Everything seemed to stop in front of Fae.

A woman yelled something about being under arrest, an explosion of fire and water, something flying through the air.

And now something was happening inside of her. Something like what she felt in the street when during the attack yesterday. Something like what she felt in the bathroom stall at school.

A voice went off in her head. It was like an alarm, repeating the same thing over and over.

“Kill them”.

She screamed, and something surged through her. There was the sound of glass breaking, and people fell down around her.

Both Yune and the two women attacking them were still standing, and they froze for a moment to stare at her.

She wanted to run.

She managed to stop shouting, and jumped out the broken doors into the side street in front of the café. Vi was up against the wall of the building opposite, covered in roaring flames.

A large crowd of people gathered, surrounding them on both sides. Everyone on the street was talking, all trying to get a view of what was going on.

“Are they shooting a movie?” someone asked.

“My phone’s not working!” a woman yelled. “What the hell? It’s totally fried.”

Fae needed to get out of here. She wasn’t sure why, but she was going to lose control of herself.

Suddenly, a voice rose above the rest. “Police! Clear the way!”

It was a man in a brown trench coat pushing his way through the crowd on the left of her. He was carrying a pistol in his hand.

Someone near him started shouting. “He’s got a gun!”

The mass of people panicked as he took aim at Vi, who was just starting to stand back up. He opened fire.

The bullets burst like firecrackers before they could hit, spraying embers everywhere. Fae froze in place as the gunshots still reverberated in her head.

“Fuck you!” Vi screamed and jumped back up, putting her two hands together. A ball of fire formed around her fists.

“Shit!” the man in the trench coat dropped his gun. Without waiting a second, he ran at Vi, with something glimmering in his hand. A knife.

Vi sent the growing fireball at him. Its kickback was powerful enough that it made her feet slide backward.

In a flash of blue, the man slashed the ball of flame in midair. A sizzling sound erupted, and the ball split into two. One half smashed into the concrete behind him. The other hit the side of the building opposite of the café and caught fire. The explosions made Fae stumble, but she did everything she could to keep from passing out.

Was this what a magic fight was like? She felt like a deer in the headlights of a car that was moments from being smashed into roadkill.

Fae’s eyes blurred in and out of focus, but she caught a strange energy coming from the man’s boots as he ran forward again. Closing the distance between them, he swung the knife at Vi. It left blue streaks behind as it cut through the air.

Vi dodged the first few strikes, but he finally managed to get her across the cheek. Ice crystals started to form around the wound, and spreading all across the left side of her face, covering her eye.

The man was already panting, but he didn’t slow down. He stabbed at her furiously, cutting her on her side and on her arm. Like the cut on her face, they all produced large ice formations.

“Ice?” Vi laughed. “You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me!”

The flames on her body became even more intense, burning off the rest of her clothing. The ice couldn’t handle it, quickly melting before it could spread any further.

The man backed off, wiping the sweat from his forehead. Even Fae could feel how scorching the heat coming from Vi was. The man kept his knife pointed forward, his eyes locked on his target.

His attention was completely on Vi. It didn’t even seem like he considered her a threat. He was open.

The voice continued droning on in her head. The words almost didn’t even mean anything to her anymore. She just wanted the noise to stop.

She couldn’t take much more. She was dangling above a dark abyss, using every ounce of strength she had to hold on and keep herself from falling in.

“I can’t… hold back,” Fae stammered, almost laughing. “Please… you have to run.”

But she was much too quiet. There was no way anyone could hear her.

She let go.

Sounds became clearer, colors more vivid. Her eyes darted around wildly, taking everything in. The man and Vi moved in slow motion in front of her. She saw every sweat drop, every shift in weight, every wrinkle in their clothing. She could see what they would do before they even did it.

She looked down at her hands. Her fingernails looked as sharp as razors. She needed to keep herself from using them at all costs.

“Kill them.”

The voice was stronger now. Her head felt like it was going to split in two.

“Kill them.”

Her muscles tensed, and then she was in front of the man, punching him hard in the stomach. He made a dry heaving sound, like the wind had been knocked out of him. He fell backward onto the street gasping and clutching his body.

“Watch out!” she heard Vi yell behind her.

