Esper Chapter 7: A trip through the dark

Part 1

Landon Highschool’s cafeteria was packed full of students running about and laughing as they escaped the torrent of rain outside. Harper Wolf and Vergil Trask pushed past a group of seniors as they made their way to a table. Seated at their destination were a young African-American girl, short and with frizzy hair adorning her head; just opposite her was a curly haired, freckle faced young man toweling himself dry. “Lefty… Lefty?” Harper called out to the girl who was enthralled, her face brimming with glee, and scrolling away, by whatever was on the screen of her phone. “Pete, is Lefty on that fan fiction website again?”

“Probably. Knowing her, it’s some boy’s love novel or whatever…” The curly haired boy answered, tossing aside his bookbag to make room for Vergil and Harper at the table. “You know Lefty, once there’s something to read in front of the girl, nothing stops her!”

The two joined their friends as the lunchroom filled up to near capacity. “Hey H-Harper, let’s get s-some food.” Vergil’s meek voice was barely audible in the commotion, but Harper was used to it.

“Sure! Pete, you want anything? I’m guessing Lefty’s uninterested.” Pete responded by dismissively shaking his head, so both young men walked off. Harper and Vergil weaved in and out of the numerous lines leading toward the counter and placed their orders. While waiting, out of the corner of his eye, Vergil spied a familiar face! Maggie Prince, one of the most beautiful girls in school, if only in Vergil’s eyes. Her platinum blonde hair that parted right up the middle showcasing her narrow eyes, tiny nose, and red lips could catch Vergil’s attention anywhere, even among the sea of bodies separating them! “Verg, if you want to talk with her, go ahead! Now is probably the perfect time since she’s not doing anything.”

“Wha?!” The sudden proposal from his portly associate left Vergil stammering uncontrollably. “Wait! I-I c-can’t j-just-”

With a sigh, Harper gripped the collar of his less confident friend, and totally self-assured, strolled through a crowd of taller students! Upon noticing them coming toward her, Maggie lowered her phone and forced a half smile. “Ah! Before you say anything Maggie, I’m just passing by. Verg, you finished the homework from last night, right? I know someone…” Harper snuck a wink over to Maggie, who recoiled at his sneering. “…Hasn’t finished, herself.”

“What? How on earth would you…” The beautiful face of the young woman glowed bright red as she began to shout at Harper! “Ehhm!” She cleared her throat and started again. “Harper, how did you know about that?” Maggie ineffectively attempted to force another smile, but it came across threatening when coupled with the vein in her forehead.

“Oh, does it matter? Here Verg, maybe you can help her out! I’ll grab our food!” Off Harper rushed back to the counter just as their food finished being made, leaving Vergil embarrassed, nervous, and confused.

“I-I-I…”

Maggie groaned. “Vergil, do you really have the homework?” He nodded. “Can…I copy it?” Almost losing what little composure he’d accrued, Vergil nodded vigorously, and shakily brought her back to their table.

At said table, Harper happily greeted them alongside Lefty, who’d finished reading, and Pete, seemingly befuddled as to the mere presence of Maggie Prince. Throughout the lunch period, people came over to the table asking questions to Harper, paying him compliments, and even begged for advice! The rain finally began to lighten up and the students were loosed from the cafeteria. As everyone migrated back to their classrooms in between buildings, Harper checked his phone. “Looks like Nick finally got around to reading my message.” He pulled in close to Vergil, showing a text.

Nicolaus’s longwinded message was written more like a debriefing, in which he described the events from the preceding night. Explaining the phenomenon, he wrote of it being like a miniature version of the Newtonville lights. Vergil was so preoccupied with the message he didn’t pay attention to Maggie, who’d become curious of the two’s secrecy. She casually leaned over Vergil’s shoulder, with her face only being about an inch away from his! As soon as Vergil noticed, he animatedly leapt back, tossing his books onto the damp grass surrounding the loggia!

“Ohp! Sorry, didn’t mean to freak you out.” Vergil stammered, unable to put together a sentence from a mixture of delight and mortification. “I was just wondering if you two were talking about Harper’s secret to popularity.”

“Yeah…Harper, what’s up with that? Everybody’s so nice to ya’ all of a sudden?” Lefty inquired, jabbing at Harper’s rib in jest.

