“Oooo, well I did not see that coming sir William.” Archard said as he stared at the screen.

His master remained calm and focused on the death of Jack, caused by a child.

“So this was the butterfly effect that was supposed to happen?” Archard asked.

William quickly glanced at his partner, then back to the screen. “Yes, and I take fault for it.”

“Why? I mean… you had—”

“No no Archard, quit with the pandering. I had no right to intervene with the flow of time and anger God’s direct course of this world. Yes, my intentions were for someone to change, and teaching a cursed young man to take a path than the violent one he walks: But this would’ve never of happened if I didn’t alter the current flow of time.”

William brought his arm up, pointing at the screen.

“And now look at him, laying flat and falling victim to the lifestyle modern society teaches to respect in their music and pop culture. And by a young child?! Absolutely preposterous yet foreseeing.”

Archard wasn’t as sentimental as his master. He expressed nothing and lightly shrugged.

“Well, anyone with a rational mind would’ve seen an outcome like this coming. But I’m more surprised by the actions that took away his life: That being a kid. I’ve heard about scumbags doing this, letting the younger ones do their dirty deeds because they appear innocent but take advantage of that to surprise their foes. Yet seeing it first hand, hmph, what a shame and disgrace.”

William couldn’t help but agree with his partner's statement. With enough talking, William was finally allowed to correct time and bring the young man back to where he first summoned him, the day he altered it and froze the two young adults in fear. He raised his hands, clapped twice, and again, the universe exploded, and was being born again. This time, everything was reverting back to what it was, before any events that William’s aware of. Though the thought of losing Jack for a while still has him questioning who else has intervened and altered the world. Finally, with the universe back in its current flow and without consequences hiding behind it, Jack is back in the flow of time that William first set him in with his Witch friend.

“Come to us, Jack Samr.” William snapped both his fingers, and the young man popped into his white foggy world.

William turned around and watched as a bloodied Jack Samr was being revived. Archard also turned and saw Jack’s body being healed. His eyes were shut, and his chest began inflating, then deflated. Jack was alive again. William waited and so did Archard, yet his master clapped again to create a cloudy chair behind him so he could sit on.

“What’s with the chair, sir?” he asked.

William yawned and lay back on it. “Oh we’re going to be here for a while, my friend. The boy’s asleep, and he shall remain for another couple of hours, I think.”

Archard chuckled. “I see, a well deserved rest for someone who’s going to be tested again without any interference.”

“Mm, not quite… I just thought that the young man deserves a peaceful slumber for once. Everyone deserves one, even idiots like him—and you.”

“Hey…” Archard stretched and also summoned a chair to sit on. “Heh, sure. In the meantime if he’s going to take a nice nap, then I shall do the same.”

William grinned. “Go ahead, I’ll sit here and wait, or maybe read something.”

Archard lay back, brought his hood further down to cover his eyes and clasped his hands on his chest. William held his hands out and a book drifted out of nowhere, and landed on them. It was a book with a man with long hair, and rode a white horse on the front cover. The texts were in Latin, and behind the man were three other men who looked like menacing giants.

“It’s been awhile since I’ve read this book. An old tale told by four amazing men, whom I got the chance to meet.”

William flipped the book open, pulled out a bookmark made of thin gold with Latin texts, and began to read.

“Hmph… just the first sentence alone has me on edge, it’s like reading my past.”

William frowned and for a second, he seemed to be in a trance. It’s as if his brain was rewinding time for him to experience his youth. It made him tremble, shiver, and angry, remembering something that started to form a deep wrinkle between his eyes.

“I’ll never forget the being who took their lives… may he rot, and if we ever cross paths again, I’ll proudly take away his life—as he did my four masters.”

Meanwhile in downtown Detroit Michigan, the streets were packed, crowded, even the roads were stuffed. Summer was thriving, business of all ventures were out and about: The afternoon rush had arrived. From drug dealers to the farthest corners, regular business people walking into skyscrapers, and right in the middle of the road was an enormous traffic jam that stretched far out to the busiest highway entrance. It reached so far out that it looked endless. People were honking their horns, growing more impatient by the second. All this was due to an accident in midtown, right in the middle of the inner city. It didn’t help the fact that people took advantage of this enormous stretch by jaywalking right through cars to force them to stay in place.

As people grew angrier, shouting, cursing, sticking their bodies half way out of their cars, flipping the bird, getting out of their vehicles to see why it was taking an eternity, Eric happened to be stuck in the mess. He looked just as pissed as anyone else, mainly due to the fact he was forced into this by Angela who wanted a special shirt only located right inside of the damn city. It was a special edition shirt that was released in a store Eric had never gone to, only Jack has. She didn’t come along with her uncle because she had to watch a new episode of a new seasonal cartoon which made him grow annoyed by her for the first time.

“Those damn cartoons… I swear they’re making her turn weirder and dumber by the second.” Eric said, letting out a grunt afterwards.

Tapping his giant fingertips on the steering wheel, Eric slammed back on his seat, rolling his eyes as his impatience grew tenfold. He let out a long breath and took a glance to his right, taking a look at the sidewalk buildings. A small Deli caught his eyes, and upon laying his sights on the sign, he knew who owned it.

“No fucking way?! The son of a bitch actually did it!” Eric shouted, starting to unbuckle his seat belt.

He looked around his car, taking a glimpse at every mirror, and saw that this traffic jam wasn’t going to budge anytime soon.

“Well, it wouldn’t hurt if I just get out for a moment and treat myself to something good, especially by an old friend.”

