Prelude

In the early morning hours, Johanny and Lucas are close to finishing their shift. Despite having a couch to sit on, they’re both resting on the soft carpet floor, with Johanny laying down, having fallen asleep. Lucas stares at the screens with dreary eyes until his partner suddenly sits up, panting heavily, startling him in the process.

“What is it? What happened??” Lucas panics.

“It was a bad dream…or maybe it’s better to say someone is haunting me.” She says.

That doesn’t make things clear, but recently, Lucas could tell something was wrong.

“You’ve been out of it ever since the battle.”

“You noticed?” Johanny asks, slightly surprised.

“Well, we work together every night so…”

Johanny places her palm on her forehead and runs her fingers through her hair as she calms down, “I know what Chase said, that it’s either them or them and us, but I can’t get that sister’s distressed face out of my head.”

After fighting the twins, one was left immobilized due to Johanny’s weapon. Michael won’t let her die so she’s definitely safe. Chase didn’t elaborate beyond that, leaving her to feel unsatisfied by his answer. To go from helping people to harming them for her own survival. This is not what she had in mind when she agreed to join.

“I can’t deny I’m having trouble too. Though this started before I joined.” Lucas admits.

“In the hospital?”

Lucas nods. “I used to be outgoing, more talkative. Then when I was stuck there, I wondered if I was copying my brother’s entire persona, not just his actions, so I don’t know how I should act anymore. I’m trying to be more honest to start.”

Johanny continues to listen and thinks back to some of his recent comments.

“Is that why you’re saying annoying things?!”

“Annoying…?” Lucas hesitates to ask for clarification, worried what she may say.

“You can be honest all you want, but don’t say everything that comes to mind.”

“I’ll make a mental note.” he says with an exasperated sigh.

“I’m kind of the same, anyway.”

Before Hope came across Johanny, she was struggling with her career switch and felt completely lost. She was trying not to think about having to decide what to do with that, and soon she may have no choice. It’s not like she wants to die to avoid it further. At least not anymore. Comparing the thought of going back to deal with that and this battle currently before her are equally painful.

Theo then peeks his head into the room and observes their expressions.

“Ah- are you two having a super secret talk without me??”

Theo walks in and sits down, forcing himself between them. Lucas reluctantly scooches over to give him some space.

“Then what about you? Anything you plan to do after all this?” Lucas asks.

“So that’s what you’re talking about.” Theo lets out a huff, “I already lost 7 years of my life after going blind. At some point, I became so focused on making money that I can’t remember what I studied in college or if I even had a dream.”

He learned to live with his disability, but certain aspects continued to frustrate him. His home life at the time added to that, making it near impossible to focus in college. He dropped out 2 years ago with his negative feelings still fresh in mind.

“I have no family and no home. I’ll have to start everything over.” He adds.

“Then I guess we’ll figure it out together. Let’s get through this first.” Johanny suggests.

“Yeah, no way am I giving up my life for something so stupid.” Theo says.

“Same. Like Hope said, ‘all of us will make it to next year’.” Lucas adds.

Managing to make her statement sound more cheesy than when they heard it before, Theo and Johanny can’t help giggling. Lucas initially feels embarrassed, but he ends up joining their laughter.

Meanwhile, Chase is in his hidden room, listening to all that they’re saying. It wasn’t his intention to eavesdrop. Even if he did get up, there isn’t anything he could say. They at least sound better than they have the past few weeks.

Aside from feeling down, the group has had little motivation to take on their daily monitoring duties. Since no one has been spotted, Chase hasn’t pushed it. He has to rally them together if they’re to continue, but the confidence he’s displayed until now has been a lie. He’s still just as scared as he was when he first received his father’s memories.

He pushed himself to look good for the sake of his life’s mission, to protect the people he gathered. He’s convinced his father would be ashamed. Though he’s not sure if he cares about what someone he hasn’t met thinks. Just like when he questioned if a mission that was barely explained to him really matters.

Chase sighs, “Regroup.” he says with a whisper.

He switches gears to focus on their best course of action. Since they haven’t seen anyone after their last battle, he assumes Michael told them to stay out of sight. Losing one person already puts a major dent in the ritual. If he loses another follower, there will be a shortage of years and Michael can’t afford that.

The only one with a chance of sensing their presence is Chase, but if he leaves his forcefield, he will most likely be captured which would render all their hard work pointless and everyone loses.