“Haha! It’s obvious that everyone just noticed how cool I was after…the uh…incident…” That statement sucked the air out of the group. “Ugh! Stop thinking about it, guys! Let’s just-"

“Yooo…” A laidback and unenthused call cried out to the group. In the distance, a red cap wearing, platinum blonde man approached, while shifting his eyes between the doors. “Long time no see, Vergil, Harper, Lefty and Pete! You guys are still hanging out? That’s fucking sweet.” The man scratched at the stubble on his chin.

“Warren! For what possible reason did you come here?” Maggie stepped in front of the group, taking immediate charge of the conversation! “You’re going to get in trouble for being on school grounds!”

“Relax. I can’t check on my baby sister from time to time?” Warren reached out to pat Maggie on the head. She swatted his hand away with prejudice!

“Leave! Now!” She said, the vein in her rather pronounced forehead beginning to show.

“Dude…you’re just like Mom. Even got the forehead! Hahahahah! I’m just happy to see you hanging with the good kids. Don’t end up like me!” The group watched as Warren strolled away, hysterically laughing to himself, all the while Maggie shot him dirty looks. Unbeknownst to the rest of the group however, Harper was sent a message on his phone. It read [Meet me after, homie.] Harper sighed, dropping his phone back into his pocket.

“W-We should get t-to class.” Vergil pointed out they’d wasted far too much time and were late! The group rushed off to class just as the storm began picking up again, just barely making it on time.

Part 2

Across town in a lavish hotel room, Katie Vang was cleaning makeup off her face and clothes. (Told Spike, I’d call him, but I’m too tired now. Those bastards wanted to party all night! I just wanted to go home, but at least this should’ve changed his mind a little.) She tiptoed into the massive front room, laden with people in various stages of undress or adorned in leather straps and belts. They were either sleeping on the floor, in the California king sized bed or, in the case of the top reviewer in the city, handcuffed to a post in the room. (Now then…let’s make sure.) The man laid with his back against the post, out cold. “Wakey-wakey, Mr.Critic!” Katie drew her slender finger down his chest to no reaction. (Oh right, this guy is one of those types…ugh! I hate doing this.) She stood back up and cleared her throat. “Wake up you piece of trash!” Katie slapped the man awake!

“Huhh…Miss…Vang…” He quickly realized where he was seated and instead of growing fearful, grew aroused.

(Gross…this guy is gross.) Katie thought, but put on a smile. “How about we finish what we started last night…”

“Oh yes! Yes! Right here, step right here!” The critic gestured his head downward as Katie looked on with disgust.

(…I should just stomp until there’s nothing left. That’d be a way to make the world a better place.) “Not that finish…” Katie cupped the man’s chin. “Your promise…the review.”

“Oh, right…” She released him from his cuffs and the man staggered over to the bed, pulling out a laptop. “Just like we said, ‘The entire play carried by it’s masterclass of acting by the main heroine.’ And it continues on from there. How’s that?”

“Perfect!” Gleefully, Katie patted the man on his head as she pulled out her phone, beginning to typing away.

“Great! Now for round 2?”

“2? Sorry, but I’ve got things to handle. Maybe later.” With a mischievous wink, Katie backed up toward the door, grabbing an umbrella near the entrance. “Take care!” And with a wave, off to Katie rushed to her job! (I swear, between this and Matthew, if I don’t get any more notoriety, I’m going to lose it! Oh right, did Spike actually read my message? Not like it matters, I could barely make it through half of that boy’s diatribe. He’ll just tell me again once I see him anyway.) Katie walked onto the train platform and waited as the eye of the storm held in place overhead, downgrading the squall to a slight drizzling. (First work, then rehearsal for the next show, then I’ve got put up with Matthew for a while…ah, I forgot about damn training!) As the train closed in on the station the sound of a high-pitched whistle caught her ear!

Three hooded figures hopped over turn-styles with police officers in hot pursuit! On the opposite platform, the group weaved in between patrons, their beige and black hoodies remaining visible amongst the crowd! Just as the train pulled into the station all three of the hooded people leapt onto the tracks! The train’s horn blared as the conductor tried desperately to slow down! They quickly jumped over the gates and began climbing up onto the next platform near Katie, leaving the officers stuck beyond the train. “Let’s go, keep running!” One called back to the other figures!

Katie took a minute and assessed the situation, then began to focus her powers. (I wonder if…I can…) The three sprinted past Katie, paying no mind to her as they pushed bystanders away. Suddenly one tripped, falling flat onto the ground! The others kept going as the person looked back; from the ground a pitch-black hand sprouted forth, wrapping its grip tightly around the person’s ankle!

