CH.7 Deal and Blessing

“Who… who are you?” Tommy stammered, stumbling back and nearly tripping over his own feet.

“Me? Do you need to know? I don’t think so—or you’re not worthy enough yet,” the glowing streak on Tommy’s hand twisted into a cartoonish mouth, smirking at him.

Tommy didn’t dare speak, just stood there frozen, waiting for the mystery voice to continue.

“Hee hee, that scared you already? You’re such a wimp, scaring others when you’re this chicken. But hey, you’re lucky… one of the first to awaken when the mystery hit the real world,” the voice went on.

“Awaken?” Tommy asked.

“You can call yourself empowered or whatever, but with your puny little power, the name doesn’t matter,” the graffiti-like lines split apart, floating off Tommy’s hand and reforming on the ground into a bouncy ball with a crude face and a top hat.

“I need you to do some things for us. Power’s your reward,” the top-hat ball face hopped up onto a wall. “You can’t say no—I’m not giving you a choice.”

Tommy’s hands and feet went cold. He wanted to run, but he was too terrified.

“But don’t worry, it’s stuff you’re ‘good at,’” the ball face grinned. “You’re gonna create fear.”

“Create fear?” Tommy echoed.

“Hee hee, I’ll give you the power to summon the dead. Go to more places—spots where people died, especially those with urban legends. Call up the spirits, let the fear spread.”

“Ghosts? So the one in the hospital was from you guys…”

“Idiot, of course not. That’s the world’s barriers thinning.”

“Barriers?”

“I’m not your teacher, kid—I don’t wanna explain everything,” the voice snapped. Then lines unfurled, diving into Tommy’s body.

Tommy felt nothing—no pain, no sensation at all.

“There, now you’ve got the power to summon ghosts. Go serve the great darkness,” the line figure said, then mocked, “Too late to back out now. If I take the power back, I’ll rip out part of your soul with it. You don’t wanna know what a sliced soul feels like, ha ha ha!”

With that, it vanished.

Tommy was left alone, staring at his unchanged hands. In the distance, footsteps—were those the guys he scared coming back? Or cops? He didn’t know. He just bolted.

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“All set up,” Jane said, brewing herself a cup of coffee and blowing on the steam.

Besides guiding those two kids, she’d assigned them some tasks. But just two people? Way too few. She’d given Tommy an extra power—“Summon Spirits”—to beef up her ability library a bit, like “Micro Shock,” which just numbed people… nothing like a real taser.

Progress was snail-slow. Her abilities were all flash and no substance—good for fooling folks short-term, but anyone would catch on eventually that her “stand-ins” were bluffing.

“Gotta find more talent…” Jane tugged at her hair, thinking hard.

“Might as well hit the streets and see what luck brings. And while I’m out…” Jane pulled out the two-dollar coin she’d snagged from Calvin, grinning. “Grab a soda from the vending machine.

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In a dark alley downtown, Sofia lugged her grocery bags from the supermarket, her black shoulder-length hair swaying in the night breeze. The store wasn’t far, so she hadn’t bothered with her car—the one she’d just financed.

“Ugh,” Sofia sighed, her mood in the dumps lately.

It wasn’t just her parents, jetting between Ho Chi Minh City and New York for business, pushing her to ditch her illustrator dreams for architecture. That way, she could get hooked up with a job at a Vietnamese firm through their connections.

Also, because one of her friends, a girl she had a crush on, just announced her marriage and is holding the wedding on campus.

Sofia kept her sexuality buried deep; her parents were super conservative. She’d planned to come out once she was financially independent… but that felt ages away.

Lately, she’d been thinking about getting her ears pierced, trying edgier clothes…

Who knew how long this routine would drag on?

Lost in thought, Sofia stepped right on something, tripping and face-planting. Her world flashed white for a second.

“Ouch,” Sofia groaned, pushing herself up. She looked back—a crushed soda can.

“Ugh, who litters like this?” she huffed, checking her bags. She’d bought a dozen eggs—please don’t be broken.

Her hopes dashed: three were smashed, and a few more cracked.

“Great, so unlucky. And my clothes are filthy now.”

Sofia dusted herself off and turned back. Just as she neared her apartment entrance, she heard arguing voices.

“Get off me, stay away!” a woman’s voice snapped, laced with anger and fear.

“Shut up, we’re settling this now!” the man barked, his tone rough and impatient.

Sofia peeked around the corner from the alley, spotting a short-haired white guy with a neck tattoo closing in on a blonde woman in a red dress. She had a killer figure, but her face was tense. They were deep in a heated argument.

“I said enough! I never said money would get you anything, and I’m not for sale!” the woman shouted, her voice sharp with desperation.

“Save it!” the man sneered. “I spent a fortune on you, and all those flirty vibes? You were basically saying ‘pay up and we’re good.’ Now you’re playing innocent? You scamming me?”

“I’m sorry, but find someone else. I’m not…”

“Give me back my money, then!”

“I… I don’t have it.”

“You damn bitch, don’t think I won’t hit you.” The man’s eyes were bloodshot, glaring at her. When she turned to pull out her phone, he snatched it and smashed it on the ground, shattering it to pieces.

“No…” As she started to scream, he clamped a hand over her mouth, pulling a knife and pressing it to her neck. “Bitch, time to pay for screwing me over…”

Sofia hid behind the corner, frozen in shock. She didn’t dare make a sound, quietly pulling out her phone to dial 911, backing away slowly. They were just a wall apart—if he spotted her, she might not escape. She hoped the cops would hurry.

“Ding—” a sound rang out, like from Sofia’s side, making the man pause. “Who’s there?”

Sofia froze too. That wasn’t her phone’s ringtone.

The man shouted, “Wanna play hero? Show yourself! This woman scammed me out of seven grand—mind your own business!”

The woman let out muffled sobs, her body shaking—she was clearly terrified.

“What do I do? Run and call from farther away? But if he sees me, he might hurt her and bolt…” Sofia swallowed hard, her mind racing. Then, a voice echoed in her head.

“Chosen warrior, step forward bravely. Claim your blessing and face the darkness ahead.”

Sofia blinked, stunned. A path of light appeared before her, leading to a blank door floating in an endless, cloudless sky.

She had no clue what was happening. Glancing back, the light path was crumbling fast. Her heart pounded—she dashed forward, diving through the door. The world snapped back to normal.

“Huff… huff…” Sofia gasped, catching her breath. Then it hit her—she was now less than five feet from the man!

The man spotted the girl who’d just burst out of nowhere, stunned. The threatened woman stared at Sofia with wide, shocked eyes.

“Uh…” Sofia froze. The three of them locked eyes, the air thick as mud.

Oh crap, Sofia thought, her mind going blank.