By instinct, she ducked her head just as a sword passed where he neck had been. She jumped away on all fours and turned to face the new assailant.

A dark skinned man in a light blue kimono stood with his sword drawn. He stared at her, his eyes locked with hers.

Most of the people on the street were gone. Behind the man with the sword, Vi’s flames were dying down somewhat, and she was locked in a fistfight with a woman in what looked like a pizza delivery outfit. It was probably the most ridiculous thing Fae had ever seen, but she was in no condition to laugh about it.

“Young lady,” the man in the kimono held his arms straight, gripping the sword with both hands. He inched his way toward her. “You’ll forgive me for saying this is unbecoming of you.”

Fae wouldn’t have been able to answer even if she wanted to. She could tell he was going to attack. She shrieked, and moved into a position to leap at him.

She wanted to hold back, but she didn’t know how to anymore. She lost what little control she had left. She needed to dig her claws into him. She needed to rip him to shreds.

“Alright little kitten, let’s see what you’ve got.”

She was in front of him in an instant, and her razor sharp fingernails clashed with sword. Their eyes met for a moment, and then they clashed again, and again.

In seconds, she was slashing at him wildly. Sparks flew everywhere as he blocked every one of her strikes. They sped up, and soon it was like a firework display going off in front of her.

A blast of water came through the smashed front doors of the café to their right. The white haired woman was on the receiving end, being sent through the air. She had her arms outstretched and crisscrossed in front of her, using the silver circle she made before as a shield. She caught herself against the wall of the opposite building.

The sight broke both of their concentration and they finally separated. The man was sweating, but he had a large smile painted on his face. He still had his sword pointed toward her, obviously ready to strike again.

Yune rushed out of the café next, followed by the tall woman with the mole under her eye that had thrown the table earlier.

She saw the man in the trench coat was back on his feet again, but he was staggering. He probably wasn’t going to be able to do much more.

“Quinn!” the tall woman yelled, putting her hand in the air. The pizza delivery girl jumped up, landing on it. She then bent down, putting her arms around her knees to make herself into a ball.

The woman threw her at Vi, and it was much faster than she had thrown the table. She slammed into Vi, sending her into the wall behind her. The wall cracked immediately. Even from fifty feet away, Fae could see the blood gushing from Vi’s mouth.

Yune shot a look over at Fae. “We have to get out of here now!” her voice was louder than Fae had ever heard it, and it seemed to somewhat snap her out of her frenzy.

At the same time, the man in front of her came at her with his sword again, swinging diagonally.

She could see it coming at her, but she couldn’t do anything to stop it. It would cut her. She would die.

The man suddenly grunted as a pillar of water hit him in the head from behind. His sword slipped from between his fingers and clattered on the ground as he collapsed into a heap.

Yune stood behind him, her arm still outstretched. Something wasn’t right. It took Fae a moment to notice, but Yune was gritting her teeth, unable to keep her eyes from squinting

There was a hole in her lower abdomen, and bright red blood was running down her leg. The white haired woman stood about five feet behind her, and her hands were smoking.

Yune had thrown her own safety to the wind to protect her.

No. This wasn’t right. This couldn’t be happening. How could someone be smiling and waving at her one minute, and then bleeding out in front of her the next? None of it made any sense.

Rage like she had never felt overflowed inside of her. Something crackled around her body, and she was in front of the white haired woman in less than a second.

The woman’s eyes were wide as she tried to react. Fae grabbed her, and sent a jolt through her that dropped her to the ground.

The other two women turned their attention to her, but it was already too late. Fae grabbed the pizza girl by the back of her shirt. It felt like she was getting heavier and heavier as she readied to throw her, but Fae didn’t stop. The ground split beneath her as she whipped her around, throwing her straight into the tall woman. The impact sent them both through the wall of the café.

All at once, her senses returned to normal.

The voice in her head faded.

Then everything went blank.

Fae opened her eyes what felt like only a moment later. Above her was the now familiar sight of the apartment ceiling. She lied on the leather couch motionless, letting her memories come back to her.

“All cameras and devices in the area reportedly stopped working, with many witnesses saying that their cellphones were rendered completely useless,” a woman’s voice filled the living room. “It’s still unclear what exactly happened here, and if it has anything to do with the events of the last two da-”

The voice was cut off.