“What the hell?!” Kicking at the ghastly hand elicited no response, it remained unaffected, solid and without a hint of fragility. The other two halted, prepared to assist until the police had successfully crossed on from the other platform! “Just run! Forget about me!” They heeded their accomplice’s words and fled, leaving the trapped person alone. As soon as the police came up to them, the hand shattered and vanished into thin air! When the officers forced the person down onto their belly and removed their hood, it was revealed to be young woman in her late teens. “Hey, wait, what happened to that hand?! Didn’t you see that?!” She was pulled up to her feet as the officers dragged her away. “The police are protecting human traffickers! Beset’s sword won’t be sheathed!!” Were her last words as she was taken off the platform and placed into a police car.

“…What was all that about…?” Katie said to herself in a hushed tone. (Another conspiracy theory person? I’ve had more than enough of that with the incident at Newtonville.) She’d grown annoyed with excessive interviews and questioning that’d taken place after the incident. (At least I learned something new about my power.) Katie smirked as her train pulled into the station and she rode off to work.

Part 3

The storm finally subsided right in time with the second school bell, signaling most students could leave for the day as they filed out of Landon Highschool’s main building. Harper and friends sat down on the bleachers nearest the football field, idly chatting. “Wet bleachers suck!” Pete bellowed across the empty pitch!

“Well, why ‘er we here right now, Pete?” Lefty said sarcastically.

“…” Pete remained quiet.

“Because someone here wanted to smoke! Who would that be?”

“Not I!” Said Harper enthusiastically while Vergil chuckled under his breath.

“Okay, I get it, Mama Lefty!” Pete said mockingly.

“Quit it with that Mama Lefty shit! People ‘ll think weird stuff.” Lefty replied while covering the mouth of her overly loud friend. The group continued to banter for a few minutes until Harper, with phone in hand, got up.

“Sorry guys. Business calls! We can talk more tomorrow.” He began walking down the bleachers but stopped for a second. “…Verg…no, never mind. See you guys later!” Off Harper chugged, his stubby legs carrying him as quickly as possible across the damp and muddy field.

“Where’s he going?” Pete tossed his cigarette butt into a puddle.

“He’s bein’ real’ weird lately, since da’ incident. I guess that’s ta’ be expected though. Verg, d’ya have any idea what’s up?” The southern draw from Lefty was always amusing for Vergil to hear since she would slip in and out of it unconsciously.

“I don’t k-know…” Vergil checked his phone, looking at the time with a growing pit in his stomach.

“Welp, I may as well head home too.” Pete got up and walked down the stands. “Lefty, you want a ride?”

“Hmm…yeah. I’ll see ya’ later Verg!”

“Ah…” And like that, Vergil was left all alone on the cold, damp bleachers. (Now what?) Checking the time again, he confirmed the school day had concluded, though the young man remained unable to go far from the school grounds. (I’ve got to wait for Wilhelmina to finish after-school activities.) It was then that Vergil looked at the message he’d received from Nicolaus. (Oh! I forgot to answer this! I should reply.) The message that he sent read… [Hey, sorry about replying late. All that new info you wrote about was interesting! Do you want to talk more about it?]

After a few minutes, Nicolaus replied with gusto! [Absolutely! Where are you? I’ll fly by! I just left Amala’s place.] The two agreed to meet up just off the school grounds at a local comicbook café nearby known as ‘Paige Turner’s Page Turner’.

Vergil came into the half full café feeling uncomfortable with the amount young people sitting around. They weren’t the types he’d expected; far more women and trendy looking guys. Off at one of the tables he spotted Nicolaus, leafing through a manga he immediately recognized. “I-Is that Haruhiko?” Vergil asked, taking a seat opposite Nicolaus.

“Yeah.” He answered with a smile. “I haven’t read the latest chapters and this place has all of them. It started when I was a teenager and it’s still going…kind of crazy.” The two laughed, realizing they shared another thing in common. A waiter came by and they placed their orders while chatting. “I don’t know…I feel like the story went off the deep end around the 3rd arc. Haruhiko started getting power up after power up and the writer started forgetting other characters.”

“Yeah h-he often d-does. I really wanted to s-see more of Y-Yuki. But I t-think he hates h-her.”

“Yuki, huh? Always seemed kind of standoffish to me. I’ve always been a bigger fan of Miyako, since she’s more forward and the strong type.”

