He was about to bring the blade down on her....

... before he felt a beer bottle hitting him in the face and shattering on impact. He turned his head towards two people standing in the alleyway... her unlikely heroes.

"Get the hell away from her, you son of a bitch!" Claire loudly shouted as she had another bottle ready to be chucked. Samson stood at her side, with his hands engulfed in flames. The flames were green... reflecting his courage, and desire to bring an end to this bastard. He pointed both hands at Scott, and fired an inferno of flames at Scott... that engulfed both of them, leaving Scott screaming in pain.

Samson stopped as he said, "Shit!" The flames faded and... Maddie wasn't harmed even in the slightest. Claire looked at Samson, then to Maddie....

"... God, this shit is weird," Claire answered as she dove towards Maddie. Samson started slinging fireballs at Scott as Claire tried to move Maddie.

Madeline tried her best to support herself as she and Claire tried to sneak around the distracted Scott. She tried to steady her breathing, as she held where the beast had struck her, yet her expression was still fearful. "Shit, are you okay?" Claire said as she tried to prop Maddie up on her shoulder, she noticed that her wounds were healing, but she didn't see the light. She tried to pull Maddie out of there. "I get the feeling that you're Maddie, yeah?" She asked.

Scott went right for Samson, covering up his face with his blade. With took a few of the hits, but he saw Maddie escape from the corner of his eye. He turned away from Samson and rushed towards the two with his frenzied blade. Claire made the mistake of turning around, and noticed the deathly weapon going straight for her. So on instinct, Madeline shoved her out of the way to take the blow herself. Blood was sprayed everywhere, and Scott took a moment to whip the blood off on his arm, before he moved in for another slash. Claire thought the sight was sickly, and disgusting... there was only so much that Maddie could take.

Scott prepared for another slash, but Samson ran up, and hopped on his back. "You're not going anywhere, big guy!" Samson roared as he pointed both hands at Scott's head, and fired an absolute torrent of flames. Scott yelled as he thrashed around, Claire didn't want to leave Samson behind like this, but he was buying them valuable time. Claire tried to carry Maddie off, she briefly looked back to see Scott toss Samson off his back, and he turned his attention on them. Claire tried to move fast as she could, before Scott threw the weapon at them... and it was going right for Claire

It moved so fast that Claire could only loudly yelp as the blade cut through air so fast she could barely process it.

The blade hit her... but it stopped on... nothing. A blue aura had manifested and taken the cleaver. Visibly cracked at the point of impact. Claire's jaw dropped... had she... become a super like Dex and Samson? The cleaver hit the ground, and that pause of sheer shock had ended. Scott charged right for Claire, but got in front of the two, and created another funneling torrent of green flames that stopped Scott in his tracks. Claire grabbed Madeline again, and attempted to lift her up yet again - and found that she was easier to lift. Her aura manifested around her arm, and she was able to pick Maddie up like she was nothing. Yup, I'm a super... I'd be happy right now if I wasn't presently being killed.

"We better get out of here, sister," Claire said as she looked at Madeline and tried pulling her off. "And please tell me you're hangin' in there!"

"I think I'll be fine..." Madeline answered, the light around her abdomen disappearing. "But yeah, we need to get out of here." She quickly said, standing herself upright.

There was a huge green light behind them, as Samson created a huge burst of flames... it was the best he could do until he figures out how in the world this damn power works. Scott was screaming in pain as the flames overtook him, but... he pushed through it, despite the pain. He felt his master taking away the pain. Leaving him with only rage. He lunged through the fire and grabbed Samson by the neck with both hands. Samson couldn't even yell as he was slowly being strangled, he could only weakly produce flames. Claire gasped as she said,

"... Think you can stand up on your own?" Claire asked.

"Yeah." Madeline replied, lightly swinging one of her legs. "Atleast nothing's broken, hahah."

At least someone's making light of this. Claire answered as she lightly set Madeline down, and quickly ran for Samson. On the way she grabbed the blade that Scott had discarded - which would be impossible for her to swing, let alone hold - without the usage of her abstraction. Her entire hand was surrounded with a light-blue aura as she charged Scott with the blade. He turned towards her, trying to put his hand up to guard - but it was too late for him to defend. The blade went right into Scott's thigh, impeding itself as it tore about leg muscle. He fell over to his knee, and dropped Samson who gasped for air. Claire pulled the blade out for another powerful swing, but Scott grabbed her wrist and squeezed tightly. He lifted Claire up into the air, and tossed her away.

His master was telling him to flee... he couldn't win this fight. After he tossed her away, the orange light appeared with the spider legs made out of tar forming the edge of the portal. He grabbed his blade before he stepped back into it, and then the portal closed.

"Yeah, run you little bitch!" Claire shouted as Scott made his getaway. Claire quickly maneuvered over to Samson, who was still choking for air. "Sammy... you okay?"

After a minute more of choking, Samson replied with, "... Y-yeah." Then Samson focused on Maddie, "Are you okay?"

"Again, I'm alright." Madeline answered Samson, as she walked to the other two. "Whatever superpower I got from a few days ago lets me heal faster. So stab wounds are nothing." She chuckled again, dusting her hoodie off.

"Okay, so..." Claire said as she helped Samson to his feet. "... I've manifested a gift, or something after nearly getting killed by that bastard."

Samson said as he was easily lifted up by Claire, "And Scott is going after people... but, I wonder why...?"

"Well, it's not some revenge plan at this rate.." Madeline said, trying to think of what Scott's intentions were. Holding her head, Maddie's thoughts seemingly transitioned into a flashback to one of the beast's more recent kills. The victim had strange symbols on their body like them, but the limbs the insignas were marked on were harvested, the corpse being left behind after. But what did it mean for her and the others?

"I don't think he's just going after people..." Maddie spoke up, turning to Claire and Samson. "I think the people Scott is after all have something he wants. " She said, pulling down her hoodie sleeve to show the lotus on her wrist. "Did you two find any strange "tattoos" on you after the corpse party?"

Samson shrugged, as he said, "Nothing popped up on me." He flatly said. "Except for the power to do this." He snapped his fingers and produced the flame out of his fingertips... and noticed that it had turned white. Probably because he had calmed himself due to the danger leaving.

"I don't see any tattoos," Claire also shrugged, but then Samson caught sight of something on her stomach and he pointed at it and said,

"Claire, what's that on your stomach?" He asked, and avoiding saying something like 'Claire, lift your shirt!' like a weirdo.

"Wha-" Claire knelt forward a bit and looked at her stomach, and noticed that there was something on it. She lifted it up a bit to reveal the large, circular, sun-like symbol on her stomach. "... The fuck?" She said. She looked between Samson and Madeline, before flatly stating, "I did not get this. I woke up this morning, and didn't even see this."

"Well, let's just...worry about this later..." Madeline shrugged, walking infront of Claire and Samson. "I don't know about you guys, but I wanna go get some breakfast already," She said, looking down at the blood stains on her hoodie. "And I really need a new hoodie."

Samson slid off his jacket, and handed it to Maddie. "Take it." He requested.

"Breakfast should be the last thing on the agenda right now...." Claire trailed off as she pulled her phone out of her pocket. "We need to tell..." She trailed off as she looked up at the girl. "... You're Maddie, right?"

"Maybe later, but thank you though." Madeline said, taking Samson's jacket anyways. "Uh, yeah. How'd you guess?" She answered Claire, tilting her head in confusion.

"Dexter told me about a girl that can heal with light..." Claire said, before she shrugged. "So I just took a guess."

"Dex told me about you, too." Samson answered.

"Either way... I think we need to regroup with Dexter," Claire said, "Scott's still out there...."

"Right." Madeline nodded.

Claire immediately whipped out her phone, and sent out a text message to Dexter.

To: Virgin Dex
Yo Dex... I ran in2 ur friend n saved her from scott...

She hit send, before sending another.

To: Virgin Dex
We're heading back to the cafe... i have somethin to show u

After she sent the text, she looked at the group, and said,

"Let's go."

---

^{@Zombiedude101}
Cafe Sucre.

---

Nathan was no stranger to Kimberly.

While they weren't even the closest definitions of friends, Kimberly held Nathan in a high regard for saving her back then. She dragged him into it in the first place, and nearly gotten him killed. That was a constant source of regret for the Walton child, and she shook her head at the very sight of him. He was awkwardly stumbling as he tried to order something. For a moment, Kimberly sighed. Clearing her mind because if she spoke she'd be stumbling all over herself as much as he was right now.

"Nate," Kimberly softly said. "It's okay, just slow down."

Kimberly smiled as a way to defuse the situation, and she said, "Take all the time you need... but, when you get the chance, can we talk?"

---

"So you remembered my name?" Nate remarked, relaxing in an instant. Before she could get another word in, he followed up on her question, "What, is this the part where some neckbeard with a camera comes in and talks to us about how American society made Reese's kid hulk out on us?"

And like that, his composure was back. It was kind of a weird coincidence that she happened to be working here, but like he figured before - it was a small town. "Yeah, we can talk. I'll take the waffles with whatever good jelly you got." A hand lazily dug into his left hand pocket and eventually fished out a wallet, withdrawing enough dollar bills to cover the cost and then some extra. "Tip," he said, then pressed it on the counter in front of her and turned back towards the table where her friend with the (probably) fake leg sat, sitting opposite to her. It seemed she'd been joined by a friend.

Who'd have guessed it would've been another familiar face?

---

^{@Surtr @Zombiedude101 @OppositionJ}

---

She stared at herself in the mirror. Having just finished her morning routine, the girl's flagging eyes were directed towards the enigmatic mark. Days had past since the once ordinary girl discovered her true calling being some ninja protagonist badass... All which had been revealed when she combated the beast that spread blood through the small town from edge to edge..."

Callie gently ran her fingers across the eldritch symbol blazed across the back of her neck. Where did it come from? What was it? The answers to these questions, not even the host of the tattoo knew, though Callie had her theories. She was conceded to the idea she was captured by the Illuminati for some crazy experiment— thusly giving her the mental ninja powers— only to wipe her memories of the very event. Okay, maybe she didn’t actually know what happened, but she sure as hell didn’t drunkenly get a tattoo on the back of her neck and she would much rather make wild speculations than accept something like that. Either way, she wasn’t about to let the day go to waste just thinking about the silly thing. She would find a way to get rid of it eventually. As Callie finally got back to getting ready for her day, she figured a high collared top would have to suffice to disguise her… Mark.

