“We can’t meet with him.” Zavier said flatly. At this point, he felt like an idiot not going to the police.

“He’s literally the fucking IT guy at the other high school. He’s not going to hurt us.” May responded slowly, eyeing Zavier’s reaction as she spoke. The second half was really more of a question than a statement.

“One. He might. We, or at least I, don’t know this guy at all. Second,” Zavier whispered in a clear tone, “we saw him get shot. Whoever this is, they took his phone. That person is very, very dangerous.”

“We don’t know if he got shot, I didn’t hear a gunshot.” May looked at Zavier as she spoke and then looked back down at her phone as if she was trying to glean more information from the static text message.

Zavier personally was done playing ametuer detective. He really wanted to avoid trouble but he had already messed up letting things go this long without telling his parents, May’s parents, or the police. Turning towards the stairs, Zvier began to walk up.

May grabbed his arm. He turned around and locked eyes with her. After a long pause, May spoke, “Please wait before you tell anyone. Just let me try something, first.”

She then let go of his arm and began texting. Zavier felt his blood start to pump and heat rise to his face. She’s texting him! How could this girl be so stupid? He had reached the end of his patience with the situation. He needed to walk upstairs and talk to May’s parents. Then, he needed to get on the phone and talk to his own parents. After that, he needed to call the police. But Zavier didn’t go up. He had already waited at the bottom of the stairs for too long. May had gotten his implicit approval when he stopped going up those stairs. Zavier just was not comfortable continuing until he gave her a chance to try something else. That might cause some unpleasant issues.

May cycled between typing frantically, hitting the backspace several times, and pausing briefly every time she did. After about a minute of this, May stopped and turned her phone to Zavier to show her work. ‘Send a picture so I know your ok!’ Read the text. She had already hit send before May showed it to Zavier. After reading it himself, Zavier walked over to May’s basement couch and fell backwards into the cushions. It appeared that he would be waiting for a response from The Spider despite his better judgment. He really should have just kept walking up the stairs.

Zavier had barely fully sunk into the old couch when May announced, “He responded.” Zavier motioned for May to come to him. If Zavier had spoken, he would have almost certainly tipped off to May exactly how he was feeling about the endeavor.

May walked over and sat down next to Zavier. She flipped her phone toward Zavier’s face, watching intently for his response. The Spider had sent back a picture of himself. The man was in the driver seat of his car wearing a blue polo. His expression was plain and it was clear there was no staging done to take this picture. Speed was the only goal.

Zavier sighed and looked at May. She very clearly saw this response from the Spider as a reason to keep trying to solve the situation themselves. He needed to at least try to convince her otherwise. “It could still be an old picture saved on the phone. We can’t meet with this guy at any private place and we can’t bring him to us and give away where we live. We don’t have a choice. We can’t trust him.”

“What about the mall?”

“What?” Zavier replied in an exasperated tone.

“The mall. It’s way away from our homes and our school and it's super public and crowded. We could tell him to meet us there and watch from far away to make sure he’s the guy. Then one of us goes to talk while the other stays hidden.” May could see Zavier was not being convinced as she spoke. “Please, we can fix this without any problems. If he’s fine then some dude just hit him or something and that’s his problem. We don’t need to admit we were getting drugs last night to anyone else.”

May had a high priority on not getting caught. That much was clear. Her risk tolerance was much different than Zavier’s for these reasons as well as some personality reasons. Zavier now had the same choice as he did earlier with the stairs.

“Let’s set it up for lunch hour and get there early.” Zavier had unintentionally filled the moments prior with drama and anticipation as he took his time to speak. May was visibly relieved he had continued to go along. He had the opposite feeling about his choice.

They spent the next three hours setting up the meeting. It was going to be at the mall food court on the lowest level of the building. There were several stories above the food court in an atrium arrangement. This gave the person who did not go to talk to the spider a plethora of vantage points and walkways to observe the meeting while blending into the crowd. Zavier agreed to be the one to meet face to face with the Spider. He was not happy about playing the role of the sacrificial lamb but he also had no faith in May not saying something stupid to the guy. In his opinion, she was way too naive about the ways this could go bad.

At 11:00, they left May’s house and drove to the mall. They got there in just under twenty minutes and parked. The nearly full parking lot meant they had to park near the back. This was relieving for Zavier as it signaled a crowded mall. Going through the grocery store and up to the top floor from there, Zavier and May walked up to the highest railing and looked down. The food court was about seventy percent full. Perfect!