“Heh…your taste in w-waifus makes sense.”

“…I don’t like that insinuation.” Vergil laughed. Their food arrived and as the two ate Nicolaus got serious, explaining his findings. Everything from the weird reactions of his power, the meeting with Aran and what he’d witnessed involving Vernon and Raquel Childs, the police officer. “What do you think…?”

“…” Vergil was taken aback by the slew of information presented. “W-Well…I’m not sure…do the others…really not care?”

“Harper said ‘That sounds interesting, but if you didn’t catch anything on film, then what are we supposed to do? We’ll check it out later’, were his exact words. Katie just responded ‘Wow! Really?’, so it doesn’t seem like anyone is really too into this discovery.” Nicolaus fussed with his spiky hair.

“W-What about Amala and V-Vernon?”

“…Amala…I spoke with her, but she was…a bit weird today. That doesn’t matter much though. All the stuff that Aran guy explained, if it’s true, then…we’ve got to be careful. If this is really a government conspiracy, then the suppression of information makes sense. Like how nothing has really come about Kevin Greene and Niles Letterman!”

“W-What do we do…?”

“…I…want to keep investigating. Maybe Aran could be of use.” Nicolaus pondered in silence for a minute as an alarm went off on Vergil’s phone.

“Um…Nicolaus, I-I need to go.” Rushing to meet his younger sister at school, Vergil got up and slung his bag over his shoulder!

“Oh, that’s fine. Hey, let’s keep the stuff with Aran a secret for now. I don’t know what’s going on with Vernon and that lady officer.” Both young men exited the establishment after paying the bill. Just before Vergil could run off down the street Nicolaus called out to him! “Hey Vergil, I’ll message you later! We can talk more about Haruhiko!” An unmistakable grin stretched the young man’s lips, which he tried to hide whilst waving goodbye and running to his destination.

Wilhelmina eagerly awaited her brother’s arrival as the other girls alongside her conversed. The young girl sat on the steps of her of school furiously scribbling down calculations and notes in her schoolbooks. “Wil, seriously, we already finished that stuff! Why are you still doing schoolwork?” One of the other girls asked as she glanced astounding details Wilhelmina jotted down.

“Because we could’ve gotten that rocket higher, I know it! I’m trying to do all this in my head, but without testing it, I’m out of luck. Agh! As soon as I get home, I’m going to launch it again!” A habit of twisting her own hair had caused Wilhelmina’s long white locks to curl considerably at the tips. As soon as Vergil ran into view, his younger sister spotted him. “Later girls!” She shouted while leaping from her perch and dashing over to her brother with a hug! “Let’s hurry home, I’ve got tests to run!”

Part 4

Harper Wolf sat in the backroom of a poorly lit, seedy bar alongside Warren Prince with two unsavory individuals. A dealer passed out cards to each man as they kept their eyes cast downward. With only one of the men, the smaller and less frightening of the two, cracking his knuckles to break up the silence blanketing the room, hushed tension persisted. Harper eyed both men out of the corner of his eye. Once all the hands were dealt, the players each checked their cards.

(…Oh, so it’s like this today, huh? Doesn’t matter. We’ve got a fair dealer at least.) Harper thought to himself. (Let’s see…what’s this dude thinking.) Harper set his gaze on the man who cracked his knuckles.

(Not a good hand…this is my first time playing with these bastards. They shouldn’t know my tells, so I’ll bluff!) Harper smiled to himself.

(Know your ‘tells’ huh? Sucks to be you today, guy. What about mister tall and gruesome?) The other man, arm wrapped in tattoos, grizzly face and large stature, would’ve kept Harper at bay in normal circumstances.

(These dopey brats were here last time too. They must be trying to win back what they lost. I’m going to make a killing! They’ll fold, easy!) The man stifled a smirk.

(Alright, so we’ve got two trying to fake it till they make it. Warren’s freaking out, as always.) Harper peered over to his partner who was sweating bullets. (Chill out, man. They’re both expecting us to fold. I’ll do it, you play up the big victory.) Warren tried to calm himself down as Harper called for two more cards, then flagrantly sighed and folded. “I’m out.”

“…” The other man also called for a card, his face immediately losing color. “…crap, I fold.”

The large man called for one card as did Warren. Both locked eyes for an instant. (…Smile, Warren. Not a big one. Just a small smirk and we win!) Warren did so, as Harper assured victory, while picking up on a tiny flinch from the large man.