Chase thinks back to Lucas’ dream, “ ‘A battle against Michael on an open field’. That may be our only option.”

Usually if nothing is resolved by November, Michael spends more time searching for the enemy hideout. It can take him a few days or weeks. No matter what, he always succeeds, and that time is coming up quicker than he’d like. Chase closes his eyes, falling into a deep slumber despite waking up moments before.

Hours later, Chase opens his hidden door to see Hope reading a book. He realizes he must have fallen asleep again while coming up with a game plan. His sleep sessions are usually short and this was almost 8 hours, a full night’s worth. Hope doesn’t hide her concern.

“You okay?”

“Yeah, guess I was tired.”

Chase leaps out and closes the mysterious door, with the outline disappearing as he does so. Hope peeks her head around to watch it happen. She has yet to understand how it works.

“Tomorrow is October 20th.” Chase murmurs.

Although it seems like he doesn’t want to talk about it, Hope asks, “Do you have a plan?”

“Not sure if it will work, but I think I know what we need to do.” Chase turns to Hope with a playful grin, “It just requires some patience.”

“You sure you can handle it?” Hope teases.

“I made it this far, didn’t I? A little more can’t hurt.”

Hiding behind their joking demeanor is a nervousness that resurfaced in recent days. They are all too familiar with the difficulty of the task that will soon confront them. The moment they’ve been waiting for. If they let it show, there’s fear that it will affect the entire group, which is something they can’t allow. Chase ponders for a minute before speaking,

“We can go over it in a few days.” He takes a seat next to Hope, “What are you reading?”

The peaceful days are soon to be gone, but there’s no need to jump into battle right away. Rather than focus on the monitors, Hope and Chase spend the hours discussing their favorite stories and other hobbies, something neither have done with one another until now. It’s always been about the battle, the past, or the ritual, finishing with a somber comment that made it difficult to bring up anything else. This time, they’re able to stay on topic.

**********************************

Chase is alone in the surveillance room, watching from the couch. As usual, nothing is happening. He’s been at it for about 2 hours today and lets out a yawn. This isn’t from fatigue, more like boredom since the lack of movement continues.

Chase stands up to stretch in an attempt to wake up until he suddenly feels a stinging pain in his chest. He clutches it with his right hand and looks up, already knowing the source.

Through the ceiling, Michael enters the room, slowly floating down. This home has no attic so the roof is directly connected to, and therefore part of, Chase’s imaginary room.

Michael notices the many computer screens as he reaches the floor, recognizing each area on display. As expected, they’re all hotspots: busy intersections, parks, and popular shopping and business sections. Having people who grew up here makes this easy to put together.

Chase tries to hide his fear with a forced smile, “Should I say ‘welcome’?”

“That depends on how you decide to handle this.”

The two men stare each other down with neither budging. Chase then follows Michael’s eyes as he glances at the table against the wall where Hope’s sword rests atop. Her shift was right before this. She usually carries it with her, but left it behind to get a snack.

The instant Chase attempts to move, Michael grabs him by the throat to hold him in place, causing him to wheeze as he breathes. Chase struggles, unable to fight back besides grabbing at Michael’s arm.

“The usual resistance. Though I’m actually here for you and that wretched weapon.”

Michael picks up the sword and takes one look at it, confirming that he can’t sense it. This is no doubt the same sword that constantly hindered his plans. There’s one more thing he needs to do before leaving.

With the two objects in hand, Michael pulls the bedroom door open with a heavy force as if manipulating the wind, resulting in it hitting the wall with a loud bang. It takes a few seconds until Hope is standing in the doorway, shocked by what she sees.

“Michael…” she says in a deep tone.

“Hello, young girl. I’m sure you’ll know where to find me.” Michael says before disappearing in a flash of light.

Michael teleports to a different area and tosses the shapeshifter onto the ground. Chase coughs as he tries to catch his breath after being choked for a few minutes.

Observing his surroundings, it’s a grassy field in the middle of a park where Jacob and Kelsay were already waiting. Since it’s the afternoon, there are people playing and walking around. None of them seem alarmed by the odd group of four. Chase then notices a tinge of yellow, making the sky appear green.

“A forcefield.” he utters, convinced it can’t be anything else.

“We’re hidden from regular people, but those with abilities can see us.” Michael states while standing above him. He then realizes, “I almost forgot.”