Zavier turned to May, “We’ll split up here. You stay on the top two floors. I’ll be on the main floor right above the food court. For now, hang out in one of these outlet stores. I’ll text you when I confirm that it's him and go to meet him. After that, watch us from the railings. Keep moving in a loop so you look like a normal shopper. Do not stop until I leave and then text you. If anything goes wrong and I’m taken or whatever, call the police. I’m not kidding. Call them immediately.”

Zavier tried his best to punctuate his last few words with a seriousness that would scare May into high alertness. She gave him a firm nod that looked like he had accomplished this goal. Zavier really hoped that he did. May was a smart girl and could just be doing what she thought it took to get Zavier to do this. Either way, he had to trust that she was ready to execute on this.

Deciding to not waste anymore time, Zavier went to the stairs and made his way to the main floor. This floor was situated just above the basement level food court. Zavier began walking in a loop around the railings overlooking the food court, trying to be as anonymous as possible. He checked the time. 11:55. He and May swapped phones on the way to the mall so he was expecting to get a text in the next five minutes or so. Fuck! That girl’s probably going through my phone right now! Zavier was lucky that the embarrassment to him would be the lack of anything over there being anything specific on his phone. Zavier was not an archive of high school intrigue and his phone reflected that fact.

Here. May’s phone lit up with a text. The sender was now saved under Octo. A reference to eight legs, the contact name was a way to label their arachnid friend without having the name of The Spider, a well-known dealer in the area, saved on May’s phone.

Zavier tilted his head toward the food court as inconspicuous as he could, taking care to not break his stride. After a couple seconds of surveying, he picked out the man known as The Spider. He was dressed in tan khakis in a polo that did not fit well. The Spider was clearly in day job mode. Zavier did a quick, broader scan of the food court. There were a lot of families with small kids. It would be a very difficult place to stage any sort of ambush. Zavier shrugged and walked down the escalator to the basement floor.

The Spider picked Zavier out about ten feet away from the table. He gave a slight head nod to acknowledge Zavier. Zavier had waited for this to move in any closer to sit down. It was paramount to avoid any sort of defensive reflex from the man. As he reached the table, Zavier gave a quick glance around to make sure no one was within earshot of a quiet conversation, and sat down.

“I assumed May would be here.” The Spider flashed his disappointment in a very deliberate manner.

“She’s ok with me speaking for her. We thought it would be better to have someone stay behind.” Zavier hoped his implication was not lost on the man.

“You know I’m employed by the public school district. I’m not a gangster at all. My real name is James. You didn’t have to use these small kids and families as your collateral.” Zavier scowled at the framing of his strategy for safety.

James ignored his reaction and continued, “I know you two are high school kids at the other school across town from here. My gut tells me you were just kids buying weed. But I also was hit with something from an unknown assailant and woke up on the ground with only my car left. I’m not ready to trust my gut about the two of you until you give me a reason too. I can go to the police.”

“You were dealing to kids.” Zavier shot back

“I’m dealing stuff that’s basically legal for seventeen year olds anyways to try to make my rent because I don’t get paid enough. Let’s stop with the victim crap.”

“Who would the police think are the real victims? We’ve done nothing wrong but buy.”

“So, you don’t know the other guy at all?” James said sternly, as if to signal lying would be a cardinal sin.

“No. We told you that before. We ran away as fast as we could when he hit you. We thought you were dead and we could be witnesses.” Zavier let a bit of his frustration with the last twenty-four hours trickle into his voice. He did nothing to conceal it completely. He wanted James to understand that they really were just stressed kids who had nothing to do with what happened.

James paused for a second, and looked down to gather his thoughts. He then looked up again, gave Zavier one more look that practically begged him to admit if he was lying and then spoke, “I believe you. Look man, I really am just trying to make a little extra. I don’t want to cause problems for you or anyone. I’m just scared.”

“You nearly died, it’s fine.” Zavier did not let himself overplay it, but he tried to feign concern for this man in order to solidify The Spider’s benign stance to May and him.

The Spider looked down and up again and then leaned in and spoke a slightly muffled voice, “I’m done for awhile. My friend at the station who does some of their computer stuff says there has been some bizarre shit going down in this area.”

“Really?” Zavier replied, trying to maintain his interest to keep James friendly.

“Yeah, two people found in comas the last few days, and a security guard in the ER with burn marks. He said some guy tried to burn him when he saw a trespasser at the old plant down the road. It’s going to be in the news tonight and they're going to recommend a curfew for kids. Probably not at all related but just a lot of stuff the last few days, especially after that bad storm last weekend.” Zavier did remember the storm James was referencing. He had played video games through it but he remembered guys on the soccer team being pissed the next day a game got canceled. It was a violent thunderstorm that came out of nowhere.

