It’s nearing dawn, the night life for Detroit began to creep from their respected corners. From the gas stations at the end of the cities worst neighborhoods to the normal sidewalks having drug dealers prowl beneath a simple street lamp post being their ideal area. With the sun starting to set, on the opposite side of the city, walking on a safe sidewalk heading to a home in which he calls his enclosed hell, having to see the same being who’s made his life insufferable, Sarah’s father was closing in after a long day's work. Carrying his suitcase, his business attire looking wrinkly, his blondish hair glazing from the dying sun off in the horizon, he looked to be anxious of something; Rather, it was something trivial, but to him, it’s a new feeling he’s welcoming because his daughter of all people had called him earlier in the day.

Why would she call me? What does she want to speak of? He thought.

When he was in a conference midday, his phone rang, after answering and hearing the voice, he almost snapped. The skyscraper where the business he worked for trembled and people thought the building was about to collapse. Chaos ensued and he remained seated while everyone else around him thought this was about to be their last moment of life. He thought it was that dastardly woman he hated so much who had just called him, but once they said “Father…” he eased his anger and thankfully didn’t turn the skyscraper into dust. She nervously asked him if they could talk when he got home from work to which he replied just as nervously and said yes.

He was just two blocks away from his home when he felt someone else presence. He stopped beneath a street lamp, and clenched a fist.

“Whoever’s close, and lurking in the shadows, show yourself.” he said in a serious tone.

They replied with a chuckle and appeared out of a bird's shadow that flew overhead. It was none other than John, the titled most powerful Witch, to which he still denies. His steampunk outfit fit well in the atmosphere that was being created around them from the dwindling sun across their faces. His ghostly blue eyes glowing, Sarah’s father’s natural blue eyes were as cold as dry ice, they didn’t say a word but looked at each other.

John went up to him but stopped at least a foot away from him. “Hey, how ya doing?! Everything going swimmingly for ya so far in this altered timeline we’re in?” he said in his comical raspy voice.

“Hmph, whatever altercation has occurred has no meaning to me if I’m still living this façade that I have to endure for the rest of my miserable life.”

John grabbed his brislty chin, “Interesting, yet, confining! Ah, you’re too serious my friend, lighten up every once and a while. Come on you tall giant, smile once!”

“How? How’s that a possibility when every second, minute, hour, day, week, month, year after year I have to share my breath with that insufferable bitch of a woman.”

“Damn… why did I even ask? Every word coming out of your mouth is ‘I hate her, fuck her, grr! She makes me dry as fuck, my dick is small because of her, gurgle gurgle! Bwahaha!”

The way John puffed his chest, imitated his voice and made fun of his existence actually almost made him grin. When John saw that tiny smirk it made him grunt in annoyance at him.

“So you can smile? But only when I make fun of someone as despicable as you?! Come on man, don’t be such a downer my Witch friend.”

Sarah’s father set his briefcase down and placed his hands on his hips. “I’m not a Witch like you, Jonathan.”

“Dude, you actually said my people name! Oh my god, at least I’ll give you that. You’re more respectful than your evil wife heheh!”

“Of course I am. I would never be like—on second thought, never mind. Forget what I was about to say.”

John dug his black fingernail painted fingers into his side hanging hair, smirking. “What? The fact that you were once one of the most brutal, merciless beings to exist at one point! How could I ever forget your barbaric berserk nature, my friend.”

He set his arms down, and looked down. “Don’t remind me… I regret ever being someone that heartless.” He balled his fists and squinted his eyes. “Just remembering makes my blood boil; the thought that I! I use to behave and act just as violently as—”

“Your dreadful wife? I know right! She’s a freaking monster! But damn, oh my goodness is she the most perfect woman!” John had his arms raised in the air, but quickly hurtled them down to cross them. “Although, there is someone who’s just like her, so she can’t have the title when there’s another like her.”

“Huh? Who-who are you talking about?” he asked, wondering who he’s referring to.

John turned his face, his smile reaching ear to ear. “You know who, that mysterious daughter of yours, my friend.”

He got serious, approached John and stood before him. John kept his grand smile while the two had a stare down with the sun dropping down over the horizon.

“You make it seem like you know my own flesh and blood more than I do. So how about you stop this act you like to put up and show your true self to tell me what exactly you’re talking about?”

John shut his eyes, and patted his shoulder. “How about this, ahem. How much do ‘You really’ know about your daughter?”

In hearing this question, it made his face turn, but rather at himself instead of John. John had the right to ask, this was a question many would answer simply, but to Sarah’s father, it was trivial. Despite hardly knowing her, at least he’s starting to finally warm up and hopefully, open up to his own daughter.

He shook his head, and sighed. “I-I… I hardly even know her, Jonathan. And it makes me sick to my own stomach because… because I really, really want to get to know her.”

John turned his smile upside down and gripped his shoulder. “Then do it.” he said in his actual calm voice instead of his forced raspy childish one.

“Wh-what did you—?”

“You heard me, do—it. Get to know her—your daughter.”

He clenched his fists harder, growing angry at himself but especially, towards his horrible wife. “How? How could I when I'm contracted to not do so.”

John's face was cold, and he set his arm down to his side. “I don’t know if you realise, but your contract was already broken when you acknowledged her existence recently. Do I even have to mention the training sessions you two have had?”

John gasped, his eyes shook as he looked at John’s serious face. “How… do you kno—oh yeah, your unforgettable ability that makes you so unpredictable.”

“Indeed, my friend.” John brought two of his fingers to his eyes, “My all seeing eyes, the very ones embedded into my skull. You remember what they do, correct?”

He nods, “of course… you can see into someone's whole life; whether it be their past, their current, but more freightenly, their unforeseeable future…”

“Yes, and I’m the selfish type to not tell you what’s the outcome of your unpredictable future, my friend.”

He felt irritated when he heard that but knew well why he couldn't. “You know, it’d be helpful if you gave me more hints of my! shitty future rather than just tell me it’s going to turn out fine when it hasn’t; Granted it's too late but whatever.”

John shrugged, and winked at him. “I think what I said about your future was a better hint than I usually say to others.”

He sighed. “Sure, whatever. Anyways, I know you didn’t follow me to just say hey and hopefully have the two of us sing kumbaya next to a bonfire?”

“Man, you sure do know me well, heheh!” John cracked his fingers, “I’m here to warn you my friend, a warning to which you need to take very, very seriously.”

“Why? Can’t be worse than what I’m experiencing.”

John got serious again and went up to his face, “because it involves that lovely daughter of yours.”

His eyes immediately expanded, drawing a breath out of him. “Wh-what do you mean?”

“It’s exactly as I tell you, your daughter, and what I mentioned before is the reason for my presence.”

He quickly put it together, which made him bite his lip. “Is this about me… getting to know my daughter?”

John nods, “Precisely.” He placed his hand on his friend's shoulder and furrowed his brows. “Do it, for the next two months—get to know your own flesh and blood before she faces, and experience a hell you would never… imagine.”

His eyes quivered, his bottom lip bouncing, he can’t fathom this hint being told to him. “John, I-I know I shouldn’t question how you know, but… answer me this—” he placed both his hands onto John’s shoulders, looking into his ghostly eyes. “The only way you know she’ll go through a tragic future is if you—you! Have looked into her eyes… ha-have you?”

John blinked, and softly trickled air out his nose. “I have, but through the eyes of your horrid wife.”

“How? How could you tell through her—”

He had paused, and left his jaw dropped. Thoughts came into fruition, possibilities, outcomes, ones that can only explain how John can see into his daughters future. With this, that means she knew as well, and is keeping it secret from him.

“Johnathan, does she—know?” he asked, his tone sounding weak.

John shrugged, “that, I don’t know. And I’m being honest, my friend.”

He looked away briefly, trying to control his emotions so he won’t have another small outburst like he did a week ago. “This-this doesn’t make sense, the fact you can see her future events in two months through her treacherous eyes…”

“That, you will find out sooner than you think, my friend. And when you do hear the answer, it’ll not only break you, but it’ll humble that screwed up mind of yours about a certain someone whom you’ve grown to hate.”

“You mean her?! Her! Never…” he placed his hand over his face, grounding his teeth. “I will never forgive her for what she’s done to not only me, but to the universe she almost crushed. She’s a horrible being who exceeds comprehension and should be stopped.”

John smiled. “True, but you forget that there's people who are far above her. You already know one of them, but you have yet to meet the other.”

“Who? That dumb hot headed embarrassment of an Exorcist Archard?”