She didn’t have much to do today, and being the awkward observer she was, Callie found herself deciding to finally go out in public for a change of scenery. She had some testing to do as well… Whatever happened to her, Callie was different. She found herself able to… feel other places. It is almost as though what she would once get lost in thought pondering over would become readily available in her mind’s eye. Maybe her imagination was acting up. That was likely the best explanation, but sometimes she seemed to imagine things in other locations that seemed so real. Maybe she could mess with her thoughts a bit today. People seemed to be affected by her weirdness too. Now where did people hang out in this tiny town? Callie still wasn’t well acquainted with Farmer Hill and she felt she never would be. Of course, she did know about the cafe. What writer doesn’t have a signature cafe? Callie was no amateur, and she wasn’t about to miss out on that writer aesthetic sitting in the corner of a cafe typing away like some super mysterious hipster.

Cafe Sucre was much busier than expected, particularly bustling with kids Callie imagined went to Grand Ridge. Awkward... In her short time in Farmer Hill, she hadn’t been the greatest at making acquaintances. That didn’t really bother her, but it sure made public appearances a bit weird. She made haste to move inside. Time to… Imagine? What a lame catchphrase. Callie made sure to note to herself that as a ninja superhero, she would need a better catchphrase. Entering the cafe, Callie was hit with an unconscious pang in her heart. She knew a few of the faces about. She groaned under her breath, squinting momentarily as if bogged down by a pain in her mind. She was trying to forget the party— Well she was trying to forget some parts of it at least. Callie was somewhere between idyllically reminiscing on the memory of her doing battle with some jacked monster while also trying to block out the horror that accompanied the event.

As her journey led her through the small cafe, Callie's thoughts were interrupted as her trailing gaze landed upon a very familiar face. Jordan? Callie didn't know if she wanted to see Jordan again or not, but for now, she hastily flicked her eyes away, finding herself a table to sit at. What would she say? 'Hey, we met at that party before the axe murderer started massacring everyone. I tried to help you, but ended up almost dying. Remember me? Callie spent a moment just trying to formulate an idea for starting conversation, simultaneously shifting her laptop open to busy herself— or at least look busy.

And Callie definitely didn't go past Jordan's notice either. The dark skinned teen caught sight of Callie while taking a sip of her coffee. Jordan noticed that she was busy (or trying to make herself look busy), but she also wanted to talk with her. Given that she hadn't seen the girl since her Awakening... and the fact that Jordan thought that she was dead after Scott went after her. The nervousness of the situation made Jordan fidget the cup of coffee. Jordan sighed as she just forgot about it, and moved over to Callie's table and said,

"Thank God you're okay," Jordan just spat out, "I was... worried about you... I'm... sorry for leaving you behind like that."

Well Callie was tentatively saved from the awkward moment anyways despite the lack of relevant thoughts in her head as Jordan approached her. Maybe she'd have to tell the tale of her triumphant victory over whatever the hell sort of juggernaut Scott Reese had become. There was an expression of subtle surprise crossing Callie's face. Even after all the nonsense, she didn't expect Jordan to care whether she lived or died. Here she was, though: alive... A superhero... Yes, Callie was quite the catch.

"Well..." Callie blinked her eyes a few times, her stare now distant. Not that such an occurrence wasn't commonplace. "I managed to make it, yes. I finally met the sheriff's boy that everyone has been talking about on my way but..." She paused, a bit of exasperation evident in her tone accompanied by a exhalation of relief. "But I managed. You and your friend are okay, then?"

"We're here right now." Jordan said with a faint smile. "That should say something..." She wondered if she should ask her about the paused tim. The thing that saved Kimberly. Jordan said, "It was crazy... And for a moment, it felt like time stopped ..." She bit her fingers when she realized time actually stopped back then. She was confused as to what happened... but .

"I suppose that's what important..." Callie's eyes momentarily flicked to meet the working Kimberly. Her mind began to wander at the speak of more anomalous activity occurring during the party. The whole thing was a damned Twilight Zone episode, and on top of that, Callie had been kidnapped by the Illuminati, given her ninja powers, and then had her memories wiped of the event... Crazy, but the only possible option, obviously.

"I suppose everything goes to hell in the brain when stuff like that happens. I'd rather just focus on the fact that everyone is alive... Or- We are all alive." Well that was a lie, but Callie didn't believe in time travel nonsense. Why would she? If time travel was real, she would also be able to time travel with her ninja powers.

"I'm trying to..." Jordan answered, with uncertainty obvious in her tone. Both she and Kim are alive, yeah. But, they're down one friend, and the killings are still going on. "But... I can't rest just yet... people are still dying, and the person responsible for it is still out there."

"And you intend to do something about it?" Callie's voice was clearly marked with skepticism. Even she, armed with her ninja powers might not be able to take on the demon beefcake a second time. "That'd be a good book idea," she mentioned to herself offhandedly in a mumbled tone.

Jordan raised an eyebrow at the comment. Did she think Jordan was retarded or something? She raised an eyebrow, and turned one of the corners of her lip up.

"Sweetheart... I have a bad leg, and my best friend's a dork," Jordan spat out, "What do you think I can really do?"

"That seems to be the common problem to every story, yes." Callie seemed ignorant or apathetic to the tone of Jordan's response. "I'd say it's best left alone, but... You think people are still dying?" Callie was never one for action— well perhaps she was, but she was the watcher, not the action hero. What was someone like her going to have to contribute? Well, her supernatural abilities seemed to count for something, but she was still by no means prepared to take on the Hulk.

Jordan almost facepalmed, but instead she just rolled her eyes.

"... There have been many more deaths reported since the incident," Jordan just flatly said. "Of people our age."

Yikes. Perhaps Callie should have started reading as much as she wrote. She shifted a bit awkwardly in her seat. What was she going to say? Callie wasn't a superhero— or at least, she wasn't a superhero that was powerful enough to take on some murderer that had a body count greater than her age. "I don't suppose the authorities can do anything," she spoke almost rhetorically.

"Sounds like little Farmer Hill needs a superhero..."

For a moment, Jordan's eyes shot open with rage, because she nearly had enough of this girl being stupid.

"... Okay, girl, are you taking this seriously right now?" Jordan asked bitterly.

Well Jordan surely didn't seem okay. Callie didn't think she was being mean. Was she? Her eyebrows lifted a slight bit, but as usual, she showed very little in terms of extreme reactions.

"I don't see many other options, friend..."

"... and that's the problem," Jordan said. "Superheroes don't exist. It's almost like we're helpless against something so much stronger than we are... and you're acting like this is some story you're writing."

"Unless you've got a better idea, it seems like being helpless is all we've got." Callie offered a pitied shrug. Perhaps she wasn't taking this seriously. She wasn't particularly good at taking things seriously. Hell. she almost died just a handful of days ago. Each person copes in there own way I guess.

Jordan rolled her eyes as she leaned back in her chair. Part of her wanted to slap some sense into this girl, but another part of her knew it was a lost cost. Maybe Scott whacked her in the head and made her lose a few braincells. The thought made Jordan chuckle a bit. But, Callie wasn't entirely wrong... there was something in their arsenal that they could both make use of.

"... Not entirely helpless," The lightbulb snapped on in her head. "I have to ask you something... when I opened the door to see Kim about to get axed, did you notice anything weird?"

Jordan finally seemed to cool off a bit or something like that at least. Her query made Callie pause for a moment. Any weird occurrences? Did her failure to see things properly count as something weird? The memory was fuzzy, but Callie still felt something was off about the experience. Callie couldn't really just explain that to Jordan, though. Could she?

"Well despite the giant axe murderer..." Her first sentence came out under her breath, as if she caught what she was saying and hushed herself.

"I suppose the whole thing is a bit of a blur... With you two and the other guy, that is."

"No, I mean like..." Jordan gestured to her wrist as if she was wearing a watch. "Something stopping."

Something stopping? My heart felt like it stopped for a moment... Even Callie's thoughts were plagued by a lack of solemnity. In response to Jordan, however, she merely offered a shake of her head. "Definitely no... Stopping."

"Well..." Jordan wondered if there was an easy way for her to explain what happened. Or if she should. It might be foolish, given that this crazy girl was probably out her mind to begin with. "Dunno how to really explain this to you, given that it was so damn weird..." She said, "When Kim was about to get axed... time stopped."

Now she probably sounded crazy, "... and I know it sounds crazy - I know I sound crazy - but like everything froze. Except... me and Kim. It barely lasted more than a minute before time resumed...."

Well... That wasn't expected. Callie quirked a brow as she looked to Jordan. Seeing your best friend get almost bisected had to mess with your head already, but now this nonsense? Callie pieced together her best rational explanation, which seemed most definitely possible and likely the most probable occurrence for Jordan's strange experience. "Adrenaline has been observed to make things seem to slow down when in stressful situations. The brain works in crazy ways, Jordan." Was it the best explanation? No, but maybe it would calm Jordan down to hear something logical in the memory that came straight out of a horror movie.

"Oh no, you're not bullshitting me like I'm crazy," Jordan said, putting a finger down on the table hard. "Adrenaline can't do what I've seen back there. I'm telling you that time had entirely stopped for everyone but me and Kim-" That's when someone else approached the table, and Jordan shut her mouth.

As the two engaged in conversation, they were joined by another familiar face on their way back from the counter - a stocky teen in a hoodie with shaggy brown hair. Nate took a seat at the edge of the table opposite from where they sat, gaze set towards them. "Don't mind me, continue with the classy conversation you're probably having about surviving the biggest mass murder this side of the West."

Suddenly, Jordan's growing irritation at Callie was shifted towards Nathan, who just sat down on the counter. Though, it was confusing given how hysterical Kim was about the possible death of Nathan. But, while she was annoyed, she could also get something useful out of him. "Hello... Nathan..." Jordan said.

For a moment, he wondered where she'd figured out his name - then realised that Kimberly had probably mentioned it earlier. "Hello, uh.. I never actually got your name so I can't tack anything on to the end of that." He shrugged, then continued, "Really though, it's kinda good to see you guys didn't get killed. That would've been really shitty."

"Yeah," Jordan near-snarled at how lax he was about it. "It would have been."