“Thanks for letting me know, man. I’ll keep a lookout for it.” Zavier meant this as a departing word as got out of his seat.

“Just don’t go looking for other plugs in the next few weeks.” James said hurriedly as Zavier made his departing intention clear. He then gave Zavier a friendly smile. “I’m just looking out for you guys.” Zavier forced a smile back, his effort amplified by the belief it would be the last he would ever have to give to Spider.

Zavier quickly walked back up to the main floor and went out to the mall parking lot. Whipping out May’s phone, he saw that she had texted him at the beginning of the sit down. Watching. He texted back to meet at the car and quickly made his way over. He beat May by about a minute. They glanced at each other and got into the car silently.

May spoke up the second the door shut and auto locked. “How’d it go?”

Zavier responded in a genuinely relaxed tone, “Fine, we’re going to be fine.”

“Great! What did he say?” May’s excitement was palpable.

“He’s not hurt, he doesn’t blame us, he doesn’t know the guy at all.” Zavier rubbed his eyes and yawned after he said these words. He was going to take the longest nap when he got home.

“Let’s go!” May exclaimed as she thrust the keys into the car and started the engine. She began her drive and set on some pop music. It was incredible to Zavier how quickly this girl moved on. He was ready to spend the weekend in his room thankful to be free of this incident. She seemed more like she had wrapped up just another week. Zavier smiled at this thought. They really were two different people and he was a lot more content with living his life versus May’s than he had been in a long while.

May reached her driveway and unlocked the car. Zavier made a motion to get out. As he was stepping out of the car he stopped and turned to May. “One more thing,” Zavier said trying to be as concise as possible to placate her already returning impatience with him, “You should avoid anything crazy this weekend. Ja- I mean The Spider told me a lot of other weird shit is happening lately at night on the other side of town. I’m going to be pissed if I have to help you again.” Zavier only half joked at the end.

May was looking at her phone and didn’t even look up to say, “Don’t worry, I’ve got friends who will watch out for me.”

Zavier shrugged and left. He would typically be a little peeved at May’s dismissive tone with him, but he really could not care less at the moment. He would see that girl next Monday at work and honestly Zavier probably would have opted for a longer break if he could. As he got into his car and drove home, a second wave of relief washed over him.

The best part about where he was at was that it was Thursday. He only worked Monday through Wednesday nights. He might not show up to school tomorrow if he did not feel like it. His days missed were way behind some of his peers in their last semester of high school. If Zavier needed a three day weekend to sit inside and play video games, he was going to take it.

Zavier felt giddy parking in his garage and fantasizing about a potential staycation he had coming. Why not start now! He walked into the kitchen, snagged a huge bag of chips and headed to his room, where his gaming chair and computer waited. Setting the bag off to the side for later, Zavier sunk deep into his chair. He took what he could only guess was the deepest breath of his life and reached for his mouse.

Or at least Zavier thought he did. His arm didn’t move. Zavier tried to move it again. Still nothing. As his effort increased, he could feel more and more resistance to the motion. It was not a case of his arm falling asleep, Zavier very much felt the strain in his bicep and shoulder and he tried to break whatever was holding his arm in place.

Zavier tried to turn his head to look at his arm. His neck strained to accomplish this task but he had no such luck actually doing it. His head was in the same lock as his arm. Panicking, he moved his eyes to his arm, pushing his vision to his pericfories. To Zavier’s great relief, his eyes were still free. A clear examination of the arm revealed no physical restraint on it, yet Zavier could see the tension in his forearm as continued to put his strength into moving it.

Zavier began to feel a primal panic come over him in his helpless state. Not only was movement impossible, but there was no clear explanation or solution to the predicament. In desperation, Zavier tried to yell. His parents were not home yet, but hearing his voice would reassure him that he could alert them in a few hours if nothing else worked. Even that was a failure. As he tried to let out a yelp, Zavier felt his throat begin to burn. He kept desperately trying to speak but his vocal cords were in the same predicament as his arm.

There was a sudden kick to his swivel chair that spun him around. Still essentially paralyzed, Zavier could not even change his facial expression to show shock or surprise. Standing in front of him was the unknown attacker for the night before with his right arm stretched outward. His right palm was facing upward with his figures in a claw formation. It looked like he was trying to crush something in his hand but his hand was empty. A faint yellow glow emanated from the outline of his arm, starting at his fingertips and tapering away at his shoulder. Zavier's mind reached a bizarre state of only mild panic. While this was objectively the most concerning development of his afternoon, his inability to express his fear outwardly in his face or his body had a dulling impact on his internal feelings. Zavier was forced to stand there dumbfounded.