“Mm mm, no. Archard is strong, very strong! Don’t underestimate him just because he’s a hot head doesn’t mean he’s not a threat to our world. But this other being is someone I’m sad to say you’ll never meet. But your daughter… will!”

He shook his head and swiped his hand. “John, these hints are killing me! I wish you would tell me but—” he brought his hand up to his face, “I’ll find out after she’s gone through the hell you’ve already seen.”

“Ah yes, your ability to see a person's life. I actually like yours better since it’s pretty hardcore and quite gothic. Really Germán, just like you heheh!”

“Yeah, but unlike yours, I can’t see their future or can… I?”

John walked past him and raised his arms. “Who knows unless you could give it a try?! I don’t doubt you. You’re an incredible man and someone whom I’ve grown to respect over the years.” John looked up to the sky, taking a deep breath. “You're a man who learns of his mistakes and when it comes to those he loves dearly—he’ll do anything to protect them at all costs, even if that means giving up his dignity or life.”

He sulked and picked up his briefcase. “No, I’m just a simple business man, who’s depressed like every single hard working middle class American.”

“Nah, you’re not.” John looked over his shoulder, “you’re a hard working middle class man who provides for the family that he loves, no matter how much he denies his hatred towards his wife.”

“Th-That’s not true, I’d rather—” when he turned around to shout at John, he was gone like the wind. “You haven’t changed one bit, asshole…” he muttered.

Sarah’s father turned around and started to get back on his original path to go back to his home. Quickly, night had rolled down, smearing the sky in darkness. The words that John had said stayed embedded, echoing repeatedly as he walked on his way home. He questioned if what he said about him being a man of the household was true, he just can’t accept it. It fueled the fire in his heart for that woman, but there was something extinguishing that fire and that was his loving daughter. He had much more to ask and wanted to know more about this horrible future his daughter’s going to face after two months. For now, all he wanted to do was wonder what his daughter wanted to talk about that had him flustered.

After ten more minutes of crickets chirping the night, and Detroit's rising crime blasting off in the distance, he arrived at his front doorstep. He reached into his pocket to get his keys, placed them into the keyhole and opened the door. Once he walked in he was indulged with a nice aroma of his favourite scented coffee.

“Is this… Jacobs? I-I haven’t had this coffee in ten years when John got me a bag for my wretched twenty seventh birthday.”

He placed his suitcase down, took his shoes off and walked into the kitchen to find two coffee mugs placed near each other on the dining table. He smacked his lips and knew it was just his damned wife who’s trying to play games with him. But this was something he loves so he set aside his ego and started reaching for one when unexpectedly his daughter walked in with a long plate of Hutzelbrot; A seasoned sweet bread that’s brown with aniseeds and made of rye dough. He too loved the bread his daughter's just bringing in. She set it on the table and found her father standing right beside one of the mugs of coffee, his jaw was mildly dropped and he looked much brighter than his usual self.

“Father… I didn’t know you-you were home. This is uh, a little weird…” she backed off and set her arms behind, blushing. “I didn’t even get to finish my preparation, ehehe…”

Sarah’s father closed his mouth and sat down, grabbing a slice and taking a bite. Once bitten, he was transpired into a world of flavours and he can taste his home country. He immediately gouged into the bread and finished it without a trace, not even a crumb was left. Sarah’s heart warmed up, she's never seen her father this energetic about anything before. She too took a seat, and grabbed a mug of that Jacobs coffee she prepared. Sarah’s father watched her as she took a sip. He was anxious of how she’ll react to a much stronger coffee than she usually has.

Sarah took a sip, and felt the warmth glide down her pipe. “This is my first time having this. It’s delightful.”

Sarah’s father slightly grinned, but Sarah can’t look at him since she promised not to set her eyes onto him.

“Sa-Sarah, did you—prepare all this?” he asked while grabbing another slice of bread to drink with his coffee.

Sarah too grabbed a slice but waited until his hand was away from the plate. “Ye…ah. I wanted to make you feel at home and comfortable with our discussion. Is something wrong?”

His hand flickered, and felt his heart skip a beat. “N-no. There’s nothing wrong, I’m just—surprised.” He grabbed the mug again, “question is, how did you know that I love these two items?”

Sarah looked around, and tapped the table with her hands before answering. “I asked m…om before she left for an undisclosed meeting. That’s how I found out and quickly began cooking and preparing to—”

Sarah felt her father’s aura emerge, seeing and feeling his anger swelling. She drew a sweat and nervously grabbed a slice of bread. She took a bite and loved the taste but feeling her fathers anger grow more and more prevented her from saying anything. Her father took in a breath, held it for five seconds and exhaled. He wiped his face and lay back on the chair, slightly tilting his head. Sarah quietly ate her bread and watched as he tapped his long fingers on the table.

He finally simmered down and grabbed his mug to take another sip. “So, what is it that you wanted to speak about?”

His voice grew cold and annoyed, and Sarah wasn’t sure if she should ask if that’s how he reacted to just answering him about the preparation she made. Of course it was just from the kindness of her heart, but she had no clue that her mother just helping with a telling will make him this heated. She knew he had disgust over her mother, but Sarah wanted to know more about her, more of their hatred, more of her mysterious nature. For as long as Sarah can remember, she always thought her mother was a nature loving, caring gorgeous woman she can look up to. As of lately, everything that's been revealed to her in the past months, she’s found out more horrible sayings of her mother than anything else, especially that one Exorcist who enjoyed picking on her because she looked just like her mother.

Sarah finished her bread and thought about it. Damn… why does he hate her so much! All I wanted to ask was more of their origins, especially moms. But I can’t, I’m scared of how he’ll react!

Sarah’s father grew worried that he’s intimidating her too much. “Don’t be afraid, I-I won’t… bite.”

Sarah softly giggled. “Out of all things you could’ve said, that’s what you chose?”

He lightly chuckled and wanted to get another slice of bread.

When he was reaching for one, Sarah also did but to get it for him. “Here, let me grab one and set it for—”

Once their skins gently touched, even if it was a smear, Sarah’s father abruptly retracted his arm and grabbed it. This scared Sarah and she saw his panting, livid, but petrifying face along with his quaking eyes staring at her. This made her feel revolted and never has she seen her father express such a vulgar look at something. She felt like he was looking at the most disturbing, horrifying thing to ever exist.

Sarah’s bottom lip quivered and the edges of her eyes began to swell. “Fa-Father… I-I, I was just—”

He brought his eyes to his hand, and stared at his shaking palm. “Don’t you… touch—me, please…”

Sarah covered her eyes and felt ready to burst in tears. She wanted to get up and run away to her room, a normal reaction for any girl in her shoes. But for Sarah, she had to be strong and ask more about her mother. She sniffled, and fought the sadness that did the best it could to explode. She managed to control herself and drop her hands, shaking it away, and lastly, waving her hands at her face. Sarah’s father reacted to this by feeling disgusted with himself for being this overall dramatic by a simple touch. Yet he can’t help it, her touch even if it was miniscule felt too similar to that of his wife. It was soft, smooth, and tickled his insides.

Sarah’s father shut his eyes, and weirdly enough, punched himself in the face, shocking his daughter. “Fa…ther! Wh-why did you do that?!” she asked as she got up half way from her chair.

Her father deeply sighed, grinning. “Yo-You wouldn’t understand. For now, let this fool bask in his shame.”

Sarah respected her fathers wish and sat back down. The two had a moment of silence until he destroyed it by clearing his throat.

“Sorry for acting… a fool. Uh, what do you want to talk about?”

Sarah shook her head and wanted to see if he was okay, but she wanted to oblige to his rules. “Oh father… I hardly know you—yet, I can sense you need help.”

He rolled his eyes, “Yeah no kidding, I’m all sorts of fucked up…” he replied, casually letting a stream of crimson to drip off his nostril.

“I mean, first you get nervous when I'm around you, then you all of a sudden wanted to blast my mother into smithereens along with the entire continent, and out of nowhere, start teaching me about who I am as a Witch?! And learn to control my mana! Oh dad, I can already tell you’re silly…”

He pinched his nose, blocking any more blood from coming out. “Hey, I would have if she didn’t lay her wretched fingers on me. And please, who else is gonna teach you? Her! That’s a nightmare not only for me, but for the rest of reality.”

The two paused, then looked at each other's necks, and laughed. Quickly, reality struck them and the two realised they just had a normal conversation. Nobody stuttered, nobody reacted with revolution, a quick simple two sentences and disagreements along with some sass had them talk like normal people. Sarah took this opportunity to continue by asking for his origins.

“Father, um… I wanted to ask. Wh-where did you come from, and how long have you been a Witch?”