It felt like Jordan was the only person who understood the weight of the situation here. It was almost like... maybe, they did have different ways of coping. Maybe Jordan should indulge. "But, my name is Jordan, Kim told me about you."

"She did," Nate had figured right, "Did she mention anything about wanting to talk to me? Maybe you could enligten me."

"Off the top of my head," Jordan trailed off. "She thought you died."

"Shit." He blinked for a moment, again confronted with the prospective of his own mortality, then quickly shrugged it off. "Obviously I'm still alive or I wouldn't be here."

Jordan rolled her eyes at the comment. He was such a fool... but, he still helped Kimberly during that shitstorm. So, Jordan guessed he was okay. For now, that was. Maybe he might had seen something that can help her convince Callie that time had stopped. "But, I gotta ask you something, Nate... that night... did you notice something stop that shouldn't have? Like..." She gestured towards her wrist as if she was wearing an invisible watch yet again.

"Your pulse?" he asked with a hint of sarcasm in his tone, knowing that he had an idea of what she was really insinuating. "No, yeah - I saw the fucking fire freeze, along everything else including that psycho-fuck with it. Only things that didn't stop were you two and her..." Nate thumbed back towards where Kimberly manned the counter.

"... and obviously not you."

"No shit."

Callie fell silent for quite a while as she and Jordan were approached and Jordan struck up conversation with the new acquaintance that had joined them. 'Nathan', Jordan had called him. She vaguely recalled his face, though it wasn't until Jordan mentioned the ordeal with Kimberly that Callie recognized the face. It wasn't seconds later that Jordan also asked Nate about her crazy experience. He was crazy too? And here Callie was thinking she was some insane imaginative fool.

"Well I sure don't remember it..." Finally speaking up her gaze was cast distantly rather than focusing on one of the other two.

"I guess that's because you didn't get axe-man trying to take your face off up close and personal." Nate retorted.

Callie met Nate's eyes at that point. "What do you think happened after the three of you left and I was stuck in there with 'axe-man', Nathan?"

"You didn't have him close enough to make space for a fucking colostomy bag," he retorted, "That's my point, is all."

"Well I think..." Jordan said, trailing off. She stopped when she realized she wasn't getting anywhere. There was just no way to convince Callie with words. Nothing made sense and yet this airhead was looking for it. How did Jordan and Kimberly get those tattoos on them without ever getting them? Maybe she was crazy... but, there wasn't anything explaining how Kim narrowly avoided death. That pulse came from Jordan. There was no doubt about it.

"Look, I'm telling you," Jordan said as she stood up, the chair sliding back. It made everyone's eyes fall on her, and she sure as hell felt it. Even if she didn't see all of them. "I'm not. Crazy." And if they weren't on her then....

The sigil on her back brightly glowed through her shirt as the pulse came. A pulse of inverted color that traveled at speeds unheard of. It engulfed everything in it's powerful light, before disappearing, and leaving time in a paused state. Jordan was completely baffled, as she looked at her coffee and knocked it off the table... and after a few seconds, it froze in midair.

... Eyes were on her now.

"Yeah," Nate awkwardly cut into the silence, "Not crazy." And Nate took the words out of Jordan's mouth.

Callie's jaw fell slightly agape as her eyes shifted to examine her surroundings. There was awe in her gaze, but for a long moment, she didn't say anything. It was Nate who broke the silence that engulfed them. Until that moment, the girl hadn't even known whether or not others were... working. What she finally uttered was anything but overwhelming as Callie was too focused on trying to comprehend that which had just occurred.

"Oh..." She was almost afraid to move. What if she messed something up? She settled just for trying to keep things a little more calm.

"I... suppose I believe you, then..."

"You suppose?" Nate echoed, "Understatement of the year," he exclaimed, before correcting himself, "In fact, no - understatement of the century! Look at the cup! What kind of 'suppose' is there about this?" The rant continued, unfettered, oblivious to the others around them - up until he slammed a palm on the table and, almost oblivious to that fact, felt his hand sink through the tabletop until only the very back of his wrist was visible. "Argh, shit-"

"Nathan, chill," Jordan was quick to say to her portly associate (because it'd be pushing it to call him a friend). She was still amazed that she had stopped time. It was like a miracle to convince Callie that she wasn't full of shit. She felt the need to gloat, but that smile on her face was the only gloating that Jordan needed. Kimberly had walked away from the counter, briefly adjusting her glasses as she looked around. It made her remember what had happened when she was about to die at the hands of Scott not so long ago... Kimberly hadn't gone crazy.

Only then did Nate realise his hand was sunken into the table, prompting him to draw it back out. "I am chill."

Ignoring that, Jordan turned her attention to Callie, before saying, "... Does this look like adrenaline to you?"

"I..." Callie's eyes wandered around the room. It felt familiar. Not so much the time stopping, but the eldritch oddities that seemed ever present in this forsaken town. She really should have just went to a big city school. Jordan's ability had her thinking back on her own experiences the past few days. It was just too coincidental. There was certainly more going on in Farmer Hill. It was like a story...

"-I get it, really. I think I get it more than you might realize..." It couldn't be that she was different too?

---

Cafe Sucre.

---

After that meeting with Claire going so swell, there was something else on Britney's mind. She thought of asking everyone in town until she found out where her missing cousin was, but that would take forever. Instead, she had another idea. There was something strange about the people here. She could feel it.

Britney leisurely walked over to the front counter, and smiled at Kimberly, "Heya, Kim," Britney said, "Can I have another caramel latte?" She asked.

"Sure thing!" Kimberly cheerfully said as she put the order in, and slid it to the person in the back, but Britney stuck around. Kimberly kept that smile on her face. Britney pulled another photograph of Cindy, and placed it on the counter. Kimberly leaned over, before she asked, "Oh, who's this?"

"My cousin, Cindy," Britney replied, "She's gone missing, and I wanted to know if you've seen her in here?"

"Oh, that's a shame..." Kimberly trailed off, "But, I haven't seen anyone like that in here..." She said as she grabbed the photograph, "But I'll keep this in case I do. I'll be sure to tell you!" She chipperly said.

Britney smiled and nodded her head as she turned away. Immediately, Britney sighed. She needed to find Cindy as soon as possible, before Scott or somebody else got their hands on her. But, Farmer Hill wasn't exactly a small place - everyone loved to throw around that label of "small town," but yet she couldn't help but remember that Farmer Hill was still easy to get lost in. Especially with all the mountains, woods, farmlands... and so on. She needed to do everything she could to locate her. The cafe was filling up, and Britney figured that she'd ask the first person that stuck out to her.

There was some guy or girl... Britney couldn't tell. Either they were a really effeminate guy, or a really masculine girl - Britney couldn't care to tell either. What they did notice was the sigil on her shoulder of a paintbrush... so, they were an Awakened. They'd probably be a bit more inclined to the supernatural side of things. Though, she didn't recognize the person, and wondered how far she'd get with her reputation. Either way, she walked over to the table with a friendly smile and... kind of lost her line of thought. It'd probably come off as awkward or something, but Britney didn't care.

"Hey there, I'm Britney, I'm looking for someone," Britney said as she reached into her purse and pulled out another photograph. "I'm looking for a missing person... have you seen her?"

"Oh, uh, hi," Rien looked up after taking a moment process the fact that someone was talking to them. What could they say, they'd drank a lot last night (without much reason to). They took the picture and held it up to their face so they could scrutinise it. "I don't think I have, sorry. Though I'm not the best with faces! I can definitely keep a look out, or whatever, though."

Rien was actually been nicer than normal - well acting less like they didn't give a fuck about anything. Losing someone close struck close. "Sorry someone you know's gone missing, though."

"It's okay," Britney quickly answered, before she looked at the sigil again. She didn't want to leave without pressing on her about being an Awakened, but she didn't want to be obvious. "It'd help me a lot if you kept her eye out for her, because she's my cousin... out of city, that's probably why a whole lot of people don't know about her." Britney turned her head as she looked at her shoulder.

"... That's a nice tattoo by the way," Britney just shot it out there, "It's refreshing to see a tattoo that isn't a flower, or fire."

"Tattoo?" Rien was confused by the fact that Britney was looking at their shoulder. They were pretty sure the only visible tattoo they had right now was the circuit board down their arm. Though it wasn't like they'd look at their back for a long time. "I don't have a tattoo on my shoulder..."

They craned their neck to try and see where Britney had looked and froze. "Well, I swear I didn't. What the fuck? Where did that come from?"

Britney chuckled.

"What? Have you been drinking?" She playfully said.

"I mean, yes, but I'd remember getting a tattoo," Rien frowned slightly before shrugging. They were horribly confused, but honestly - whatever. It was just another tattoo, right? Maybe they had been smashed enough to get another. "Thanks I guess, then? Glad you think the tattoo I didn't know about is nice."

Britney smiled... she knew that the girl had Awakened, but she didn't. That meant that she should either leave it alone, or be a little bit more indirect. She went with the former, "You should be a little bit more careful with the alcohol," She said as she turned up her palms until the sigils on her palms were visible, "There's weird shit going on."

"I'm assuming those aren't just some tattoos that you got," Rien tilted their head as they stared at the sigils on Britney's palms. No one got tattoos on their palms. "Maybe I should stop drinking... So, uh, what's going on? I'm assuming you know something about this weird shit."

"Well..." Britney trailed off as she took a chance. Those sigils of hers glowed brightly as she manifested a wheat colored light in her palms. She didn't create any plants, but only an Awakened can see the light. She rolled her eyes from one side to her head to the other, looking off to the side, as she said, "I wouldn't say they're tattoos."

"Oh, wow," was all Rien said as they stared at Britney's hand. Huh. Well, that would explain that weird dream they'd had last night - something they'd just put down to being drunk when going to sleep. They were a bit miffed but was taking things in their stride. No point in stressing about it. "Would mine be able to do that?"

"Hmph, who knows," Britney replied flatly, she leaned forward as she whispered. "It's something that reflects a part of you..." She said, "... So think of something you're passionate about, and start there." She gave her the advice. "Mine was gardening, and..." She simply dispelled the light.

"Thanks," Rien responded with a thoughtful hum. Where to start? Well, there weren't many things Rien was passionate about so they were sure they'd figure it out easily enough. "Guess I better test stuff out at some point."

"Ha!" Britney said with a playful smirk. "You're in a real rush to discover your superpower."