“Fine, I fold.” He gave in! Both young men had to hold back their excitement as the dealer began to hand out the winnings. (Something ain’t right here. That kid looked like he was up shit’s creek and then out of nowhere, confident?)

(Warren, we shouldn’t play here again. We’ll have to find a new place, again.) Warren collected his winnings and left before Harper; who waited around for another few minutes, then left on his own. The two met up blocks away from the scene and drove back toward the cul-de-sac. “Good thing we don’t hit up any of the places near my house. Those guys keep looking more and more killer.”

“Dude! Who cares?! This is so great! We made 400 dollars from one game!” Warren tossed his red cap in the back and leaned over to plant a kiss on Harper’s cheek!

“Ew! Bruh, stop!” As the two arrived in their neighborhood, the darkened cloudy sky beginning to part overhead unveiling a clear evening. “Well, that’s enough for…” Harper suddenly stopped dead, one leg out of Warren’s car. “…I think Juan is looking for us.”

“Really? What makes you think…? Oh right, ‘think’. You can hear him. Where is he?”

“Not sure. But he’s about to text you.” A message tone sounded off in Warren’s pocket. “He’s probably telling you to come and meet him somewhere.”

“Yeah, says to meet him out in the woods behind that one ratty place.” Warren pointed toward Vergil’s house. Harper was hesitant but followed his collaborator into the woods. Surrounded by the leafless trees was a waiting figure, a shady young Hispanic man pacing about.

“Y’all know I’m in hot water whenever you don’t hit me up, right? Noah don’t play around!” Juan shoved a bag filled with pills into Warren’s chest and was given a large sum of cash in return.

“Man, you need to seriously relax. Harper here is the ultimate poker partner! We’ll clean out every single place in Arizona before the end of the year at this rate; so why don’t you take some of this shit for yourself and calm down?” The men chatted as Harper messed with phone. “Why’s Noah trippin’ anyway, bro? It’s not like he’s hurting for cash.”

“Yeah, well if you keep messing with his cash, he’ll be hurting us…” Juan counted the money. Harper suddenly picked up on something. (They don’t get it, man. Noah’s not fuckin’ around no more!)

Out of nowhere, an object careened into the side of Juan’s head, blasting the man off his feet! A large-scale bottle rocket flew into the woods with enough force to just about KO a grown man! Harper then sensed a person coming in close. (…Should’ve waited for Vergil! Now I’ve got to find it alone!) The minute he recognized those thoughts as Wilhelmina’s, Harper put down his phone and ducked behind a tree! “There! ...huh?” The ever-inquisitive pre-teen girl ran into the woods, confused to see anyone in the clearing. “…Uh…hello. My rocket…that’s mine.” She pointed innocently, simply wanting what was hers.

Juan shot up, with the rocket in hand, and stormed over to the much smaller girl! Towering over her, rage having peaked, the recoiling fear fraught child backed away. “You got a fucking problem?!” Juan grabbed the girl up by her hair, tugging so hard she stumbled to muddy ground!

With tears welling up, Whilhelmina her mind weaving a tangled knot of confusion and paralyzing terror. “Whoa, whoa, chill out Juan!”

“Fuck you, man! You don’t get what’s going on! I’m on my last leg here and I ain’t got no time to play around some kid! How much of this did you see? What did you hear?!” Still tugging the much smaller Wilhelmina by her silvery locks, dragging her through the mud, Juan’s hysterical and crazed eyes terrified the adolescent! “What did you hear?!” Juan yelled again causing Wilhelmina to openly weep.

(That’s definitely Wilhelmina! This has gone way too far!) Harper began to focus his thoughts. (If Warren won’t get in there and do something, I’ll ‘suggest’ that he should!) A sudden feeling over took Warren! Words began flowing through his head. Move, help, save, protect, action, hero, the words played back again and again until, before Warren knew it, he’d tackled Juan down to the ground freeing Wilhelmina from his grip! The young girl scurried over to her rocket and then took off as fast as possible, disappearing from sight!

Part 5

Vergil kept checking his phone, eager to hear back from Nicolaus who hadn’t sent him a message as promised. In the short time since they’d met, Vergil began admiring Nicolaus, as opposed to… “Vergil!” The gruffness of that voice caused the young man nearly to lose his composure! A thick smell of cigarettes and unwashed clothes seeped through Vergil’s bedroom door before his father even entered. “…boy don’t close my doors, in my house, understand? Where’s your sister?” Was said in between slurred speech.