Sarah’s father cleared his throat, also grabbing a napkin to wipe his bloody nose. Just like John said, get to know my own flesh and blood.

Then he brought the bloody napkin to his view. “Yeah, my own blood…” he muttered.

He drifted his eyes to his daughters neck, wiping his nose one more time before speaking.

“Well, I was born in a remote town, twenty miles from Berlin. And as for me being a Witch, I’m coming clear about this.”

Sarah was excited. This was not only a small dream come true, but as the conversation kept going, she could sense that hatred in his heart dwindle.

I’m getting to know my father! Unbelievable, and cool, I’m half German! Should’ve known once mom told me his favourite coffee brand and such. Sarah thought.

Sarah listened and nodded in enjoyment, ready to hear more.

“I wouldn’t say I’m a Witch—per say. My shoes are a bit more complicated, in fact, I only know a couple of spells and that's that.”

Sarah pointed at her father as his eyes were locked straight. “So what you’re trying to say is that you’re mislabeld?”

Sarah’s father mildly grins. “You can say that.”

“So, what are you, father?”

Sarah’s father placed his knuckle beneath his chin. “Well, to your surprise, I’m an Esper.”

Sarah’s eyes blossomed and she was filled with excitement. “Re-Really?!” she said, leaning towards him. “What kind?!”

Hearing her daughter’s excitement made his hardened heart pump faster. Never would he have imagined hearing her make such noises that would make him feel this fuzzy inside. Seeing, talking, getting to do this was just a dream to him, but now it’s a gift he’s been given, and one he’ll take advantage of; So long as his wife doesn’t return home anytime soon.

“Slow down there, Sarah, you’re putting pressure on a poor middle aged man.” He got another slice of bread and dumped it into his coffee. “I’m an Esper who has transpired, evolved his gifted abilities into his physical strength. In fact, I loathe using my powers for anything other than my muscles.”

Sarah started putting her own puzzles together. She grabbed her chin and squinted. That explains why we’ve mainly done mana control and nothing on using telepathy, the spells taught to me by mom, or shooting it out like a mass of energy.

“Hey father, what do you mean you loathe using it? Like shooting it out? Lifting objects, or perhaps using them to make life easier?”

Sarah’s father, dipped, bit his coffee stained bread. “Exactly as I said. People who rely on their gifted abilities are no more than weaklings and especially, cowards to me. I on the other hand have managed to grow my natural strength that makes me human far beyond comprehension by combining my gift along with controlling the mana dormant in me with just normal hand to hand combat.”

“But don’t you still have to use it to combat people that are above normal norms?”

Sarah’s father grew a confident smile. “Not exactly. I managed to combine it with my muscle fibers, and with years of meditation, I’ve managed to have it fixed to every nerve, neuron, and every reflex that I can use to break the boundaries of natural strength.”

Sarah grew more excited, pumping a fist. “In-incredible! I never knew that was possible?! So in contrary, when you displayed your incredible Aura to me for the first time, it was to display fear onto me but doing the same to others, right?”

Her father lay back, his eyes briefly grew big as he did a slight tilt. “Eh, more or less. Although, it’s not necessary for me to display my mana when they can feel how heavy my presence is.”

“Yeah, no kidding… just me speaking to you alone is enough to quake in my gothic boots.”

Sarah’s father blinked rapidly, and Sarah let out a breath. The two then softly chuckled, feeling their bond grow. Never has she heard him produce sounds of happiness and it was cute for a shy, quiet giant like him to make these sounds. As the two chuckled a little more, their door had opened, and her father knew who it was, immediately making him stand on his feet. Their presence made his blood boil, and it erased every ounce of happiness within his body.

“Sorry… but I have to go. We can talk some other time, Sarah.” He said, slamming his fist on the table.

Sarah’s father quickly walked off with Sarah reaching an arm out to him as he left the kitchen.

“Fa…ther…” Sarah said, looking sad now that her father left in anger.

She let out a long deep sigh and began cleaning up. As she did, her mother had walked in, and saw her daughter cleanup but for two, which made her curious.

“My beloved daughter, what are you doing?” she asked while flinging her hair.

Sarah grabbed the mug her father was using, and looked at the small puddle inside of it. “Cleaning up after a nice talk.”

Sarah’s mother raised a brow, growing a twisted smile, almost as if she knew exactly what she was doing before asking.

“Oh? And with whom? My beautiful doppelganger.”

Sarah looked at her mother, her face showing sadness but with a hint of joy. “With—father…”

***

While the night sky grew misty, clouds covering the moon, and the crime of Flint echoing off in the distance, back in Eric’s home, Alexandria was beginning to wake up from a nap. She sat up, scratched her head, and looked at Jack who was still asleep. She expressed a cute smile, ruffled his hair, and got out of his bed, only wearing his shirt with nothing beneath it except her panties. She stretched and has never felt better thus far in her life.

She looked at him again, admiring his vulnerability. “I’m so glad you were my first, and hopefully my last, you big idiot, hehe.”

Alexandria heard her stomach growl and rubbed it. Without another thought in mind, she walked out of his room and into the living room to get to the kitchen. While she did, she saw the television on with explosions, women moaning, and men grunting coming from it. It was only Angela who was still up playing a video game, her face extremely dead focused on it. Alexandria decided to be sneaky by tiptoeing to her to scare the little scene chick.

“I’m going to scare the shit out of her alright, muhaha.” she whispered.

Tiptoeing, her bare toes softly touching the cold wooden floor, she managed to get behind her without being noticed. She raised her arms in the air and flung them towards Angela who quickly dodged her without looking. Alexandria fell face first where she sat and moaned in defeat. Angela blew steam out her nostrils, throwing up horns in victory.

Alexandria rolled over and stood up, patting herself. “Damn you, how’d you know I was going to sneak attack you?!”

Angela chuckled confidently, “A master never reveals her secrets!”

Alexandria placed her hand on her hip, leaning it. “Yeah yeah, what time is it anyway?”

Angela paused the game, grabbing her smartphone and checking the time. “Almost ten, why?”

When Angela’s sights were on Alexandria, she checked her out head to toe. Her outfit made her eyes erratically twitch, raise the edge of her lip, and once she wrapped up on why she was reacting this way towards Alex, she gasped loudly.

Angela dramatically pointed her finger at Alex and sharpened her gaze. “You… you succubus!”

Alexandria was confused at first then knew what she meant by that. “Me? A succubus, mmm, perhaps! Muhahaha!”

Angela crossed her arms, and pouted. “D-don’t tell me you guys actually did the nasty!” she said, puffing her cheeks.

Alexandria sat down, crossing her legs. “You mean sex? Yeah, of course we did, my little demon.”

“Ahh, gross, don’t wanna hear your confirmation. At least tell me you guys used protection?!”

Alexandria smugly grinned. “Nope, raw dogged it hehe!”

Angela rolled her eyes, “gross! Why are you telling me?!”

“Because you asked, dummy! Duhh, anyways, how’ve you been, huh?”

“Me? Oh, I’ve been doing great, well, not as lately.”

“Hmm, why’s that?” Alexandria asked, laying an arm on the couch.

Angela set her arms down, laying back on the couch. “It’s Jack. He’s been acting, how should I put it—strangely weird?”

“Weird and strange acting or towards you?”

Angela appeared sad in response to Alexandria’s answer. “Both.” she said in a disappointed tone.

Alexandria figured this was the case, but had no clue that Angela was aware of the issue already. This also answered that he’s been acting strange before their reunion, raising concerns over his mental state that’s rotting. Although neither could understand why he’s behaving this way, Alexandria wanted to ask more of his odd behaviour to get a hint on why.

“Say Angela, was your brother always acting this finicky? Or is this recent?”

“Recently,” Angela responded, her eyes diverting towards her legs. “I can’t explain it, ever since he awoke from a nightmare about a week ago, when he first lay eyes on me—it was as if he set eyes on me for the first time in years. Then, afterwards, he gives me the gaze of someone staring at their reaper.”

“Mm, that is strange. I wonder what nightmare made him change this way? If he’s acting this paranoid of you then this nightmare has your involvement all over it.”

Angela brought her hand up to her face, staring at it blankly. “You know Alexandria, you might be right. Yet somehow, I can understand why he’s acting this way at me.”

“In what way?”

Angela sat silently, staring deep at the wrinkles and creeks on her palm. Her mouth slightly gapped, her pearly white teeth ground, the young girl balled her fist and dropped it.