"There's not very much I'm passionate about, so I don't have many options to try," Rien gave an easy shrug. "Easier to be laid back about it."

"C'mon now," Britney said. "Everyone's passionate about something."

"I'm pretty passionate about alcohol," Rien laughed, not entirely joking about that. They figured they might as well say more - what did they have to lose if Britney knew the whole two things they liked. "It's probably something to do with art or computers, anyway."

"I'd start looking. Fast as possible." With the comment about being passionate about alcohol... Britney didn't think much of Rien. Probably another alcohol abusing loser. "... There's weird things going on out there."

"Sure, I'll get onto it then," Rien gave a slight nod. Wasn't like they had much else to do. "Hopefully it'll be useful with all the weird shit."

"Good," Britney said with a nod of her head... deciding not to warn her about the threats to them as an Awakened. They didn't seem that they were taking Britney all that seriously - and for that, Britney hoped that her abstraction would keep her alive. Because she definitely didn't have the wits. Britney merely got up and said, "I'll ask around some more, but it was great meeting you." She said politely as possible, before she got up, and walked away.

---

On his short walk to the cafe, a certain half Korean and entirely alcoholic mass just about collided with Dexter. It was Ryu - who looking more disheveled than usual. He couldn't tell if this was some sort of return prank for his text earlier or not, but it was a rare sight to see Ryu awake this early in the morning. "Holy- good morning to you as well!" Dexter said, throwing his arm around his just about brother's shoulders.

"Yeah, not-so-good this morning. I had a weird-ass dream, man, and I'm so fucking hungover. I'll explain everything but I need to get the cure first," Ryu responded, groaning a little and holding his head. The cure in question was his usual coffee - a popcorn cappuccino that he swore could heal any hangover.

Dexter took note of how Ryu mentioned the dream. So he had the dream as well. "No, dude, I was talking to Claire and Samson. I think everyone had this dream."

"Everyone had the same dream? Yeah, right. You've probably been drinking more than I fucking have," he said, laughing a little.

"Dead dog, deer monster attacks the kids, battled with the cast of a Kingdom Hearts game? Ring a bell?" Dexter was far more comfortable conversing openly about the subject with Ryu. They knew each other well. There was a brief moment of silence as Ryu stood, mouth agape.

"..Oh."

"Yeah." Dexter said. "There's also a missing girl right now. Claire told me that Britney is in here and knows more. You know Britney, right? It's her cousin. You're going to help me help Britney find her."

"Only if you help me find my sanity after all the shit that's been going on," he quipped, rubbing at the weird tattoo on his neck slightly.

Dexter opened the door for Ryu and the two walked into the cafe. It was only around 9:00AM, and it was as busy as he would expect for a breakfast and brunch place like this. He was looking for Britney, but he didn't have to look for long. He caught sight of her, and she had a light brown glow around her person. She was one of them. It seems a notable population of Farmer Hill was one of them.

"Dude, you know how I said I can see that glow around people?"

"You mean how you were hallucinating that night? Yeah, I remember."

"It's not a hallucination. I can... tell when people are like us. Whatever we are." Dexter rubbed the back of his neck, unconsciously rubbing his sigil. "I know Samson has a ring. He can do something related to fire."

"Like us? Nonono, what happened was just some freak incident. A lot of crazy shit was going on. I'm normal, Dex, c'mon, I don't make fucking black holes with my mind!" he hissed, getting frustrated now. Dexter grabbed Ryu by the shirt as the boy yelped and dragged him into the men's bathroom, which was unoccupied, by some grace of god. Dexter let go of him as they entered. He locked the door and turned off the light. His hand began to glow, illuminating the whole room.

"Ryu, you have a marking on your throat, and I am literally a walking and talking light bulb. I shot a laser earlier. A laser."

Dexter turned the lights back on, and motioned at the mirror. "Tell me that you don't see that!"

Ryu stammered. "Wha- How- Look, listen to me, whatever is going on, we need to get it fixed! This is fucking weird, dude!" he threw his hands in the air. "I just wanna be a normal person!"

What Ryu was saying made sense. Dexter had been dealing with it over the past several days, but from the look of Ryu's appearance he probably hadn't looked in a mirror in over a week. Almost as if he had been purposefully avoiding it. Dexter kinda didn't blame him for that. He sighed and rubbed his forehead, which was now not as pained as it had been earlier. "We do, but no one I've talked to has any clue what's going on or what's happened. Dude, right now we just have to roll with it."

"So- So what? We're like that kid in the dream? Awakened?" he scoffed. "God, that sounds pretentious. I'm some 'Awakened', shooting black holes out of my hands and sucking axes into them. Just fucking great."

"I don't know man, just... I guess try not to give anyone the succ unless they deserve it?" Dexter said, motioning to his throat. He wasn't sure how Ryu manifested his powers. He'd let his friend figure that one out. He sighed and looked back towards the bathroom door and decided that it was time that he resume his quest to question Britney more on the matter.

"I'm going to go and talk to Britney, could you grab us a table? I'll join you in just a bit," Dexter said, looking Ryu over. "...then we're going to my house and getting you cleaned up. You look like you haven't showered since the mill."

"Aw, you think I showered before the party?" Ryu snorted, smirking at his friend. "But I guess being at your place is better than being all alone in the dark back at my dorm. Especially since I actually checked the news and apparently that Scott dude didn't die in the fire." His face went slightly pale as the words came out of his mouth. "Do you think he'll come after us? You kind of did hit him with a shovel."

"If he does, I want to be ready for it." Dexter said, saluting Ryu as he exited the bathroom with a glowing hand and a smirk. Ryu shook his head, deciding to actually piss before he left.

"Dex the superhero," he murmured to himself.

[dex does stuff here and I'll put in a passing comment about Ryu sitting down at a table]

---

Finding Britney wasn't exactly difficult amongst the crowd- with her size and hairstyle, she kinda popped out in the crowd. Britney was speaking to an androgynous fellow who went by Rein. Many referred to them as a fruitcake, but Dexter had never been one to subscribe to that line of judgement. He had yet to really interact with them, and as such he just didn't care. Dexter moved through the busy cafe in an attempt to catch up with her before she got caught up with someone else. Ryu, Claire, and Samson were relying on him getting some form of information and he had watched enough Criminal Minds to have an idea of what kind of questions he should ask.

"Brit, hey!" Dexter said, placing his hand on her shoulder gently. "Do you have a moment?"

Britney would had shuddered if it had been anybody but Dexter. When she heard his voice, saw his face, she smiled like a fool. She laughed a little bit as she said, "Deeeeeex!" She said, "Of course, there was something I wanted to talk to you about anyway." She looked around.

"So, wanna do it here, or find somewhere to sit?"

"If you can find us a table-" Dexter said, trailing off as he turned around to face the busy cafe. "But, if you can, lead the way."

"'Course," Britney said as she found one by the very back... near the door to the kitchen. She sat herself down on the chair, and smiled, before she asked, "What did you want to talk to me about?"

Dexter slid into his seat and looked around. "Well, um, two things. First, your cousin and two, which we'll probably have to step outside for." Dexter said, fidgeting nervously with his hands under the table. He collected himself and began again. "I've heard that Cindy is missing. I want to know how I can help."

"... So Claire told you?" Britney asked, wishing that she hadn't after the words had left her mouth. She felt stupid for telling Claire before Dexter, but she was in such a rush that she didn't even give it any thought. "And to answer your question... I'm not even sure how you can help."

Britney worriedly leaned forward with her hands forward, and put her elbows on the table. She looked to the side to the moment, closing her eyes, "All I can really ask from you is to keep an eye open for her - I don't think it'd be right if I asked you to take time out of your day to look for my family."

Dexter reached over to Britney and put his hand on her arm in an attempt to comfort her. "Brit, you would do the same for me." he declared. His conviction was just, due to their history, and how much Britney's family had helped his in their time of need. "Where did you see her last? And did she seem to be acting strangely at all before she disappeared?"

"Monday," Britney said as that worried expression turned into a faint smile. "And she seemed a bit... hasty. Like she was in a rush to do something." She shrugged.

"Then she went to bed, and wasn't there."

Dexter leaned back in his seat and rubbed his temple. "Brit, uh, some really weird things have been happening to a few people since the accident at the lumber mill-" Dexter explained, trying to get his words out in a way that wouldn't raise suspicion to anyone that overheard. [color=gold]"What I'm trying to say is, I've been... able to see those of us who have been experiencing them. I can... see you. Was Cindy one of those people?"[color]

Now this was certainly a twist... Britney didn't even bring up the subject of the Awakened (or even think of the prospect of Dexter being one of them). There were quite a few Awakened appearing... where they really shouldn't appear. She wondered what kind of abstraction Dexter was packing, but there were more pressing matters. She opened one palm, and turned it towards him. The symbol of an orb, and a leaf. "I can't say that she is or not," Britney said, "I would have known...." She trailed off, looking off to the side at Rien.

"... but with all the people awakening lately..." Britney said.

"I have a hypothesis," Dexter began. He picked up a yellow packet of sugar and a handful of white packets and put them on the table. "This yellow one is the sheriff's son," he explained, then pointed to the white packets. "The white ones are... us." Britney listened to Dex's "hypothesis" with an open mind.

Dexter moved the yellow packet close to the other white packets left it there. "All of the people I've met have experienced changes since being at tat lumber mill. I think that it's reasonable to assume that if she was at the lumber mill, then she might be... one of us." Dexter explained. He looked back up to Britney. "Was Cindy at the lumber mill eleven days ago?"

"... She wasn't even in Farmer Hill at the time," Britney answered. "She got here a few days after, and disappeared within the day."

Dexter sighed at the thought. That was out of the equation now. "Do you have her phone? A diary or journal of hers?"

"I wish." Britney said, as she shook her head. "There's not a single lead. She didn't leave any clues. I have nothing to track her by. And worst of all, not a soul has seen her. It feels like this is hopeless." Britney said, as a tear ran down her eye.

[color]"Have you tried looking on the mountain at all?"[/color] Dexter suggested. It would make sense, from what Cindy had told him in the past, she was an athlete and a mountain climber. He often saw people hiking or jogging up the mountain on his trek up to his normal spot. "She's told me that she's a climber in the past. Might be worth looking."