“You’re awake,” Vi said, standing over her. She was fully dressed again, holding a remote in her hand.

“I guess… it wasn’t a dream, huh?” Fae said, glancing out the glass doors to the balcony. It was already dark out. “What happened?”

“You went crazy,” Vi smiled. “Gave us enough time to get away.”

Fae sighed, but then panicked. “Where’s Yune? I-Is she okay?” she sat up as quick as she could.

“She’s fine,” Vi said. “Well physically anyway. Not so sure about her heart or whatever. She’s in her room. Wants to be alone.”

That’s right. Yune was supposed to be having a date. She remembered how happy she looked when she waved them over. She felt like bursting into tears. Yune was a familiar, but that wasn’t stopping her from doing and feeling things that were undoubtedly ‘human’.

“Why did that happen?” Fae asked, anger taking hold of her. “That woman said that you were under arrest. What did you do?”

Vi crossed her arms and looked away. “Hell if I know.”

“That’s not good enough,” Fae raised her voice.

“First time I’ve ever seen you get mad,” Vi smiled.

Fae didn’t back down. “What did you do?”

There was a moment of quiet between them.

“Look, do you remember when you tried to call me yesterday when everything stopped?” Vi bit her lip. “I was caught up in that.”

“Huh?” Fae rubbed her eyes. “What do you mean? You couldn’t move?”

“I could move just fine,” Vi groaned. “It was everyone else that wasn’t moving.”

“I don’t get it…” Fae said under her breath, then looked back up at Vi. “How is that possible?”

“How the fuck am I supposed to know?” Vi gave an exaggerated shrug. “Maybe it doesn’t work on demons or something.”

Fae gasped. “They… think you’re the murderer.”

“Yeah, okay, but I’m not,” Vi rolled her eyes. “There were totally two other dudes moving around.”

“What?”

“There was this guy attacking a kid, and it obviously wasn’t a fair fight, so I gave him a taste,” Vi laughed, a small flame appearing on her index finger. “Then he ran off. Probably burned his hand pretty bad. I got out of there too.”

“Vi, that was the murderer,” Fae said. “They think you’re him!”

“Meh,” she waved her finger and the flame disappeared. “Didn’t seem all that special.”

“Which hand?” Fae asked.

“Huh?”

“Which hand did you burn?”

Vi stood looked at her hands for a minute. “Left,” she said. “No, wait. Right.”

Great. Not exactly the answer of someone that certain. “W-Well what did he look like?”

“Uhh, He looked…” Vi narrowed her eyes. “Like a man?”

This was just getting better and better.

“Was he… uh, white?”

“Yeah,” Vi answered much faster this time.

That would have to do for now. Fae’s hands were trembling. This must have been what being the main character from The Bookshop of Mysteries was like.

It was a lot less romantic than she expected.

Could she call the police? Something told her that it wasn’t a good idea after today. It didn’t feel real yet, but she was probably technically a criminal now. They might trace the call and find her. She needed to tell someone that might tell the police for her.

Then she remembered. This morning, John Doe had posted about a group on Clock Link that was looking for the killer. She could create a dummy account and send them the information. It wasn’t a lot, but it was more than what the news was reporting anyway.

She heard the sound of a door closing in the hallway.

“Yune?” she turned her head.

A woman in a black Victorian dress entered the living room. “What a nice night,” she said.

Fae frowned. “Oh, hello Ms. Minerva.”

“Sup,” Vi turned to go to the kitchen, most likely for beer.

“Hello my dear Fae,” Minerva said, taking a seat on the couch to the right of her. “I’ve heard all about your exploits today. Amazing.”

Fae tried to give a weak smile, but she didn’t feel all that amazing. In reality, she was terrified. She just wouldn’t give her mind enough time to let it sink in.

She had no idea if the people they fought were still alive. And if they weren’t, if she was the one responsible for their deaths.

“It looks like the festivities aren’t quite finished yet,” Minerva smiled vacantly.

“What do you mean?” Fae asked.

“Someone’s being naughty out there,” Minerva put her hand on her cheek and moaned. “They’re close.”

Fae looked out at the balcony and the lights of the city, but felt nothing.

Minerva was short of breath, like she was in ecstasy. “The night’s still young.”