She turned to Alexandria, and gazed at her with an emptiness. “For some strange reason, Alex, I don’t feel—like myself. I-I can’t describe it, but, I feel like there’s something missing inside me. A darkness that’s supposed to accommodate along with Jack’s.”

Alexandria didn’t like Angela’s strange behaviour, rather it felt familiar yet somehow she can’t understand why.

“A darkness, huh? How could you tell if there’s black in his heart?”

“His eyes, they reek and reflect tragedy.”

“Mm… I do give you that. They are more dead looking than before, and could you stop the edgy tryhard look? I think you’ve watched too many Anime’s.”

Angela’s mind started to hurt, and she heard someone scream, and it sounded like herself. “Ouch… headache just bursted in. how perposterous.”

Alexandria stood up, patted Angela, and then flicked her forehead.

“He-Hey! What was that for?” she said, rubbing it.

“That’s for acting weird too, anyways, I’ll talk to you tomorrow. I’m going to get a snack, eat it, then get back into bed with my husband and call it a night.”

Alex walked away and Angela shrugged. She picked her controller up and when she was about to pause her game, in the television's reflection, she saw someone standing in the hallway that led to Jack’s room. She turned around and saw nothing. She gulped and got up with her controller in her hand. She walked out of the living room and stood at the entrance of the hallway. There, she saw a woman in a red dress stand at the end of it, and the woman walked into Jack’s room. Angela panicked, dropped her controller and ran to her brother’s room. She got to his door and saw it was shut, which made her pause.

“Bro-Brother… are you still asleep?” she asked, knocking.

There was no answer. She reached for the door knob, turned it and opened it. Inside she saw her brother fast asleep with just a single lit candle on his desk. She scratched her cheek in confusion and quickly sighed in relief but strangely felt someone's presence behind her. She can feel a chill hit the back of her neck, the hairs on her body rose, and she felt the cold get closer to her ear.

“I have blessed you, my child…” they whispered.

Angela quickly turned and covered her ear, drawing a panicked breath, sweating. The voice that whispered into her ear sounded mature, womangly, soft, and Angelic. Her heart was beating fast, and she was beginning to get more chills. As Angela diverted her eyes back into Jack’s room, the candle glowed red and blew intensely, eventually blowing itself out. All of this made Angela scared to which she responded by running away but accidently bumped into Alexandria who had a bag of chips in her hand. The bag fell, exploding out the chips onto the floor.

“Angela? You okay?” Alexandria asked as Angela held onto her.

“Th-Th-There was a wo-woman… in a red dress… in Jack’s-Jack’s…”

Poor Angela couldn’t finish her sentence but Alexandria sprinted into action, dragging Angela with her. When they did get into Jack’s room, it was pitch black because of the candle being out. Alexandria wasn’t afraid and walked right into darkness, tapping the wall to turn on the light. As she did, she saw his closet half open. Angela stayed behind Alexandria and she pointed at her brother for her to stay with him. She did and hugged him as he was still asleep. Alexandria went to Jack’s desk, and opened the drawer. There, she found his silver 1911, and picked it up. She cocked it and cautiously walked to his closet, having the gun aimed down sight.

“Alexandria… BE careful…” Angela said, “Jack, wake up, wake up you big idiot!” she said while shaking him.

Alexandria kept her focus on the gun's sights. She put her hand to the door's edge, and slowly opened the door while having the gun aimed straight. Fully opened, it exposed a single red rose, laying on the carpet floor. Alexandria carefully reached for it and picked it up, questioning why on earth there was a rose in his closet?

“What the hell is this?” she said while examining it. “Angela, does your brother collect roses?”

Angela shook her head. “No… he-he doesn’t.”

Alexandria felt the thorns on the rose's stem starting to pierce her skin. She carried it over to where the other two were, and blood was drawn. Alexandria hissed and crimson dripped to the ground, sparking concern for Angela. Alexandria rotated the rose again and saw where one of the thorns had cut her. This made her smack her lips and snap the rose in half. Angela wondered why she did it? She held onto her brother who mysteriously still stayed asleep despite all the noises that were made moments ago along with Angela’s shaking.

“You okay, Alex? You’re bleeding.” Angela asked.

Alexandria saw a nice clean cut on the edge of her index finger, watching the blood stream down her hand. “I’m alright, just feeling a little strange, that’s all.”

“Well, whatever I saw, must’ve planted that rose there! So this means, it’s the work of a spirit!”

Angela sounded dead serious, but to Alex’s ears, it sounded like a joke. She giggled and went up to Angela, rubbing her head and walking off to go into Jack’s bathroom.

“You have been watching too much Anime, I think it’s time you take a break from those troublesome supernatural thrillers.” she said while closing the door behind her.

Angela puffed her cheeks out, “pueh! You can’t command what I do with my free time. And ghosts are real I tell you! The rose is proof you foul succubus.”

Alexandria chuckled again. She shifted her head to the mirror, staring at herself. She put down Jack’s gun, and the rose. She rubbed her eye and started cleaning her small wound. After it was cleansed, she dabbed it, and when her eyes went back to the mirror, the figure of a woman in red appeared behind her. She quickly turned and she was gone, making her breathing frantic along with chills growing throughout her body. She grew scared and what Angela said about a spirit lurking in their house might be true.

“What the fuck is going on? Who was that… damn! I almost pissed myself.”

Alexandria remembered she had Jack’s gun, and it was set to the side on the counter. She kept her eyes on her own reflection as she reached for the silver contraption. Upon grabbing it, she felt her new wound sizzle in pain, making her look at it. She saw it turn, transform into an odd symbol; it had a triangle, inside of it a square, and surrounding it, half a circle. This made her eyes explode and shout, “Oh my God!” which resulted in Jack waking up, and abruptly getting out of bed. Angela fell and Jack glanced around, wondering where the shout came from.

He saw his sister on the ground, and quickly picked her up. “Oh my bad, are you okay Angela?! And was that you that just shouted?”

Angela massaged her side, squinting one of her eyes. “Damn brother, you almost killed me there. And it took Alexandria shouting in the bathroom for you to wake up? weirdo…”

“That was Alexandria? Oh, but why did she shout?”

“Beats me… probably seeing she can take bigger dumps than men.”

Jack chuckled. “Potty mouth Angela.” he went to his bathroom door, opened it and found Alexandria stunned, “Alex, you alright? You look boggled.”

Alexandria kept her hand out, and walked over to Jack. “Look! My damn hand, some werid symbol is engraved into it!”

“Symbol?” Jack said, taking a look at her hand. “Woah, you’re right. What is it, a new tattoo?”

“No, I had a cut on the edge of my hand from a rose I found in your closet and next you know, my wound morphed into—this!”

Jack panicked when she said rose in his closet. He rushed to his closet and saw it empty, and then ran into the bathroom, finding nothing.

He turned back to Alexandria, “where’s the rose?!” he asked, his tone utterly serious.

She massaged her hand and walked into the bathroom, finding nothing as well. “What? It-it was in here, I-I swear!”

“What colour was the rose…” he muttered.

“Red, and Angela saw it too.” she answered, looking concerned for Jack.

He walked over to his sister and gently grabbed her hand. “Angela, what happened beforehand, as I was still sleeping.”

“If you must know, I was playing my game, Alex came by, saw what’s up, we talked, then as she went into the kitchen, behind me I saw a woman in a red dress.”

Jack quietly gasped and let go. “Woman… in a… red—dress?”

Angela nodded, “yeah, and she walked into your room too, so I followed and Alexandria investigated too.”

“Yeah, I also saw her when I was in the bathroom washing my cut.” Alexandria said as she stood next to Jack who was in a state of shock.

Jack crushed his eyes and couldn't comprehend this. The fact that they saw someone whom he only saw in his dreams or occasionally whenever situations were dire, miraculously everytime she did appear, things were resolved. Although, there was that one time she went ballistic when he said he was going to reunite with Mallory. He questioned if she appeared to them to symbolize their protection, perhaps the symbol on Alexandria’s hand might be a marking of safety. With this thought in mind, he took a breath of relief and turned to the two, hoping good things are to come.

Alexandria grabbed Jack’s shoulder, “what do you think it could be honey?”

Jack placed his hands on both their heads, and softly grinned. “It’s nothing to be concerned about, perhaps you two saw a guardian Angela who happened to mess with your messy minds.”

Both Alexandria and Angela pouted adorably and in unison said, “says the guy who’s mind’s a mess!”

All three paused and laughed afterwards. While they enjoyed the joyful moment, bonding together, at the other side of the street from Eric’s home standing beneath a street lamp was the woman in red. She had a still face and around her were her rose petals that fluttered, shooting to the house and up to the full moon.