"... I haven't," Britney said, looking off to the side, worried. "But, it's dangerous up there.... really dangerous." She said, wondering if she should let Dexter in on something that she knows.... he wouldn't understand. Not now.

"But, if I were to go up there... would you accompany me?" Britney asked.

"Right now, I dont want anyone who's one of us going anywhere alone if I can help it. I can get the others. The more eyes, the more likely we'll be to find her."

"And who are the others?"

Dexter shifted apprehensively. "Well, the guy who set fire to the lumber mill, on accident. Ryu, and myself. Claire knows. She'd probably be more than willing to help. I heard the new waitress here in the cafe was a hiker. I'll probably see if I can get her too. A whole search party."

Claire was the only person that Britney trusted out of that group. She didn't know Ryu, and she sure as hell didn't know the waitress girl. Part of Britney didn't want to drag more people into this. Then there was the thing about the mountain. Dexter sensed her apprehension, and thought he understood the concern. There was a lot of things that could go wrong on the mountain and they would be far away from help if they needed it. "10AM to 6PM, they can leave if they want, buddy system and everything." Dexter stated. "I can even rent a plane and overfly if weather is good enough."

"No, it's not that, Dex, it's something el-" Britney tried to explain to Dexter, but that was when a pulse of a bright white light of inverted colors overcame them. She jolted for a moment, as she looked around and time slowed down to a halt. Before completely stopping. Nothing moved - save for a handful of people. She looked a bit surprised, before she glanced at a girl with a sigil that glowed brightly through her jacket. She narrowed her eyes, as she casually created a vine out of the palm of her hand, and let it fall to the ground... before it stopped in midair.

"Oh, so that's what you do."

Dexter didn't really react to everything freezing around him. At this point, so much weird shit had occurred that he didn't even think to question the unexplainable. He followed Britney's gaze to see Jordan. He didn't know her well, but he did recall seeing her outline earlier even if she wasn't his direct objective. "A challenger approaches!" Dexter said, spinning his finger lazily.

Oy vey.

That comment made Britney smile, as she realized that there was a time based Awakened among them. They were apparently rare... and they had one among them. Britney put a hand on her chin as she looked at the girl. A grin formed on her face. Britney had seen her around the cafe a few times - and Grand Ridge - and she was friends with one of the baristas. Now she was going to be Britney's new friend because she'll be very useful.

"... Useful indeed." Britney said to herself.

It was a busy morning at the Sucre, not quite the Sunday morning church crowd rush level of busy, but definitely more than normal. The regular hustle and bustle of the cafe was just about lost to Miriam as she ran from table to table either taking orders or picking up checks. She was not allowed in the back much anymore, not after the incident as Kim liked to call it, and she was alright with that. In a way, she enjoyed the fast paced lifestyle that being a waitress entailed. Or at least, fast-er paced compared to being a cook or a hostess. Her next stop was table 17, which hardly a table in her opinion with just two seats, but she didn't get to put titles on anything yet. Her mind wandered as she walked towards table 17. What was the title for a piece of furniture between a table and a booth? There was a single young man, likely around her age, at the table. Slightly taller than her, blonde hair, had an odd sense of style with his silver shoes but she was one to appreciate eighties rock, so she chose not to judge. She put on her best smile and slid over to him as smoothly as she could.

"Heya cutie," she said, with a twinge of unintentional southern drawl in her voice that just came with where she was from. The man wasn't unattractive in her eyes, but she would normally not be such a flirt, but she's a waitress, she's gotta work for tips. "What can I interest you in today?"

Peter squinted his eyes and with a frown rubbed his hand drowsily against his drooping eyelids once more. He'd always been impatient as hell but ever since he got this new.... Ability, for lack of a better word, the world seemed to have slowed to a crawl in instances like these. He looked over at Kimberly who seemed to be talking about something most likely trivial for what felt like hours, god he needed coffee, or meth or something that was going to keep him from collapsing on the questionably clean floor of the Sucre. Even though he'd been previously about to fall into a dreamy slumber in front of his peers his eyes snapped open as he stared up at the sudden appearance of the waitress. Peter's people skills were questionable even at his 'peak' but the suprise he got flustered him even more, he internally cursed as he stuttered slightly before forming a coherent sentence.

"Coffee." he said simply, he then paused and realized there was more coffee than founding fathers "Er, one with a lot of sugar in it.... Coffee and sugar" he added with a wane smile. He tried placing this girl but couldn't really be certain, he'd heard there was a new person in Farmer's Hill and decided that probably made the most sense, what with her odd accent, unless they made her put that on to attract customers. Who was Peter to judge?

"Coffee and a whole lotta sugar. I'll be right back-" Miriam began. She lifted her wrist and moved her various bracelets to take a peek at her watch, which she wore backwards as most athletes do. It was almost 9:30, time for break! "You wouldn't mind if I sat down for breakfast with you, would ya?" she said, looking back to Pete. "Am about to go on break, and it seems like you could use a wake-up."

Peter shrugged "Be my guest" he said, before managing to muster a weak but passable smile "Can't imagine I'll be very good company though, I just ordered a diabetic's nightmare." he added.

Miriam laughed. "Seem like good company to me. I'll be right back with you're food."

About ten minutes passed before Miriam returned, with a coffee and a few packets of sugar in one hand and the five star special platter being held with the other hand, with the sides of bacon and hash browns being held under her chin against her collarbone.

"You want a hand with all that?" Peter asked removing his headphones as he saw Miriam approach, the faint sound of Electric Light Orchestra escaping his device before he switched it off.

"I think I'm alright-" she said, almost dropping the platter under her chin as soon as Pete looked away to switch his phone off. She collected herself and placed Pete's coffee in front of him, and now with another free hand she set her food on the mini-table-booth thing. She took up most of the table all on her own with the size of her platter, but she knew what she was about. Almost as soon as she sat down she dug in, but still somehow managed to speak regularly in between bites. "My name's Miriam, what's yours?"

Peter couldn't help but smile with a mixture of bemusement and a hint of admiration as he picked up his coffee and took it off the table, lest it get knocked off by the ever approaching wall of breakfast foods.

"It's er, Peter. Peter Gay," he said, still suppressing a chuckle "I do music over at Grand Ridge, that big eyesore the town's known for."

"Similar last names. My last name is 'Grant'. Wonder what the chances of that are." Miriam commented offhandedly. She listened intently to Pete's explanation of where he spent most of his time and smile. "Yeesh, I wish I could do music. Never understood music theory and that kinda put a hamper on things. I graduated high school and hiked the Appalachian Trail. Was makin' my way to the PCT but got sucked into Farmer Hill. Gonna be here a little while- reminds me of home. Nice and cozy."

"If you think that then you haven't been here long enough" he said flashing a grin before taking a sip of his drink. "There's worse places than Farmer's Hill but er..." Peter looked out the window at the near dead town-life and saw an old man attempting to take a newspaper out from one of the machines without paying.

"Not by much" he said, opening up a pack of the sugar Miriam had brought and dumping the entirety of it into his coffee.

"Normally, it's pretty inoffensive to be perfectly honest. Actually it's quite boring." His expression changed, slightly but still noticeable "It's... Well, it's been a weird week or so. You hear about the Mill?"

Miriam nodded. "It's hard to think people like that exist... It's why I keep a shotgun in my car. Never too careful in today's world." Miriam shook her her and sighed. "If you don't like it so much, why don't you just leave?"

"I guess you and I are in the same boat." Peter said matter-of-factly "I'm not exactly wealthy. And, despite my hopes, my grades seem to point to me not being a secretly gifted mind. Unless some strange case of happenstance arises I kind of get the feeling I'm stuck here. It's not so bad I suppose but, well you get pretty tired of it all when you're as out of place as I am." Peter paused slightly and released what he was doing, he shook his head slightly and took another drink of his coffee.

"That said, I hardly do myself any favors." He added with a slight laugh. "Where are you from then? The accent's kind of a giveaway but humor me."

"Texas," Miriam began. "My family were horse breeders, I've spent most of my life helping out my parents around the ranch." She answered, finishing her entire meal in what had to be a record time for Farmer Hill, Montana. She hit her chest lightly a few times, prompting a belch that she muffled with her hand. She was certainly no stranger to unladylike behavior, it seemed.

Peter was hardly a modest person, in fact given his disheveled look he was probably the last person to throw stones in that area, never the less he was taken aback with the ferocity with which Miriam attacked her meal, seems she wasn't lying when she called herself a farm girl.

"That's uh, quite a trek" Peter said, ignoring Miriam's etiquette, or lack thereof. "Always wondered what Texas was like myself, only ever seen it in spaghetti westerns and shit." He laughed at his own joke, now managing to more easily slip into his easygoing persona with enough sugar in his system to state a five year old.

Miriam released a hearty laugh, the kind that came from deep within her chest. The conversation would've continued, but everything, including the people in the Sucre, suddenly froze in place, almost as if time had stopped.

---

"... C'mon, SuperDex..." Claire said to herself as she impatiently glanced at her cellphone, hoping for a response from Dexter. So far, none. She hissed a swear through her teeth as she looked ahead. Claire was getting a bit antsy... and needed a cigarette. She reached into her pocket, and slid one in between her lips. Before she paused for a second to get a light.

"Is this really the time, Claire?" Samson asked, as he came to a stop to look back at Claire. He was annoyed that she wanted to smoke now of all time when they had to get back to Dexter and the others soon as possible. If Maddie's right; they're a target. Everyone's a target until they bring Scott down. "We gotta go." He threw a thumb in the direction of the cafe.

"Just gimme a second-" Claire said as she lit her cigarette... and that was when the pulse of inverted light immersed them. She dropped the cigarette out of surprise but, to her surprise, it came to a slow halt. Before it froze in mid-air. She gasped as she looked around - not a thing moved other than Samson, Maddie, and... herself. People were frozen mid-stride, cars were immobile, and the birds were hovering in midair. What a strange... occurrence. She looked at her hand and moved it around.

"... Are you two seein' this?" Claire asked.

"Yeah...this is geting weird."Madeline replied to Claire with a nod. She walked up and tapped one of the immobile birds to check if time was actually frozen. "So, think one of us did this?" She asked the other two.

"What if I did it...?" Claire said as she grabbed her cigarette, and noticed that the smoke was suspended in mid-air.

"... It was a wave..." Samson mused, as he put a hand on his chin, and pointed off in the distance. "That looked like it came from the Sucre."