“Oh…I-I forgot. She’s outside.” The phone was smacked from Vergil’s hands!

“Don’t leave your sister outside! You’re her older brother, stop acting like some bitch playing on her phone and go watch her.” Vergil meekly walked past his clearly drunk father. Outside, in their backyard, was just the rocket stand with no Wilhelmina in sight.

“Wilhelm-mina!?” He called out for his little sister, getting no response. (Did she fire off the rocket? Where is she?) Vergil was blasted from the side being sent to the ground! “Ouch! Wilhelmina?!” Before him was his sister. Wilhelmina sat caked in mud, clutching her rocket with tears streaming down her face.

“Vergil…” The younger sister hugged her brother, shaking, feeling violated as she cried loudly.

“W-What?” Vergil’s father burst through the backdoor of the house!

“What the fuck happened?!” He crouched down and picked his daughter in his arms. Vergil was so flustered he didn’t know what to do! “I fucking told to keep an eye on her! What happened?!”

“Some…some guy…in the woods…” Wincing and completely beside herself, Wilhelmina just pointed toward the forest near their home.

“I’ll call the police, come on.” Absent mindedly Vergil followed behind his father. “Not you! You figure something out! For fucks sake, can’t you do anything right?! Just like your damn, mother, I fucking swear!” Off he stormed into the house, leaving Vergil alone, distraught. That last line drummed up sad memories in an instant, sending a fissure through the young boy’s psyche.

Suddenly a loud pop noise exploded out from the woods! Unconsciously, Vergil ambled toward the sound, wandering deep, deep through the sea of leafless trees, finding Warren held at gunpoint by a man covered in dirt and grime! “You think this is a fucking game?! If that girl tells someone what she saw, what you think Noah will do?!”

“Bro…you just fired a gun! We need to get out of here! The police…” Juan fired again, breathing heavily and with his wildly eyes darting around!

“S-Shut up! Where’s the other one?! I knew this was a bad idea! Fucking…fucking…” Juan’s anxiety boiled over, the whole time Vergil remained hidden behind a tree.

(That guy…is he the one who hurt Wilhelmina? What’s going on? Why are they arguing?) The harsh words of his father replayed in his head over and over again, each time, digging into Vergil’s subconscious as the boy dug his fingertips into the tree bark.

“Get the fuck out here, you fat piece of shit! I know you’re hiding!” Harper shuttered, dreading that Juan would shoot him on sight!

(Should I just wait? No! There’s no promise anyone even called the police yet. Should I? I’ve got to call the…wait…who’s thoughts am I hearing? Vergil! Why’s he here?)

(My phone is still with Dad. What do I do?!)

(Can I…his powers…can I use them to stop Juan?)

(I should run and get my phone to call the police!)

(No! He can’t run!) Harper, in his desperation, made a foolish judgement call that would forever have ramifications he was could not have foreseen. (Vergil…if I get him to use his powers…) Harper suggested phrases in Vergil’s mind. Sister, protect, hero, fearless, powers, strength, those and many more began floating around in his head!

(What am I thinking?! I need to run!)

(No! No! Get back here and do something! Stop him!) Harper got even more intense! Cowardice, weakness, loser, pussy, and ‘like your mother’ which he dug up from the deepest dredges of Vergil subconscious. Without another thought, Vergil leapt from his hiding place and charged Juan!

“Fuck?!” Juan opened fire on the meek looking young man, but Vergil manifested a wide fantasy-like shield-construct made of his hazy power, deflecting the bullet to the side! He crashed into Juan full force, blasting him off his feet and sending the gun flying! “You little…” Vergil had fallen to the ground too, and not being the most physically fit, couldn’t get back up fast enough to avoid the stocky Juan from climbing on top of him! The man wrapped his hands around Vergil’s throat, squeezing tightly, cutting off almost all airflow immediately!

(Help! Someone!) Vergil futilely pawed at Juan’s hands! (Fuck! I don’t want to die! Someone! Anyone! Dad! Mom, please! Harper! Nicolaus!!) In his mind, he called out to his friend, who sat crouched hidden down a slope, wanting to escape, but was frozen in his tracks! (Please! Anyone…) His vision began to blur.