“With this being your final night of life, I bid thee a sleep of peace, harmony, and for you to awake into a beautiful morning.” she shifted her head to the moon, “As your day progresses, my child, remind him the cherishment of bonding ship. Therefore, you can finally move on, and slumber, for eternity.”

The woman in red’s eyes glowed the same as the moon, and a huge gust of wind blew behind her. Her body slowly tore apart to that of precious rose petals, hurdling her remains into the moonlight. The moon was blocked by curved dots of red, and in a cloud of crimson, a white owl emerged, flying into the night sky, not without leaving making a single deep hoot.

It’s the next day, a bright beautiful morning was met with bright sunshine, signs of spring's emergence were eminent. Birds chirped throughout the morning, cicadas annoying the crap out of Jack’s ears, the gang had an enjoying breakfast. Angela made fun of Alexandria for sucking the life out of Jack with her sexual tendencies, Alex retaliated by calling her the definition of a shut-in, and Eric chimed in congratulating Jack on getting laid by someone who wasn’t used. Seeing all four on the table reminded Jack when it was everyone alongside Randolph, but in replacement it was Alexandria. This made him smile the entire morning and answered his question about the woman in red appearing to be a sign of better days to come.

When they finished, Angela headed off to school, and at first Jack was freaking out for a moment because of her ties with Mallory and Dr. Cato. But he remembered she was nowhere to be found and he has yet to be seen or noticed. Angela had no correlations of her, nor known of her existence along with the devious doctor. This made him feel better about this timeline and after apologizing with a hug and a surprising kiss on her cheek to wish her a good day, it made her blush and run away with a big smile on her face. Eric had to go do some errands with the gang, typical illegal business ventures. This left Alexandria and Jack alone again to enjoy the house all to themselves.

The first thing Alexandria did was get Jack in the mood for another round of love making. She wanted to experience morning sex with a signifcant other, but chose the living room of all places to start it. The two were touching, rubbing, and having intercourse for a while until Jack carried her to the bedroom, naked. They kept going, and going, and Alexandria moaned, screamed his name at the top of her lungs while being pounded by him. She got so loud, shouting stupid nonsense such as, “No more!” or “it hurts so good!” that a neighbor knocked on the door, and Jack had to quickly get dressed to answer it. He opened the door, and the first thing the neighbor asked was if Jack was in the middle of torturing someone as usual. It sounded as if he were beating the life out of a screeching cat this time. This made the young man laugh and explained he was just having sex with an old female friend. The neighbor laughed and told him to, “Tone the bitch down by covering her mouth,” before leaving him alone.

He closed the door, and walked back into the room, finding Alexandria butt naked laying on his bed, quivering. “You-You alright?” he asked.

She couldn’t sit up because she was locked in an orgasmic state. “Ass—hole…” she muttered.

He walked over to her and looked dead in her dilated eyes. “Want me to stop?”

She lifted her head, and spread herself to him. “N-no…”

The two continued for another thirty minutes until finally, they were gassed out. They laid there, cuddling bareskinned, sweaty, and catching their breaths. Jack caught his breath, and let out a brief chuckle. Alexandria rubbed his chest, and stared up at his grin, wondering what’s making him laugh.

“Wh…at’s, so funny?” she asked, laying her arm over his chest.

Jack stared at his ceiling, bringing his arm beneath and under her shoulder, grabbing it. “Nothing, I’m just—relieved, that’s all.”

“Relieved, of what, huh?” she said, moving her head in a sassy fashion.

Jack took a deep breath, and rubbed her shoulder. “That you’re alive, and here by myside, Alexandria.”

Those words struck her heart, making it beat so fast that she thought it was going to burst out of her chest at any moment.

“You missed me that much, huh?”

“Yeah, I did.” he answered, his tone soft and deeper than usual. “You know, before our reunion, I thought I experienced a moment of peace, but had it disrupted, to then find myself in a complicated situation; I thought for a moment I was going to go ballistic, but when Eric told me you were potentially alive, I had to find you…”

Hearing this made Alexandria turn red, but feel sad for Jack. She could hear the hurt in his voice, his tone sounding dead now, she could tell the young man’s traumatized. She didn’t want to talk, she wanted to listen, hear what he has to say, and by doing this, it’ll relieve more of this trauma he has inside of him.

“Why find me of all people?” she said, her voice soothing to his ear.

“I had to find the person who taught me how to survive, made me laugh again, reminded me I’m not a true piece of shit.” Jack moved his head to glance at Alex, who’s eyes quivered at him. “Meeting you made me believe that there’s hope out there when I was homeless with Angela, that not everyone in this god forsaken world is filth. You were not only the first actual friend I made in the outside world, but you were also the first person I can relate to about addiction, and lastly, teach me about the concept of love.”

Alexandria’s eyes watered, and she grew closer to Jack’s face. “Have you learned what it means, Jack?”

Jack placed his hand on her cheek, looking into her glistening brown eyes. “Maybe. Though, I ain’t too sure.”

Alexandria smiled and grabbed his hand, “idiot…”

The two kissed, and Alexandria cried as she made out with Jack. Never in her life she would think they would reunite, and thought she would eventually succumb to the streets, becoming an actual prostitute who would do anything to get through life. Now that Jack’s come back into her life, she will never live that life ever again. From here on out, she hopes to live by his side until death do them part, and potentially, have a family with him. After hours passed, once again having another love session and taking a nap, they woke up, took a shower together, got dressed and decided to spend the rest of the evening out.

Alexandria tied her hair up, loose ponytail style, and wore some basic clothes she had in her bag. “I’m starving, let's go somewhere and eat before we walk around.” she said while tying her shoes.

Jack rolled his eyes. “Woman… always hungry. Alright, how about a Diner that I liked eating out with my deceased uncle.”

“Ooo, that sounds nice! And sorry for your loss. Randolph was it? You mentioned him a couple of times to me.”

Jack put on a black shirt and grabbed his pistol, tucking it behind his pants. “Yeah, not only was he just a person I’m proud of calling family, but he was a great role model.”

Alexandria stood up, patted herself and winked at Jack. “How about before we eat, we buy some flowers for him? He’s buried out back right? It’s the best I could do before leaving.”

“Leaving? Where are you going, ey?”

“Who knows, but I don’t want to be a freeloader you know.”

Jack was done dressing up and went to Alexandria. “I’ll do something to have you stay here with me. If we’re getting ‘married’ then before getting our own place, best to practice here and see how much we can tolerate each other.”

Alexandria jumped onto Jack, her eyes sparkling. “Really?! Yippee! And you finally understand marriage?”

Jack winked at her, confidently. “I looked it up on the internet last night before going to bed.”

Alexandria’s face went blank and she chopped Jack’s head. “You-you dummy.”

“he-Hey…”

***

It’s late afternoon, and just arriving near a nice town, one in particular that Jack’s sister loved enjoying and Randolph also liked coming with her, both love birds arrived, parking next to a small flower shop. Just down the road, three blocks down was the diner Jack talked about. The two got out and Alexandria had a huge smile on her face, indulging in a peaceful culture she had no idea that lurked in the depths of Flint. Never has she seen people walk around without being cautious, looking mysterious, ominous, suspicious, no prostitutes lurking the corners, lastly, there wasn’t a single sign of graffiti or rotting infrastructure.

“This place is wonderous! It’s gorgeous.” Alexandria said while gazing at the beautiful town and its crowded streets. “Who would’ve thought this city would be this divisive towards the lower class, what a shame.”

Jack shut the car door, and peaked at the park at the otherside of the road. “Yeah, it’s a sad reality I still have to accept, but it goes to show how much these shitty politicians favour the upper class since this town neighbors their upper class homes.”

Alexandria glanced at everything, figuring out where to go first. “No kidding, it’s like a dream come true for me. Shit, this is cool!”

“Figured you’d like this area. Angela absolutely adores this town, mainly because of her favourite shops being here, one in particular that sells stuff related to her weird cartoons.”

“You’re kidding? Damn, where at? Let's go there first!”

“You want to go there? A stupid shop that sells explicit figures of cartoons and weird comics?”

Alexandria placed her fists on her hips. “It’s not stupid… it’s—art!”

Jack smudged his lips. “You sound just like Angela…”

“Whatever!” she grabbed his arm, and began dragging him. “Come on, let's buy Randolph’s flowers first before we begin on your journey of Degeneracy!”