"...Okay, anyone else think we should hurry?" Maddie spoke up, turning to look at Claire and Samson.

"Agreed," Samson said as he broke off into a sprint straight for the cafe. Unintentionally leaving his two companions behind

"... Not if we wanna miss the weird shit," Claire said with a grin on her face as she followed after Samson.

"Hey, wait for me!!" Maddie yelled out, sprinting after the other two.

Eventually the trio made it to the Sucre, before Samson and Claire looked inside at the others confused at the frozen time. Samson quickly glanced behind him, and saw a woman with a stroller frozen, before looking to Claire. "Okay..." Samson trailed off, as he produced a flame and looked at his hand. "... We can safely say that they're something like us?"

"That's a partialy rhetorical question. With people getting these strange powers here and there, it's sorta expected to have a time user." Maddie explained, walking around the cafe. "But what could've caused this...?"

"I don't know," Claire said, "But I'm about to find out." She spoke as she stormed inside of the cafe, looking around for Dexter - with both Samson and Maddie (?) behind her. She walked through the cafe until she caught sight of Brit... with Dexter right with her. She walked over to Dexter, and... didn't know where to start.

"Jesus Christ," Claire hissed, "I have something to tell you, Dex - but I'm not even sure where to start with time randomly stopping..."

"Scott is still alive." Madeline spoke up, appearing from behind Claire. "Didn't you get her text?" She asked Dexter.

Dex was happy to see his friends, as mussed up and bloody as some of them were. He stood up to greet them. "I'm glad you all are alright-" he said, looking over Madeline. "Salt water, toothpaste, and meat tenderizer will get that out." he commented, pointing at the splatters on Madeline's shirt. He pulled out his seat for Claire to sit in and pulled another two over for Samson and Maddie. "So, Scott is still alive, I missed a few texts," he said, and then looked Claire over again. "And it looks like Claire is one of us, now."

Dexter pulled his phone out of his pocket, which had several snapchats from various people as his life simply was, a text from his mother, and two texts from Claire. With the amount of notifications, it was no surprise that he hadn't checked. "Sorry about that- it was loud in here up until a moment ago. Britney is going to speak to our resident time lord."

"Yeah... it's fine." Claire said, as she looked at Dexter, putting a hand on her hip. With that cigarette hanging from her lip. "... But, it's more than that... Maddie, can you tell Dex about... whatever the hell it was that you saw, 'pparrently?"

"Right." Madeline said, before taking a quick breath to tell about the flashback. "Apparently, Scott isn't just going after us. He's going after these," She pulled her sleave up to shown the sigil on her wrist. "Whatever these tattoos are, he's harvesting them."

Dexter would remember this.

"So he's going after markings? Do we all have one? Does he know if we have one?" Dexter questioned, and the thought of the conversation made Britney's skin crawl... for now, she was going to do what Dex said she was, and talk to that girl. Before she slips out something she wasn't supposed to.

"I guess? It would explain why he found me easily." Madeline replied. "But I was able to sense him too, how much he was burnt from the massacre."

"And if he's..." Claire trailed off, only because, at this moment, time resumed. Everyone who was frozen continued as normal - except for a few that were confused by the sudden changes. "... If he's coming after people like us, you know what that means, Dex?"

Samson crossed his arms.

"Means all of us are going to be getting to know each other a whole lot better. Safety in numbers."

"... It means we have to take the bastard out," Claire said, crossing her arms to match Samson. "He's a tough bastard, and if he's comin' after us, removing that threat should be priority...."

Dexter was beginning to feel like he was one of the protagonists in a video game of some sort. "So we gotta find Cindy, and we have to... axe Scott. Do we know where or how we can find him? How are we even going to do it? Murder isn't something we should take lightly here."

"Well, he wasn't taking morals into account while swinging that axe, now was he?" Claire said to Dexter. "We'll have to figure something out... but, what about Brit? What did she say?"

"The mountain, Cindy was a hiker and a climber. She was apparently very upset when she left so she might've gone there." Dexter explained. He looked between the few of them. "Britney's apprehensive, but would you all be willing to help? At least then, we'll be close by one another, in case Scott comes back. We've all escaped him alone. We can probably beat him together."

For a moment, the two thought about it.

"... I'm in." Samson offered a hand.

"... If it means getting to the bottom of this, yeah." Claire also extended her hand.

"I can't do much, but I'm in too!" Madeline spoke up, following suite.

Peter had been waiting for what felt like minutes though was rally a few seconds, for Miriam to continue on, she had been laughing then just.... Stopped. He cdlicked his fingers in front of her before looking across the cafe and seeing that almost everyone else was either playing a ridiculously elaborate practical joke or had suddenly stopped moving. Not just moving either, thinking, breathing. They were fucking frozen. Peter was about to get out of his booth and investigate or do.... Something, before the doors swung open and in walked Claire, Samson and someone Peter didn't recognize, looking far more worse for wear than he'd seen them last with their clothes now housing fashionable splatters of blood on them. But, somehow, that wasn't what piqued Peter's curiosity. They started talking about powers.

Peter left his booth as the group spoke about Scott, Peter by this point knew it was Scott who'd caused that massacre at the mill but that was about all he knew. From what Peter gleaned however he was going after these.... people. Who could move while everyone else was frozen, who were apparently capable of superhuman feats, he was now one of them.

"I... I couldn't help but overhear... I mean, no one else in here is very talkative anyway." Peter said gesturing to the frozen patrons, suddenly he shook his head and removed his wristband, revealing the jagged sigil wrapped around his wrist. "I don't.... I don't know what the hell is going on here but.... If what you guys are saying is true, about-.... About Scott and- and powers and everything then.. I wanna join this group you're all talking about." It only then dawned on Peter that he'd spoken to the majority of people here at best maybe three times, but regardless of past history he could now run faster than a speeding bullet or however that statement went, so it seemed anything that was the case before was off the table.

Dexter, who had previously been contemplating how to go about shaking the three hands in front of him when Peter approached the group. If he was moving, it meant he was another one of them, and when he exposed his sigil to the group, it dissipated any of Dexter's worries or suspicions. With his attention fully on Peter, Dexter extended his hand to the speedster and shook hands with him. Dexter recognized his face, but hadn't seen much of the guy around until just now.

"I'm Dexter. This is Claire, Samson, Madeline, and Britney just walked off that way-" Dexter said, motioning to each of the people around him respectively (Samson sarcastically waving at Peter), and in the direction where Britney had moved off to. "Who are you, again? I haven't seen you around much."

"I have a pretty packed schedule of getting high and falling behind on my studies," Peter said with a smile as he returned Dexter's handshake "It's Peter. Peter Grey. I'll level with you Dex, I'm... not too sure what exactly is going on around here, in fact it's only right now I've found out other people have these.... 'powers' but, if that son of a bitch is still out there then we gotta stop him somehow." Peter added, his friendly tone giving way to a much more determined one with the mention of Scott.

Dexter grinned at Peter's 'packed schedule, getting high, and falling behind' line. "We're all pretty new to this, just... trying to figure it out ourselves too. With Scott hunting us or whatever, we gotta look out for one another. Britney's cousin is missing, she's one of us, and I figure maybe we can do something good with this."

"I agree with Peter," Claire said, as she crossed her arms. "Me and Sammy ran him off by ourselves, who knows what all of us together can do." Claire didn't like the idea of a psychotic murderer after her - especially if they're going to find Cindy in one piece... if he didn't get to her first. Claire took a puff of her cigarette - realizing that it was indoors, and she was about to get an angry barista on her, so she dropped it on the floor without a care, and crushed it underneath her boot.

Peter raised his eyebrow at the mention of Claire and Samson only being able to run Scott off, to Peter's knowledge Scott was a pretty averagely built guy, certainly nothing against people who could pull off things like his speed. but if people like Claire and Samson could only hold him off.... Things were about to get much more interesting.

"I'm not sure just what Scott is now but even with all of us if we fight his game it probably won't work.We need to find a way to catch him off guard, really confuse him and take him down with all of us. I don't know what the rest of you can do but if we're only able to stalemate Scott then that'll get us nowhere and probably killed." Peter said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully, it was more a lesson he'd learned playing video games but at this point he felt like he was in a video game.

"I mean," Samson said, crossing his arms. "He can teleport, or make portals, or whatever the hell you wanna call it."

"That's possible?" Peter thought about what he said "Nevermind." He rubbed his eyes in annoyance "Well we can still try stack the deck, throw sand in his face, what have you. Maybe we could try trap him somehow? Rain down on him so quick that he doesn't have a chance to retaliate or hightail it?"

Samson created that white fire in both of his hands. "Give me a chance, and maybe I can burn him to a crisp."

Dexter remained in silent agreement with the group. He wasn't entirely sold on the concept of casual murder and wasn't comfortable talking about it openly or taking it lightly like this. It worried him that the others were so quick to jump on the bandwagon. Dexter would remember this. While they were talking about bringing Scott down, Madeline was silent in thought. They had powers that could be used as offense, but her's only made her a walking shield, so what could she do? "...W-Wait, before we head to the mountain, is it okay if I get one of my hunting rifles? If Scott comes back for revenge, of course." Maddie asked, nervously chuckling.

Dexter shrugged. "That's a good idea. If you have something, bring it. Even if it's just a tool. Cant hurt. Bring lots of water too, we'll probably be out all day."

The hunt was on.

---

^{@Surtr @Zombiedude101 @OppositionJ @Scarescrow}

---

Cafe Sucre

---

Jordan was almost glad for proving herself right.

But, with the overwhelming weight of death looming over her, resting on her shoulders, waiting for her to fail. Jordan realized the implications of having such a superpower... and the effects it could have on everyone around her. She looked around, there were some people frozen in place. Then... there was the fact that she was rude to Callie. All because she didn't believe something that she had no right to believe. That guilt inside of Jordan welled up, until a small tear fell down her eye.

"... Look, Callie," Jordan calmly trailed off. "I'm... sorry for snappin' at you like that."

Callie offered little more than a shrug in response to Jordan. Sure, she was definitely weirded out by Jordan's crazy talk, but Jordan getting all nice all of a sudden just offput Callie even further. "Don't worry about it..." Her words trailed off. Perhaps Callie had more to say. She wasn't quite sure, but she knew she would have spoken further if her attention wasn't drawn elsewhere.