“You see you have no defense?” the man said looking at Zavier like it was possible to show any indication of understanding. “I’m going to release you. Attack, run, or call for help, and I’ll snap your neck. Believe me, it’s less taxing than putting someone in a full body restraint.” With that the intruder dropped his arm and the glow dissipated. Zavier’s right arm immediately flew up and backwards, causing him to slam his back into the chair. Thankfully it was a padded chair.

Zavier's gaze settled down on his right foot as he reoriented himself after being freed. Taking his time to lift his head up to face his unwanted guest would give him time to think of something to do or say. Despite waiting for a good five seconds and turning his head at the speed of a dramatic reveal in a movie, Zavier still came face to face with the man from last night with nothing but shock in his headspace.

“I’m going to ask you some questions.” the man said in a slow, controlled voice.

“I’m not friends with The Spider, your issue is with him.” Zavier blurted out.

“Who is Spider?” replied the intruder.

Zavier was now very confused. He needed to figure out how to appease this man to save his life and quickly. But it was now incredibly unclear why the hell the intruder was at his house in the first place.

“The guy you attacked last night, who walked up to your car.” Zavier really hoped he was ringing some bells. The alternative was that this guy was just crazy.

“He’s not one of yours.”

“No. We were buying drugs from him. We barely know him.” Zavier’s heart sank at the man’s reaction to this information. The intruder looked very confused and had now appeared to be deep in thought trying to decide what he should say next. If this guy was just crazy and had some more of whatever he used to restrain Zavier earlier, .the situation could get life threatening quickly

After a long half minute of silence, the man made up his mind and spoke, “Who are you? Do you know the Poison Fang? Do you work with Shen?”

Zavier was now certain this man was crazy. His only way forward was to play along and convince him that he was not involved in whatever was running through this guy's head. “Zavier, and no and no. I’m just a kid.”

“Why didn’t you fight back?”

“What do you mean?”

“You just thrashed around, you didn’t use any of your soul aura to break the binds.”

Zavier didn’t know what to say. This was all batshit crazy and it just kept getting weirder. But the man somehow had him in a full body restraint without touching him. Zavier knew he had to have been imagining it or gotten injected with something earlier. No matter the explanation, there was no way to protect himself as long as he had no understanding of whatever magic trick was played on him. At this point, Zavier had to be honest and try to get this man to rationalize letting him go.

Clearing his throat, Zavier tried to strike a sympathetic and understanding tone, “I don’t know what soul aura is. And I’m not involved with it at all. I’m sorry I distracted you from whoever you're looking for.”

The man shot Zavier a pissed off scowl. Oh shit. Zavier braced himself as the man opened his mouth. “Don’t get too familiar. You’re not getting out of this by pretending to be my friend. You are the cause of my predicament, that much is certain. But you seem oblivious and if you’re faking that as well, I’ve finally met a man who can lie to me.”

“Explain to me how I caused your trouble and I’ll try to help you. If you need a place, there are shelters-”

The intruder interrupted, “Do not patronize me. You are a well of soul aura. I’ve never seen someone with so much without it being expressed. But everyone here seems to have no idea how to use soul aura or that they have it in the first place. This is indeed a strange place.” The intruder briefly paused his ramble and looked with great uncertainty out of Zavier’s window. “Where are we?”

“You’re near Seattle, man.” Zavier now had genuine concern for the intruder. Despite his actions, he seemed more confused than violent.

“The planet is called Seattle?” the man responded.

“No, the planet is called Earth.” Zavier was helpless to not let out a chuckle with this response.

The man immediately turned toward Zavier with catlike reflexes and gave him one of the most intense stares Zavier had ever received. Zavier was paralyzed with fear. The confused man was gone and the violent intruder appeared to be back.

The man and Zavier held eye contact for a non-trivial amount of time. Zavier could hear the intruder’s breathing rate and volume increase as he tried to gather himself. Right as his breathing reached a crescendo causing Zavier to brace for almost anything, the man returned to his prior level of calmness. His expression changed to a very solemn one as he finally replied, “If what you say is true, it begins to explain this place. I just cannot bring myself to believe you.”

There was another round of prolonged silence. Wanting to steer the conversation towards a non lethal exit for the intruder, Zavier opened his mouth to speak. The man cut him off before the first syllable. “You seem to be unaware of your abetting of my enemies, which makes you their victim. Which makes us sharers of the same misery. Which makes me your ally whether you accept me or not. My name is Yafu and I would like for you to help me go home.”