Jack smiled and the two rushed into the flower shop. Inside they were met by a nice woman and her daughter who owned the shop. They asked them what type of flowers they were interested in, and if they wanted a bouquet. Jack didn’t talk and immediately went to a bunch of daisy’s, one’s that reminded him of the endless flower fields with Lily. Alexandria didn’t argue and also chose a bouquet of Lillie's and poppy flowers. With this, it satisfied the young man and he paid for it even though she insisted on paying. After they were done with flower shopping, Alexandria demanded Jack to lead the way to show her where this shop Angela loved going to was at. He obliged while expressing his annoyance and disgust. She carried all the flowers, garnering the attention of people around them who asked if he bought them for her. She replied to them with a smile, grabbing his hand and holding it in response to their kindness. Having people cheer them on made Jack groan in annoyance, while Alexandria was having the time of her life.

They walked further down the street, and arrived at the entrance of the place. “This is it… hell.” Jack said, cringing.

Alexandria’s eyes exploded in excitement, she was awestruck by the big school girl sculpture waving, winking at them at the entrance. “No fucking way! Am-am I dreaming or is this shit real?!”

Jack sighed, “Unfortunately this is real, and I’m here to be by your side to experience this stupid shop, once again.”

Alexandria couldn’t help herself but run in with the flowers, leaving Jack outside. He chuckled and shook his head, watching her be captivated by things he finds ridiculous made him feel nostalgic of Angela back then before the events of Dr. Cato. He stretched his arms, and yawned, scratching his head to glance around. Strangely, something caught his eye off in the distance. It made him slung his upper body backwards to get a better view.

What he saw made him blink in confusion. “Is it me or is that a person towering that crowd just down the street.”

What he saw was an irregularly tall individual, taller than a basket player, taller than a suv. Jack can clearly tell even if they were far away, they stood out like an eyesore. Never has Jack seen a person that tall, and made him wonder if the circus was in town. It was too hard to tell what they were wearing given their distance, but it’s enough to send chills down Jack’s spine.

“Jesus, it’s like staring at a bear in public…”

Alexandria called for Jack, turning his attention to the shop for a moment. When he did look back at the road, the individual was gone, sparking confusion for Jack.

“Where’d they go?” he wondered. “Whatever, it’s probably a lamp post or some person wearing a promotional outfit.”

Jack walked into the shop, spotting Alexandria drooling over a figurine, a very familiar one. It was the same one Angela had in her collection, the guy with the orange and black tracksuit doing a stupid heroic pose. His spikey black hair and dead fish eyes rubbed his memories to remind him of their resemblance.

“I’m nothing like you…” he muttered.

Alexandria picked him up and glazed in his glory, doing the same pose with the flowers in hand. “I am Alexandria, and I am broke beyond comprehension!”

Jack was jaw dropped but with severe cringe, twitching an eye. “That… was lame…”

Alexandria picked up another figurine, one wearing a lab coat and pointing his arm out. “Jackolita! One day you’ll notice you’re being confined by society, but rest assured, fwauhaha! That I, Alexandria, am a mad scientist and I’ll open that pathetic mind of yours, eh!”

Alexandria snapped her fingers at the end, winking to Jack. He slowly raised his hands and clapped with a blank stare. She giggled and set the figurine down, checking out a close by book that she was interested in.

“They have everything, man. I-I never really had the time to read any manga or watch anything while being out in the streets once I was knee deep into it.”

“Then, how did you manage to watch them?”

Alexandria didn’t smile, and for a moment, she rewinded her memories of all the awful times she had to endure to even have a proper place to stay. There were times she had to act so deep into her fake prostitution to stay over a guy's place, just to watch her shows. One time she went too far, and it led to her being caught, beaten, and almost raped by the individual in question. After that near death experience, crying in a withery winter night, she stumbled upon a local bookstore that was taking homeless people shelter. And in that time, she found the glory of manga and light novels. So many stories she read changed her life and ways to manipulate people and fend others off to live somewhat, but eventually, she got so caught up in her mess she didn’t have time to read or purchase any new material because of always being on the run.

Jack could see the picture book she had in hand being shakened. “You okay? Alexandria.” he said, placing his hand on her shoulder.

She shed a tear and wiped it off before he could see it. “It’s nothing, I just miss reading, that’s all.”

Jack grinned and grabbed the book out of her hands. She was confused as to why he did that, that was until he walked up to the clerks desk and talked with the person. He came back and gave her a thumbs up.

“Wh-what did you say to them?”

Jack grabbed the bouquet of flowers, “me? Oh, well I told them that you loved these books so much that I offered to pay anything in advance—” he gave her back the book and she looked at him, her eyes starting to water. “So long as you touch or grab anything.”

This made her shed tears of joy. She silently let it rain, but giggled afterwards wiping off her tears. “Jack…” she said, putting the book down and wrapping her arms around his neck. “That’s not necessary, when all I need… is you.”

Jack rubbed her back and kissed her head. “It’s on me, honestly.”

She let go and grabbed the book, “could you even afford my taste?”

“Pfft, are you kidding? Of course I can.” he said, sounding confident.

She smiled and smacked the book on his arm. “This, this is all that I want. Then, you can treat me to lunch at that Diner you spoke about.”

“You sure? I’m giving you a chance to go all out?”

“Yeah, I’m sure. Besides, I’m getting hungry so let's go.”

Jack grabbed the book, walked to the front desk and paid for it. He brought it back in a nice gift bag the clerk had given him. He handed her the bag and she grabbed his hand, and the two walked out of the shop with smiles on their faces. Once back on the sidewalk, they were met with a nice breeze that swept in from their left. It blew the final signs of fall past them, dying leaves that shot up into the air. Jack felt spring tan his face and Alexandria’s brown hair shone from the sun. With the two feeling the peak of happiness, they carried on to their destination, the Diner.

They arrived and once Alexandria laid eyes on it, it reminded her of a fancier one that she used to go to back in the days. Jack was starving and wanted to go right in, but she had stopped him.

“What?” he asked.

She dropped the bag and reached for his phone, startling him. When she pulled it out, it made her chuckle.

“Still using a flip phone I see.” she said, flipping it open and started scrolling. “At least it still has a decent camera.”

“What’s your plan? Gonna make fun of me and take pictures of me?”

She shook her head. “Nope, you’re going to take a picture of your cute wife.” she handed him back his phone, trading it for the bouquet of flowers. “Here, I’ll stand in front, and pose… like this.”

She hugged the flowers, showed Jack her white teeth with an adorable open mouth smile, and raised a leg.

The sight of her being this adorable made him blush and grin. “Alright then, stay still, Alexandria.”

Jack steadied his phone, and she held her pose. Her bright smile, her short shorts exposing her long legs, her shining brown hair, and sparkling brown eyes, this made Jack be awed by her natural cuteness. Jack couldn’t imagine she would turn out this beautiful, but he’s glad he’s been given another chance to see it first hand. Feeling that he’s been blessed and even going as far as thanking Sir William for this altered timeline, if the trials were involved in the outside world or dream world occurrences, then he felt happy knowing that with each failure that might occur, Alexandria will be by his side.

“Hurry, I’m about to timber like a hanging lumber Jack here!” she playfully shouted.

Jack took the picture, the flash made her drop her leg and grunt. She stretched it and clapped. “Yes! Let us see the results of your mid camera.”

Jack handed her his phone and she took a glance at herself with the bouquet of flowers still held by her other arm. The picture made her giggle with joy and spin around, seeing that it turned out greater than expected.

“With this, it’ll be the start of our journey into adulthood!” She handed Jack back his phone, and the flowers, and went to her gift bag and walked up to the entrance. “Come on, I’m parched!”

Jack nodded, and also glanced at the photo. “Yeah, let's eat, honey.”

Hearing him call her honey made her face tomato red and make a funny victory noise. She pumped her right arm and opened the door, holding it for her future husband. Jack went up, pushed her away and held it for her instead, having her respond with a playful push at him. Jack laughed and the two went inside, taking a seat near the back of the Diner, one that had a decent view of the sidewalk they came up from. A server came up, she was brown, had beautiful curly hair, and curvy. She smelled like flowers and gave them a nice greeting. Jack knew her from the times he came here with the gang, especially Eric who liked flirting with her. For once, Alexandria was surprised she wasn’t a stereotype of a Diner waitress. She didn’t expect this scent, normally they’d smell like cigarettes or cheap cologne, but this is something she can get accustomed to.

“What can I get you two today? A new girlfriend, I take, Jack?” she asked with a small notepad and pen in hand.

Jack grabbed the menu set aside on the table. “I’ll have the usual with coffee and no, she’s more than that now.”

Alexandria rolled her eyes with a big smile. “Stop…” she said, slapping his wrist.