In the middle of stopped time, someone bravely approached Jordan. Someone who seemed to be immune to the effects of her stopping time. Jordan could see her in the corner of her eye - as a large, white figure. She turned her head, and saw that it was that Britney girl that she heard so much about. Seen so many times. Jordan was curious as to what prompted her to approach her group of all people. Jordan saw the confident look in her eyes, and her swagger. She narrowed her eyes, worried.

"Why hello there," Britney greeted Jordan.

"... Time froze girl," Jordan flatly said. "The best you're going to say is hello?"

"That's because something like this doesn't surprise me, or phase me, even in the slightest," Britney confidently said, as a smirk formed on her face (and at the same time, a frown on Jordan's).

"Is that because you're on the shrooms as well?" Nate jibed, breaking his silence.

Britney frowned at Nathan as she manifested a small dark-blue mushroom out of the palm of her hand, and flicked it at him as a joke, eliciting a bemused snort as he awkwardly batted it aside. She smirked as she turned her attention back to Jordan. "I'm going to be... honest here," Britney said. "We're both special here... that's why I can move in stopped time and...." She turned to a girl at the adjacent table.

"... she can't."

"Yeah, figured that much out when you created a shroom," Jordan crossed her arms as she looked at Britney. "So..." Jordan trailed off.

"I wanted to ask for your help," Britney said. "Well, it's a mutual kind of help... but let me explain."

Jordan raised an eyebrow, as she listened.

"I'm looking for the help of anyone who has a strange ability," Britney said as she looked around. Briefly coughing into her hand. "Because there's something coming after us... safety in numbers, they say."

Nate shrugged. "And you're coming to the rest of us because... ? I mean, shit - 'strange abilities?' This is beyond strange. She just stopped time," he jabbed a finger in Jordan's direction, "You grow mushrooms out the ass and I'm sure as shit that Hulkster at the party was on more than steroids and daddy issues."

"Trust me," Britney said. "You haven't even seen weird yet."

Despite deflecting Nathan with the same humor he displayed the entire conversation... Britney could sense his incredulous attitude towards her. Yes, she was asking for a lot from some strangers. But, she knew they could all benefit from this. They just had to understand for a moment, and think; the situation was a lot bigger than each of them alone. And... She looked between them all... They'd get pulled into the conflict one way or another.

"I know this is a lot from a complete stranger... But, I need your help. You don't have to accept it."

"What kind of help?" he asked, gesticulating with his fingers, "You're going off the idea that I can actually help you."

"I'm running under that assumption because I know you can help," Britney said, with a smile on her face. She reached into her purse and pulled out a photo of her missing cousin, since it felt like she was giving out these photos like they were candy. "I'm looking for this girl, her name is Cindy Keagan, and she is my cousin. She went missing a few days ago, and Sheriff Reese and his goons are too busy looking for his boy to give a damn."

Britney bluntly spoke her mind, staring down Nathan. Around this time, time had resumed as normal. Britney only paused for a moment to look from left to right, to notice the shock that the frozen people had on their faces as something happened. "I'm just going have to start being blunt here, you all are something special... or else you'd be like them right now, and scratching your heads right now," Britney nodded her head in their direction. "And you each have a special ability that can be very useful in finding her..."

She looked between the group, and raised a finger up into the air, before asking a very piercing question

"... Did any of you have a dream last night?" Britney asked. letting her hands rest, "About some kids in the woods, perhaps?"

Callie was just about to reply to Jordan having finally formulated a sane response when the trio was approached. Another one? It was starting to seem like every kid had superpowers at this point. Callie stayed relatively silent as the newcomer spoke with her two acquaintances. Such was the life of an outsider. Callie didn't know anyone in this god forsaken town where everybody knew everybody. Her strange manifestation made Callie almost roll her eyes. In one day, the world had become storybook, and it was only getting worse as mysterious shroom girl spoke up about recruiting them for her superhero team.

You are all special.. It was cliche as hell, but it made Callie realize something. She couldn't be like them... Or maybe she just didn't want to be, but all the nonsense that had been randomly coming to her had to come from somewhere. When the newcomer brought with her talk of dreams, Callie was wholly convinced that even if all the superpowers were insane, they were all batshit insane together. Whether she wanted to help or not, Callie at least had to deal with all this. Maybe Jordan was right, then, and something could be done to stop the maniac axe guy... Her distant gaze finally lifted. "What do you remember?"

"Well... where do I start..." Britney said raising a finger to her lips. Looking off to the side, almost as if she was thinking. "I vividly recall the kids finding their dead dog, getting lured into a shack where they were attacked, and the one girl awakened an ice ability. Then they were saved by people in robes, using magic."

She kept that grin on her face, as she rhetorically asked, "But, do you by chance remember things differently?"

Callie wrung her hands under the table as the girl continued on. She was surely the most knowledgeable of the eldritch circumstances. "Crazy video game, stuff..." Her words came in mutters, only really audible if one really cared to make out her ramblings as the dream was described. Callie still didn't wholly know where she fit in to this weird superhero nonsense, but things were coming together.

"So you think something is coming after us, then? I suppose you're talking about the... thing?" She didn't have a better word for what she witnessed and as time went on, Callie was further deterred from calling it Scott Reese. Callie's mind then wandered to the girl's mention of her cousin. What did that have to do with things? Callie could only suspect that there was selfish motive behind her 'pseudo-recruitment'. Then again, who was Callie to sit back and not help someone in need? Oh wait... That was exactly who she was...

"Yes." Britney clearly said. "There is in fact." It went without saying that Scott is going after them. "And if we're going to stop it and survive this, we need to work together."

"And how does that work?" Nate asked, repeating his earlier question near enough, "I mean sure, this is too weird to be a coincidence so I'm gonna come out and say yeah, I saw the same trippy dream as the rest of you, but still."

"I already have made a group of... people like us," Britney said with a sly grin on her face. "We'll just work together with them."

"What, like the Avengers?"

Laughing for a moment, Britney said, "... Yes, like the Avengers."

---

Lee continued staring at the crumpled piece of paper in his hand as he waits for his food. The newspaper then changes into a small key, a boat, and a paper airplane. And Lee discovered some limit in his power. Different part of the newspaper changed in different amount of time. The more the color or ink presented on that page, the longer it took for him to change and reshaping it. Tearing the bikini model picture into half, Lee placed the piece of paper on his right hand. And slowly, the paper turn into a cube. And Lee repeats this experiment with a different paper with less ink on it. And this time, the paper turned itself much faster. Lee stared at the two paper cubes on the table. It was small and does not turn back yet.

Suddenly, Lee's stomach began to rumble, demanding its daily input of food. Standing up from the seat, Lee fixed his grey jacket as he slowly makes his way to the counter. He was planned to ask where his food is at for it seems that the cafe just take too damn long to make bacons and sausages. Of course he could ask the waitress back there, who is still engaging a very long topic with a guest about the same age as him. But common sense and decency tell Lee not to. Pressing the yellow hotel bell laid on the table, Lee patiently wait as he examined the hammer and wall symbols on both of his hands.

Since Miriam was on break, Kimberly was the only person working the counter. Not a task that Kimberly wasn't prepared to handle, as she was often the sole person at the counter during the slow days. She noticed someone trying to get her attention. She was a bit... confused, but there was no one at the counter, and she moved over to his table. Hoping to quickly gesture him back to the counter before anyone gets confused, and she gets backed up.

"Hey!" Kimberly chipperly said, somewhat annoyed that he didn't just come to the counter... he probably didn't realize that this wasn't a restaurant! But, Kimberly was going to be a bit understanding since this kid probably wasn't from around here. Or this was the first time he's been to a cafe. One of the two. Kimberly gestured towards the counter. "If you come to the counter I'll help you..." She looked at the symbols on his hands, and briefly wondered....

Lee nodded, dragging himself with an empty stomach to the counter. At there, welcoming Lee was a girl about the same age as him. She has long wavy black hair that stretch to her elbows and a pair of glasses that covered one-third of her oval face. And a pair of extremely dark and thick eyebrows above her jade eyes. But what is more interesting is her tattoo, Rex thinks as he looks at the symbol on her forehead. It was similar to the Indian bindi, with the exception is this bindi is black. It took a while for Lee to realize that is not a bindi but a camera symbol. Lee shuddered, ashamed for staring at a girl too long. Just the thought alone was enough to drive make his face to flush. Avoiding to look up at the girl, Lee try to calm himself and wishing that Samson was here. The thought of the waitress' eyes locking on him was enough for Lee to felt his bile in the stomach began to slowly rising toward his throat. Saying while still looking at the wooden floor, Lee said with his low voice and ending here and there due to his discomfort at the woman constant stare.

"Yes, I... want to... ask where is my bacon and cheese at. Thanks."

The boy was awkwardly staring at her... mostly the symbol that had appeared on her forehead. Kimberly was scared, about to say something. But, she had to remember that she was literally being paid to pretend to be nice. So, she just awkwardly pulled at her collar before she said,

"... You didn't order one?" She noted.

At the end of his sentence, Lee bowed with his head move 25 degree forward to show his gratitude. It feels much better for Lee to say those words out, despite the woman that stood in front of him did not do anything. Suddenly, Lee face palmed himself as he just realize what he said. Bacon and cheese?, Lee shakes his head as he is too shy to even look at her. Her green eyes are looking at him, judging or laughing at him. Just then, for no reason, Lee stands straight and talk clear at the waitress who was offering her help while scratching at the back of his head.

"Yes, Can you delete what I just said and replace it with bacon and sausages please. Thank you."

Lee could feel the blood flowed to his brain begin to inflate as Lee looked at the waitress' eyes. Those jade-like eyes with its purpose that Lee could not tell had pierced his soul. A small vibrant even make Lee to has a goosebump, and it was all about the woman in front of him. Smoke began to form above Lee head as the girl continued to stare at him. Raising an eyebrow, Lee asked with his low voice mixed with a little rushed.

"Uhhh, do you need me to repeat my order?"

This was fairly awkward... since Kimberly heard it just fine, but it was just the way he talked. "No, no, no, I heard it loud and clear." She said as she wrote down the order on a piece of paper and handed it to the crew member in the back. She went back to gazing at him. "... Are you okay? You seem... uh, y'knooooow..."