Michael holds his hand flat and raises his arm before motioning down, cutting Chase from his forehead, through his right eye, and down his arm. Chase immediately recoils from the attack and grabs his injured arm. He feels the blood trickle down his body. Deep enough to immobilize me yet shallow enough so I won’t bleed out right away.

“Thanks for your consideration.” He says with a weak chuckle.

Michael says nothing. He simply looks out, waiting for his enemies to arrive. If it was up to him, he would activate the ritual right now. There’s only one problem: having 2 people and the shapeshifter results in just over half the amount of years than what is asked of him. To reach the necessary quota, he needs at least 2 people in the opposing group. It doesn’t matter who, any of them would suffice.

Michael is sure they’ll come after him, even if it’s only for the person he kidnapped. His two allies are also eager for the promised encounter, each planning to continue their confrontations from before.

Chase begins panting. His body shaky, shoulders heaving slightly. The burning sensation of the wounds and weakness from blood loss makes the pain close to unbearable. He tries to stay awake. While he has the chance, he decides to bring up the one thing that has been nagging him.

“Can I ask you something?” Chase politely asks his attacker.

“You can try.” Michael says, nonchalantly.

“Why did you choose Jacob instead of Lucas? You never passed over someone who could see visions before.”

Michael continues to monitor the park as he answers, “The older brother was in deep despair after being told he will never walk again. His prayers are what drew me to them so I took the risk to give him another chance.”

If Michael did take Lucas, it’s more likely that Jacob would have no part in this and Chase would encounter someone else. He doesn’t have the power to heal someone. Theo is a rare case since his ability is related to his lost vision. As such, Jacob would have served him no purpose, even if he could be considered ‘useless’ which is a qualification to take part.

“So it was a simple reason after all.”

“You may find this hard to believe, but I’m only heartless to your kind for continually interfering.”

The area becomes silent as they wait. Chase continues to struggle, his wounds are taking its toll. He tries his hardest to keep his weary eye open, but it proves too much. I’m sorry, Hope. If you didn’t stay with me…didn’t take time getting to know me…you wouldn’t have another thing to cry over. Chase then lays on the ground, falling unconscious.

Michael takes a moment to examine the sword. He never held it before, but something doesn’t sit right with him. He can’t sense it, that much he’s certain of.

He then notices its composition suddenly change into that of a regular sword made of steel. Something he can sense. He glares at the sleeping shapeshifter. Michael figures he used a mini forcefield on the sword itself to prevent him from suspecting anything, with it disappearing once he was knocked out.

Since Michael’s powers aren’t always active, he didn’t pick up on the forcefield nor did it dissolve immediately. He didn’t bother checking either. He failed to consider they could do such a thing. He now realizes it’s a trap.

When he raises his eyes, they’re met with the shimmer of a blade as it’s swung in his direction. It’s Hope, having taken advantage of Michael being distracted to strike with her superspeed.

Michael raises his hand in an attempt to guard, dropping the fake sword in the process, but he’s barely given the chance. She slices through his skin, cutting his arm and shoulder blade, just short of his neck. Michael jumps into the air to avoid a further assault.

Hope showcases a menacing glare and clicks her tongue at the disappointing results. Though this does tell her one thing; even a being like him can be fatally wounded like any other human.

Michael’s allies are just as surprised by her swift attack.

“Just appearing out of nowhere.” Jacob complains.

“If she’s here then the others should be too!” Kelsay shouts.

The two run toward Hope and are stopped by an exhausted Lucas who was dragged into the forcefield by Johanny. She releases his arm and draws her weapon, swiping it down with a grin.

“Don’t worry, we’re here too.” Johanny states.

“Yeah…” Lucas tries to speak, but doesn’t have the energy.

“I told you to get a head start so you wouldn’t get so worn out.”

“I couldn’t leave you alone like that.” Lucas lets out a heavy breath and stands up straight, attempting to look tall.

While Hope came from a further distance, Lucas and Johanny were on standby closer in the park, trying to stay out of sight. Since one of them has a chip, they couldn’t rush into the battleground without Michael noticing. Instead, they had to match Hope’s speed to the best of their ability, with the idea of arriving shortly after her.

The trio surrounds Chase’s body all while keeping their eyes on their opponents. Although they’re worried about his condition, they can’t lose sight of their main goal. They can still hear him breathing so he is alive. That will have to be enough for now.