“As always, and it’s surprising to see a nice smile on your face for once, Jack. And I’m very glad it’s someone as cute as her. How’s Eric?” she said while writing.

“He’s good, same old same old, know what I’m saying?”

“Oh that Eric, so big, hunky, oo I love me that man.”

Alexandria pointed at the menu. “Could I get the Sunnyside special. But four waffles, chocolate chips! And a nice coffee as well.”

“Sunny side special, coming right up along with the usual.” She finished writing and walked off.

Jack set the menu down and smirked. “What a day so far, huh?”

Alexandria did the same, clasping her hands. “Yeah, it’s surreal. Still can’t believe that this is all real. It’s like a dream but also a nightmare come true.”

“Nightmare, why say that?”

“I don’t mean it in a bad way, it’s just… I-I don’t know how to say it, I’m a little afraid because I’ll sound kinda goofy.”

“It’s fine, remember, you’re talking to a sicko. I’m fucked mentally!”

Alexandria giggled, covering her mouth. “You’re stupid.” she licked her lips and softly smacked them. “I say nightmare because, there’s a feeling I’m not sure if you ever had the same experience when something feels too real that it’s—fake? Like, everything around us just feels unreal.”

“I understand what you’re saying. I’ve had plenty of those experiences…”

Too many, in fact. Jack thought.

“So you do get what I’m saying. Anyways, to condense my statement. The nightmare in which I say is that if this dream keeps continuing, I’m afraid that I’ll awake back to sqaure one. Back where I was at before reuniting with you. Kinda like being out of it from a nice drug session.”

Jack rubbed his chin. “Now I get what you’re saying. And speaking of nightmare, last night you clung onto me in the middle of night, softly weeping and gasping for air. I didn’t wake you up, and instead shushed you and comforted you while you slept.”

Alexandria looked away, staring out to the street view. “So-sorry… I was having a horrible one. I couldn’t help but clinge onto someone who I knew would save me.”

“What was the dream about that made you shiver to death?”

She tried remembering, but forgot most of it. Yet, there was a scene that did imprint itself onto her subconscious. Just remembering made her shut her eyes in despair.

The clerk came back and set their coffee mugs down. “Here’s your coffee guys, food will be out in ten minutes.” she walked away again while Jack waited on an answer as Alexandria sat still.

She grabbed her coffee and quietly began pouring creamer, sugar, and stirred it without saying a word. Jack waited patiently to have her explain the nightmare, doing the same thing she did to him about waiting all day.

She stirred and looked into the light brown liquid, seeing her reflection. “The nightmare I had, Jack… was losing not just you, but—”

She stopped, and set the spoon down, grabbing the mug and taking a sip. She smacked her gums and set it down, clasping her hands again.

She hung her head, “also—losing my subconscious. Floating in a dark void filled with nothing as far as the eye could see, just pure black.”

Jack set his hand on hers, and clutched it. “That’s never going to happen,” he said in a deep serious tone. “As long as I breathe, and I remain in your sights, I will never let anyone hurt you, ever again… otherwise they’ll have to tread lightly.”

Alexandria had a small grin, grabbing his hand. “Right…”

Jack didn’t like that answer she put out. Her tone sounded unsure and worrisome. “You don’t sound confident, is something else bothering you?”

She sucked in her lips and her eyes began watering. “You know, I’ve been kinda holding this feeling in, Jack. And it’s been bothering me since we reunited.”

“Tell me, Alexandria.”

She was blinking erratically, holding back her tears. “It’s odd, I-I don’t know how to put it, but it almost feels like I’m not even supposed to be here… like, I’m meant to have disappeared, and this—” she waved her hand in front of his view, “was never meant to be… strange, isn’t it?”

Hearing her say this made Jack feel depressed. What she’s saying is true, but he can’t accept this fact. Although, what’s making her feel this way and question her existence? There’s nothing intervening or giving her signs that she’s not supposed to exist right now. This was driving Jack mad, and it made his head hurt, there’s nothing to explain this feeling she’s experiencing other than a supernatural interference. It can’t be Mallory, nor any spirit, the only people who can come to mind about this is William and the woman in red who did appear last night.

“I can’t really tell you why you’re feeling like this, other than to call you crazy. But Alexandria, every single fear you’re hiding, every single childhood memory that’s still impacting you, don’t let it affect you now. If God’s actually real, then he made sure that you would reunite with me again, and for us to be here now, it’s not just from luck, but it was meant to be.”

Alexandria felt confident in Jack’s words. In spite of the feelings she's buried, needing to disappear, she wanted to be introverted in his words. All of that’s happened in the past two days, if it’s meant to be with nothing happening, then what Jack is saying must be true. With this, she felt confident about being a part of his life and reached over the table to give him a kiss.

“You’re right… enough of this weird sad talk. Let's change the subject, shall we?”

Jack nodded. “Sure, what do you want to talk about now?”

Alexandria got sassy, letting her body get loose and do the talking. Jack’s confused as to why she’s got a brow raised to him and why she rested her head on an arm that stood on the table.

“Let's talk about all the girls in your contacts, Jack S-a-m-r, aka playboy, aka, fuckboy!”

Jack put his hands out, “woah woah, what are you talking about?”

“Oh you know what I mean. First it was that Sarah chick, then as I scrolled through your phone, there’s a Veronica, and an Anna?” she leaned over the table, getting at his face. “Explain yourself, mister!”

Jack chuckled. “Relax, they’re all my friends. There’s nothing to worry about.”

“Hah?! Nothing to worry about! What do they look like, what’s their height, bust size, thickness, are they fat, skinny, sexy?! I gotta know, this is a matter of what I’m up against and how well does my body and beauty compare to theirs.”

“I think—you’re overreacting. Firstly, Sarah is a friend whom I trust. Anna’s my best friend since childhood, and the only girl I can think of… oh shit, Veronica! I forgot, I-I…”

“Uh huh? You what with her?” she asked, crossing arms.

Jack grew nervous and lay back. “Well she consented to me grabbing her breast…”

Alexandria gasped, “I knew it! I have more than one competitor!”

“Oh Alex, chill. I can assure you that there’s nothing else going on with anyone.”

“Mhm, sure. I saw that you and that Sarah girl call each other a lot.”

“Yeah, our situations are very complicated, that’s why…”

“In what way?” she asked, squinting an eye but not out of jealousy or anger, rather curiosity.

She watched as his body language changed. His breathing slowed, he was the one to clasped his hands, and show Alexandria his most serious face yet.

“In the past year, I have experienced events that a normal person wouldn’t comprehend. Whether they were real or not, the only person that could understand what I’m going through and I can relate to, is her.”

He took a deep breath and eased his shoulders.

“Sarah is a person who’s going through a shit fest similar to my own, but I think in her case, it’s more complicated. And, to tell you the truth, I feel as if it’s my fault for getting her involved.”

Alexandria has never heard Jack this serious nor express such a sharp face. She doesn’t have anything to say, but questions more about their friendship. The way he speaks of their current situations makes it seem that they’re meant to be.

“Jack, could I ask you this…” she said, setting her hand on his closed palms. “Was she there for you—at your worst?”

Jack slowly nodded in response. He can never forget the way he was slightly rude to her, being a complete jerk to her and releasing his frustrations out on her when she didn’t deserve it. Despite his outbursts, she was still there for him because she understood his feelings, the dire strain on his mentality, and more importantly, the one to help resolve something rather than turn it into a twisted game, unlike a certain girl in a white dress.

“Sarah is a person who I respect, a person I can trust with not only my words, but with her actions as well…” he looked out the window and saw that the sunshine was gone. “She’s someone far beyond amazing, a true prodigy, and I’m glad to call her a close friend.”

Alexandria tilted her head, smiling. “So she’s that great, isn’t she? In what way makes her more amazing than the average person?”

Jack’s eyes grew a glint, but one shone with proudness. “You have no—idea, Alexandria…”

His answer made Alexandria nod, and let go of his hand. She felt relieved hearing that there’s someone else besides her that can comfort Jack. It’s almost as if she were waiting for him to spill it out, and with this, she felt more at peace about herself and the feelings she laid dormant. If she were to vanish or had never returned to his life, she knew that this girl Sarah would be by his side, and help Jack through his tough life. There lunch had finally arrived and the two quickly dug in without a prayer, munching and enjoying the food to the fullest.

Once they were finished, they sat back, and allowed the food to digest properly. They sat, digging their teeth with toothpicks for a couple of minutes, that was until the Diner grew a little darker in its atmosphere. It made everyone in the establishment turn their heads to the outside, and saw that Michigan's grey skies returned but much darker than usual. Some questioned if there was a storm coming, others saying it’s typical bi-polar Michigan. Everyone went back to what they were doing, as well as the two lovebirds.