(…what do I do? I…holy crap…what do I do?!) Harper began constructing a plan, but under stress he like he’d never felt before! (Vergil needs to use his powers! No! He can only make blunt stuff, right? No! Has he ever made anything else? How do his powers work? Fuck! Get over there, Warren! Grab the gun! No! He’s terrified?! Fuck! Move, Vergil, kill him!! Kill Juan!!!)

A spike! That’s all Vergil thought about, he wanted to make a spike! With a last gasp of power and air, Vergil constructed a spike and drove it past Juan hand, nearly severing it! “Agh!!!” Juan wailed as the piece of flesh hung limply, every metacarpal, tendon and part of his right shoulder torn asunder!

Vergil hacked away, his lungs finally claiming air; he managed to backing away from his attacker…only then comprehending the spike had kept flying and shot right through the neck of Warren. Warren Prince held Juan’s discarded gun, aiming it right at the back of Juan, planning to shoot him dead, but was skewered by the glassy white energy weapon.

Both Harper and Vergil were dumbfounded. “I-I-I d-d-d…” Vergil scurried, like a roach, his legs totally failing to lift him from ground.

(Fuck…fuck!) Harper tumbled down the incline, landing in a stream running below, and darted away! Juan, meanwhile staggered to his feet, gripping his bleeding stump tightly, and cursing the whole time, glaring a hole through Vergil’s back, as he stumbled off.

Warren collapsed, unmoving, slowly dying. The spike hadn’t killed the man immediately. Vergil couldn’t bring himself to do a thing to help him, he just crawled away, further and further until he could stand up and ran home.

Part 6

“Vergil!!” After tucking an emotionally traumatized Wilhelmina into bed, Vergil’s father went about searching for his wayward son. As he walked down the stairs, Vergil pushed past running for the bathroom; slamming the door shut! “Hey!” He banged on the door! “Open the door! What are you doing in there?! I heard gunshots, are you okay?!” The distinct sound of Vergil vomiting into the toilet could be heard. “…” Vergil’s father relented and allowed the boy some time to himself.

After an hour or so, Vergil left the bathroom, walking downstairs to see his father sitting in his armchair, watching the news. “…I…”

“Sit down.” Vergil’s father put the television volume on low and offered his son a seat on the couch. Slowly, Vergil sat down opposite his father, trembling with his eyes downcast. “…I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to say what I said. You know how things have been around here since I got hurt. Money is tight and I just want you and your sister to try your best at school. When I was younger, because of the neighborhood I grew up in, I couldn’t get the education you kids do now…” Vergil’s mind began trailing off. He’d heard his father ramble about the exact subject before. More than anything, he wanted to know what was going to happen to him. He’d never done anything like that before. He thought back to what happened with Nicolaus and Amala, that they’d killed people before…just like him! That thought made Vergil start hyperventilating. As he wheezed and gasped his father got up to check on him. “What’s the matter, hey!” Banging came from the door, and Vergil’s father had to check on it. “Relax and breath, I’ll be right back.” The repeated banging at the front didn’t help the boy’s situation. “Fucking wait, I got ears! I’m coming!”

Vergil tried to find anything to focus on, something to think about and calm himself! He settled on the television, watching the news caster in a low volume speak about the incident involving the group known as Beset’s sword earlier in the day. The group’s notable beige and black hoodies, being chased across the platform of a train, he even noticed the familiar bright red locks of Katie Vang! With the low volume, Vergil could only make out that they were being chased from an incident involving a suspect earlier in the day. Some rumors had spread online about Beset’s sword, but he had no idea they were an actual gang.

“Vergil, come here!” Vergil’s father called him to the front door. He’d calmed down significantly, but almost had a heart attack when laying eyes on the police officer waiting for him! “You were outside, right? You must’ve heard the gunshot earlier. Ask the boy.”

“…” Vergil’s brain turned off completely. He couldn’t say a word, just stood there, petrified. “…”

The officer pulled out a pen and paper. “Sir, your name is Ronald Trask, right? And your son’s name is…wait…Trask…why do I remember that name?” He began to recall. “Ah! You’re from the Newtonville Rock incident.” Even hearing that made the boy break out into a cold sweat. With all the conspiracies Nicolaus drilled in his mind, the things he’d done alongside the group, and his own recent murder, Vergil was at the end of his rope! He didn’t know what to do, he wanted anyone to tell him.

“…I…s-saw these g-guys in b-beige and black h-hoodies running…around b-back…then got s-scared and c-came inside…I-I think they h-hurt my sis-sister…” He lied. It was the only option the boy could think of…

End of chapter 7