Lee smiles, shaking his hands to both sides as if there isn't anything wrong with him. "No, uhh.. nothing is wrong," Lee said, cracking another awkward and shy smile. And then, there came silence as there is nothing to be said between the two. Part of Lee urges him to go back to his seat and wait for his portion to come out but the other said that would be rude. In afraid of the silence between the two extended and created an awkward situation, Lee scanned his eyes to see if there is something that he could talk to. And the most noticeable thing was the cafe eerily silence. There were almost no one despite this is one of the few cafes that this store presented. Usually, as Lee imagined, the store should be more crowded. The sound of waiters and waitresses constantly bringing out the foods for its hungry customers should be a common site. But this is nowhere near it, not even thirty percent closed. Of course, Lee knew the reason for the cafe to be like an abandoned warehouse. It was probably due to the mass murderer just happen last week which cause a huge scandal for the chief of the town and raised some demands from the victims' families. Then, Lee shifts his attention toward the Kimberly tattoo. Only now Lee is beginning to question his eyesight as why did he not realize it was a camera lens.

"That is a very nice tattoo, where do you get it from?"

In his mind, Lee is beginning to pray for his mother to summon Samson from the unknown just to save him at this moment. After all, Lee was never a talkative guy in the first place and talking like this certainly pushed Lee to his limits.

Immediately Kimberly's face went rush with embarrassment as she realized somebody finally noticed this mark. She covered it up with both hands, briefly forgetting that Lee was acting very strange. "I don't know, I just woke up with it one night," Kimberly said. "Please don't make a big deal about it, I'll get fired!"

Lee grinned, trying to be less awkward by being friendly while extending his right hand. "Well, I guess that makes us equal as I also got these about a week ago." Lee stopped, trying to find suitable questions or something that may carry the conversation. But he found nothing. Looking at his hand that is extending out for almost no reason or uses, Lee slowly pulled it back as he smiled sheepishly and bowed with his head tilted slightly forward before saying. "Well, thank you for your listening ." And with that, Lee returned to his seat, letting his brain to relax after the intense interrogation with the woman. The image of the waitress constantly staring at Lee makes him blush and causing him to let his head to rest on the brown wooden table. Any more of this kind of embarrassment and Lee is going to throw himself off the bridge, Lee thinks while staring at the wooden floor beneath him. Lee doesn't know what he is looking for by constantly staring the floor like that. He just stared at it, hoping there will be something that happens. But what is he hoping for, Lee doesn't know. He just stared at it and hoping for something. Something so obscure and profound that may raise his excitement like what he just did with his power. So Lee waits for anything to happen. Or at least for the waitress to bring out his order because he is starving.

Kimberly looked at the strange markings on his hand... sigils. Kimberly thought to herself. It almost seemed as if they were the same. Same color. Seemingly same ink? There wasn't a lot of things in common between a hammer and wall, and a camera's eye, but Kimberly felt that there was. Before the girl could think on it a little harder, the boy pulled his hand away, and she raised an eyebrow. Maybe she was just thinking too much into it. At this point, the cook in the back announced that his food was prepared, and maybe he'd stop acting weird once he got a little food in him! She grabbed the plate and held it in hand, and went to hand it over...

... then that was when the boom erupted from Jordan's back.

Kimberly caught it in the corner of her eye, and when she noticed it, she dropped the plate out of shock. But, after a second, the plate paused - suspended in midair. She gasped for a moment as she looked around. Her attention not even on Lee. As she pushed the latch on her counter door open, she looked around with each step. Everyone was frozen in midair... except for her, Jordan, and many others. She was confused for a moment, as she adjusted her glasses in the off chance that she wasn't going crazy. But, it was true. Then she turned her head towards Lee.

"Wait..." Kimberly trailed off, piecing things together. "Let me see your hands again!"

Slowly lifting his head up, Lee looked at the waitress and confused by what she had to said. Nevertheless, Lee still lets her seeing both of his hands before asking. She took a good hard look at his hands, before determining something. She had the marks, Jordan had them, and so did this guy... and they all could move in stopped time.

"What happened?" And that was before Lee saw the floating dishes. Lee is confused about what is happening before his eyes. The silvery white disk with his breakfast on it is floating. There is no hand beneath it, no string attach, or any extremely strong magnetic to pull a prank on him. Eyes opened wide that fill surprised, Lee touch it. The moment when one of his fingers touch the edge of the floating dish, the dish pursue its course of falling toward the center of the Earth. There seems to be no magic, no tricks, or no paranormal phenomenon behind it. To Lee, it was just his eyes and brain become a little bit hallucinate while desperately waiting for his food. And then, once again, the dish stop mid-air as if it is challenging all the thing that Lee knew in his life. Constantly touching and pull back from the edge until the dish finally settle on the wooden floor, Lee look up at the waitress.

"So what now?" Lee asked the woman that stood next to him as he slowly rises from his seat and fixing his jacket. "Any idea?"

"I don't know..." Kimberly said, she was unsure of what to do next herself. "From the last time this happened... it only lasted a minute at most... but it could be longer."

She looked around... until she saw that Jordan's back was glowing - the hourglass symbol that Kim saw earlier this morning was glowing brightly. She realized something else, she looked back at Lee, before gesturing towards Lee. "Follow me."

Lee nodded before he carefully places his hand on the bottom of the disk and put it on his table. Despite his growing hunger that is slowly chipped away his stomach and heart, Lee thinks he should not keep the waitress waiting. But his food seems too good, Lee thinks as he pursued the woman before him. His legs feel weird, numb due to starvation. The buzzing sound begins to come back to his ears. Lee knows he ain't die if he skipped a meal, but the thought of having a food that he is not spending his time eating keep stuck in his mind. Besides, those slices of bacon and sausages that are still located on the plate seem to be glowing under the midday sun of Montana. And it just makes them to be more beautiful under the starved eyes. Letting out a small sigh, Lee follows the woman in front of him like a shadow. Head held high and spine straightens up, his mother's words crept into Lee mind. And the steps begin to turn into unity, 1..2..1..2. And like an obedient machine, the little robot will stop as the leader stopped. No questions that need to be answered. No complained to be heard. Just pure actions.

---

During the whole conversation, Jordan remained quiet the entire time. All because she was giving what this girl was saying some thought. Not dismissing her like Callie or Nathan were, but giving it thought given that she legitimately seemed like a being like her. Not only demonstrating her abstraction, but also demonstrating her immunity to her stopping time. But, there were questions that were piling up... and she had the feeling that Britney knew the answers to them. After the "Avengers" comment, Jordan stood straight up, and stared Britney right in the face.

"... I'm going to say yes," Britney smiled, but Jordan raised a finger up into the air as she made another point. "... But, on one condition."

"Oh? What is it?" Britney said.

"... That you start giving answers," Jordan bluntly said. "You obviously know a lot about this - a hell of a lot more than a rich nineteen-something rich girl should know... so why the hell should I, or anyone else, trust you?"

This was a question that Britney knew was coming - in fact, she was prepared for it. She sighed, as she looked away for a brief moment, covering her mouth. She sat down, before she sighed. "Okay, believe it or not, but this isn't the first time I've encountered something like this..." Britney started off, "I'm not sure if you heard about that car accident I got into a few years ago? When my car hit a tree?"

"No..." Jordan trailed off.

"... But, I did," Kimberly added when she walked up raising an eyebrow.

"Well, dunno how to put it anymore simply, but it was no accident... something knocked my car off road while I was driving and came after us while we were in shock... I still dunno what in the world it was, but it was definitely hungry... it attacked me." Britney said, as she looked around to see if anybody was paying attention.

"... That was when I Awakened," Britney explained. "But, I was saved by a man... John Reid. A farmer who died two weeks ago. I don't know how familiar you all are with him, but he's an Awakened - or was one, but that's just semantics."

She trailed off for a moment, as she sighed, trying to hide the remorse for the man.."John Reid knew a lot about Awakened... probably because he was so powerful, but he trained me a bit. Taught me everything I need to know about the Awakened.... and figuring out why he died may be the key to solving this problem."

She assumed a neutral posture, and folded her hands together, "Any questions?"

Awakened... Damn. How come she got to name it? As Kimberly and Lee approached the table, Callie finally started to put things together. Perhaps it was something that had to do with the party, but then again, there were way more than a handful of kids at the party. As Jordan conceded to the still unnamed girl's superhero team, Callie furrowed her brow. This was all insane no matter how true it was. Also, what lets her get to lead the superhero team? Not that Callie could do it herself. Once again, the almost wholly silent girl spoke up, eyes flicking in between the ever-growing party of people in the... time bubble?

"What's your plan then?" Callie's voice was determinant. Perhaps this was the best course of action, especially if Callie was able to pull off something like Jordan.

"Well... keep this to yourselves, but my cousin knows something about this," Britney whisped, looking over her shoulder for a moment at Dex. "... if we find her, we figure out what the hell is going on, and we stop this."

"I like how you just casually talk about this stuff like it's nothing," Nate shrugged, "You think maybe this could've been more help at the party?"

"What happened at the party was..." Britney nervously said, as she looked to the side. "... Completely unexpected." She hung her head, her hat covered her eyes somewhat. She wished that she could ha helped, but she had no idea that it would happen there of all places.

They also didn't invite her.

"Unexpected," Nate echoed, "For someone who knows a lot about all this shit you didn't know jack about Bruce Banner's younger, inbred cousin hulking out on us. But y'know what? I'm alive, those two are alive and some weird shit is happening so fuck it. Why not?" Britney knew that Nathan didn't exactly get it - and he was unlikely to ever get it, unless he sawit for himself.

Callie didn't necessarily want to help, but she didn't really feel she had much of a choice. She hummed a moment, eyes averting from the onlookers. "Keep me informed. I can at least try to help..."

"Same," Jordan nodded. "I'm going to help get to the bottom of this."

"Where ever Jordan goes, I go." Kimberly said, "There's somebody I'm hoping to find myself."

"Excellent," Britney said as she looked at the group. There was a bit of distrust in the group, Britney could see that. Like she previously thought; once they see the things that Britney had with their own two eyes... they'd change their mindset preeetty quickly. "I'll definitely keep in touch with you all, just..." She reached into her purse, and pulled out a piece of paper, and then grabbed a pen. She wrote down her phone number, and slid it to them.

"... Make sure to give me a call if you need anything." Britney said as she turned around, and walked off..