Alexandria was stuffed and got up to sit next to Jack. “Man, that was really good. I’m so fucking full…”

Jack wrapped his arm around her, reeling her closer to him. “Told ya, didn’t I?”

“Yeah you did, so, what’s next?”

“Hmm,” he grabbed his chin, looked up, then looked to Alexandria, “wanna talk a small walk through the park?”

Alexandria lay her head against his chest, feeling and hearing his soft beating heart. “That sounds romantic, I’d like that.”

The two locked eyes, feeling their love grow and Alexandria had one more question to ask for Jack.

“Say Jack, what was your dream again? It was about being a detective right?”

Jack grinned and moaned. “Not just that, but to be like my father as well.”

Alexandria shook her head in a seductive but cute fashion. “Well… I think I can make that father part come true, sooner than you think babe.”

“Is that so? Hmph, we’ll see, but for now, let's enjoy our youth, mama.”

Alexandria grew closer to Jack’s face. “Jack… I love you.”

Jack bumped heads with her. “Me too, Alexandria.”

The two went in for a deep kiss, smooching, and feeling each other. Once Jack and Alexandria pulled their lips away, there was a pause of silence. They looked deep into their souls, Alexandria’s soft moaning, Jack’s breathing, when she was about to touch his arm, the mark in her hand grew hot and glowed. She slowly turned to it, and from behind Jack, he felt a tremendous shockwave. The last thing he saw before everything went black was Alexandria’s blanched face.

What… just happened? Jack thought.

His world got engulfed by a field of eerie, grey solitude. His ears rang tremendously, his vision blurred, he could hear muffled blood curdling screaming, pain being mass produced, a white noise that flickered in and out of his consciousness; The young man blinked slowly a couple of times, and his blurred vision cleared itself one blink at a time. He heard things collapse, glass breaking, fire crackling, and with one more blink, he got a clear picture of what just happened. What his eyes set for him to witness was destruction, covered in a thick cloud of grey and white, black smoke, fire growing, blazing just at the entrance of the Diner. The Diner was in ruins, bodies laying, corpses burried, blood splatter, limbs at every corner, this made Jack’s heart race.

Jack groaned, moaned loudly, feeling stuck in something. “Wh…at, just happened?” he mumbled, wheezing in pain.

He let out a gurgled cough, spitting blood out, feeling something embedded in his back, and one of his eyes being curtained by red. The young man tried getting up but regretted that action. He screamed and vibrated as he turned to see what his situation was. Jack’s leg was caught by a collapsed part of the Diner, preventing him from going anywhere. He ground his teeth, slammed his fist on the ground and tried pulling away, but it was just too painful. He collapsed back on the dusted rubbled ground, and searched for Alexandria with his eyes. He scanned the area, seeing the ceiling barely hanging on by a pillar, smoke smearing the scene, and parts of the building the Diner shared destroyed beside it. When he did find her, he only found half of her body, her arm laid out in front of her, she was faced down. The rest of her body was buried beneath rubble of infrastructure and the fire scorching behind it.

“Al…ex…” Jack murmured. “N…o….”

Seeing her like that, it devastated him. It made his eyes watery, it sharpened a glint that grew, but determination was smeared across his face. Jack pulled, and pulled, and pulled. He screamed, trying to pull himself out of the rubble, and grew tired of fighting. The young man saw a sharp piece of tile and reached for it, grabbing it and clutching it. Jack didn’t hesitate and immediately went into action, stabbing his leg over and over. Blood gushed, exploded, splattered, as he kept cutting, slashing, digging, and trying until he could reach his bone. Every time he did, he screamed in agony, letting the world know of his pain and determination to be free to see if his friend was okay. He did this for five minutes straight without a break, but stopped once he felt his bone.

His eyes were baggy, his mouth open, the young man looked to be in a zombie-like state. “Ale…x…” he mumbled.

Jack turned to his leg, used the last of his strength to stab and penetrate his bone. It managed to do so, and the young man screamed like he never has before. He panted, wheezed, and grabbed a nearby rock to pound it on the sharp tile planted into his bone. Jack cried, moaned, grunted, trying his best to snap the bone in half. He grew close to passing out, his eyes as blank as paper. With one final slam, his bone snapped, and crunched, releasing him of his restraint trap. The young man dropped to the ground, the smoke engulfing his lungs, breathing heavily, he could hear his blood gush out his leg. This didn’t stop him, not for a moment. He reached his arm out as far as he could slam a fist to pull himself close to her still body. He slammed, pummeled, his fists on the ground, with each crawl seeming an eternity, drawing closer to Alexandria's motionless body.

“Al—ex!” Jack shouted, his body leaving a bloody trail as he went on.

The fire near the entrance grew bigger, smearing the air in a thick cloud of heat, making it hard to breathe. Jack was just inches from her, but he can feel his life draining away with every single breath going out. Yet he can’t stop himself, he promised her that he would never allow her to get hurt again, promised that things would turn out fine. The sign of the woman in red, their unexpected reunion, it can’t be all for nothing. Jack refused to believe this, he will not allow this to be her faith nor his.

At last, the young man was within arm's reach of her. “Alex…andria!” he shouted, but his voice dialed down to that of an old man.

Jack lay on the ground, feeling his body ready to give out. His breathing began to slow and his eyes started to grow heavy. In spite of death meeting at his doorstep, Jack refused to succumb to his wounds. He had to know if she’s alright, hoped to God that she’s still alive, praying that there’s still a single sign of life. Determination rocketed into his heart and mind, allowing a boost of adrenaline to course through his body, enough for him to raise his arm and land it onto hers that was out. Jack grabbed her weightless arm, reeling himself to her, and finally, being by her side.

“Alex… Alex, wake up…” Jack murmured, “Alex…”

She didn’t respond, her eyes shut, her hair and blood covered her face, there wasn’t a single sign of movement up to this point. Jack shook her with one hand, and slowly dragged it to one of her wrists, feeling nothing. There’s not a sign of life and she was cold to the touch. This made his eyes swell, having water rest at the edges, and leaving Jack devastated.

“N…o… pl-please… wa-wake—up…” he whispered.

Jack coughed, and left his arm resting on top of her. The young man let out one more loud groan of pain and sadness, feeling defeated and can’t understand why this happened. He shut his eyes, and was ready to succumb to death. Once he accepted his fate, the sound of thunder shook the ground. He questioned if it was about to rain, but it was continuous, like a loud heartbeat belonging to a giant. It made Jack fear for whatever life he had in him. Then, he soon realised it was heavy footsteps approaching. He turned to where they might be coming from, and set his eyes to the entrance of the Diner. The fire had spread all around, and the smoke was blackened, making it hard to see outside of the disaster created by the unknown explosion.

“Ma…llory, he-help…” Jack muttered.

Jack had no more energy to move, leaving him paralyzed and locking his eyes at the entrance. The black smoke blew outwards, the fire crackled louder, growing taller as a huge figure behind the smoke pushed, expanding the black curtain away. There was an outline of something, or someone, as tall as a bear if it stood up, as wide as an ogre. Jack grunted, and moaned as this figure started to turn to his direction, and what he saw made his eyes shake in fear. Behind the thick cloud of smoke, Jack saw the glow of pure devilish red pupils staring down at him, and near the eyes, a symbol glowing hot iron. It was the same mark Alexandria had on her hand, which made Jack softly groan in fear.

“Wh-wh…at… is—?”

The figure appeared to be moving in slow motion behind the smoke, reaching for something. All Jack could see was its glowing red eyes slightly move as it moved behind the thick black smoke. Then, Jack heard his ears be haunted by a gun being pulled back. A single red dot appeared down below the figure's eyes, trying to aim the mark of death on Jack. Once it set the red dot on him, Jack’s eyes were blinded by blurry redness, leaving him to stare straight at death itself. Jack heard metal clicking, and in response to that, used the last of his strength to drag his hand, the one with the bracelet she gave him towards Alex’s, and clutch it. Jack let out a single tear, one that streamed down his face and dripped onto the dusty ground until the young man was met with darkness.

Jack felt light as a feather again, the same feeling before he awoke from his nightmares, the same sensation before waking up from them, the same undeniable feeling to be awoken, met and live in a different time; And now, the same insufferable feeling to then awake from his slumber to think he was back home, but unexpectedly reuniting someone who’s dead, all Jack could think at this moment that—

“Did—I just die…?” He thought.