Eric rubbed his hands together and turned his car off. He stepped out and he also saw others doing the same. Some just hung out of their vehicles to take a smoke break or to get some air. Others like him grew hungry from their anger and impatience, going to local eateries or food stands that took advantage of the situation by doing business on the sidewalks. This made him chuckle because it reminded him of his original home, that being New York where this is common. It’s just surprising to have a similar experience in a city like Detroit, so it caught him by surprise even though this was fairly common in his early twenties.

“Shit, time to see if homie really brought our neighborhood charm to this dumb city.”

I haven’t seen this fool in over ten years… Hopefully he remembers me. Eric thought.

The shop in question Eric was talking about and heading to was an old childhood friend from New York. Before he was caught up by gang activities, he always told Eric about his admiration about opening up a Deli. And seeing the name, ‘Delightful!’ brightly lit, it showed Eric that living this gang life isn’t needed or long term: Although he knew that for sure. If someone like his friend can achieve his dream after being a complete menace to society, then anything’s possible.

Once he got up to the entrance, the door opened and his friend came out with a bag of trash in hand. He saw Eric standing there, and for a second he didn’t recognize the big guy until Eric threw up a sign and showed him a tattoo on his shoulder which he recognized. An insignia that was known in his neighborhood. This made him drop the trash bag and his eyes exploded with joy.

He grabbed his head for a moment then brought his arms forward to Eric. “Oh my fucking God! Eric my guy, is it really you?!”

Eric had a giant smirk on his face. “Man, Jackson I thought your stupid ass was still locked up you idiot!”

Both men went up to each other, their big hands slamming against each other making a thunderous clap as they shoulder bumped to reunite the brotherhood that was lost for ten years.

“Fucking Eric, you steroid abusing motherfucker! You got even bigger than ever, fuck man, chill out with the juice bro!”

Eric pushed him playfully, but it was strong enough to make his friend stumble on his footing. He responded by laughing and punching the big guy on the arm.

“Chill Jackson, you know this is all natural! But shit, congratulations my guy.” Eric turned to the shop, and smiled. “I’m so proud of you for achieving your goal brother.”

Jackson cracked his back and then swirled his arms. “Yeah man, but it hasn’t been easy. The road I’ve driven on was a pain in my ass and the turns I had to make without knowing what the fuck might happen to me, it was really jarring at first, but I slowly overcame my fears, got out of my comfort zone, and took a shot at it!”

Jackson shot his right arm to his shop, and proudly smiled.

“And now, I’m here brother!”

Eric wrapped his giant arm around his late friend's shoulder. “Say, why don’t we go inside and you show me how good your food has gotten man. Because if I remember, the last time we ate you almost gave me a heart attack of pure deliciousness with all that fucking sodium that was in ya food.”

“Haha, then let me guide you my brother into a new realm of heart attacks, bwahaha!”

Both men laughed, and headed inside the Deli. Once inside, Eric took a look around and admired his passion. From the fresh meat hanging above the counter, the air cool enough to not spoil it, to the choices on the menu. Most importantly, what caught Eric’s eyes were the colour schemes that reminded him of their troubled group in his early twenties and teenagerhood. Red, dark grey with a hint of white from the tile floors to the matted walls. It was a breath of nostalgia to the big guy.

Jackson walked behind the counter and grabbed his apron. “Take a seat, my guy. I’ma make you something that’ll definitely stir up that old ass brain of yours: A special glory day special!”

Eric went to the nearest seat, sat down and couldn’t contain his laughter. “Bro, please don’t say suspicious shit like that. Glory day special, sounds like something out of a porno. What are you homo?”

“Ha ha, chill bro chill! My bad, didn’t mean for it to come off like that.”

Jackson got his latex gloves, suited up for preparation, and started to create something that’ll remind them of their youth. As Eric waited in his seat, he saw others coming out of the kitchen, seeming to be the rest of Jacksons crew. Two cooks, a maintenance guy, and a cashier. They all went to Jackson, mainly from seeing the expressions on their faces, they appeared lost, bored, or wanted to do something productive. In no time, he gave them commands and they all did what he ordered them to do. The cooks went back into the kitchen while the rest went to do usual maintenance routine such as mopping the floor, cleaning the counters, and taking out the rest of the trash since it wasn’t busy at the moment. While Jackson was preparing for his friend, customers were starting to come in, and his front end team took to action while their boss was busy.

Eric pulled out his phone, and called Angela. It rang for a couple of seconds until she picked up.

“Yes uncle? Oh wait, you’re about to tell me that you got my shirt!”

Eric groaned. “No, traffic is so bad that I’m going to be late, probably an hour.”

“Oh pueh… well, so long as you get me that shirt then it’s all okay!”

Eric rolled his eyes, “yeah yeah, but what’s in it for me baby girl?”

She was on her bed, watching her show, and tapped a finger on her chin.

“Mm, I’ll make you dinner? And give you a hug!”

Eric smiled, “you don’t have to. So long’s my little girl is happy and smiling, then it’s worth the trip.”

“Nah, I'm still making ya something good. It’s the least I can do. Oh, have you seen my brother?”

“Jack? No, well, the last time I saw him was last night. He looked zombified and just went into his room, but I think he left in the morning because the home sensor went off.”

Angela scratched her head, “Strange…” she then looked to the side, squinting her eyes. “I wonder why he’s been so quiet as of lately, humph, probably out with his new G-i-r-l-f-r-i-e-n-d! DAMN HIM! AND THAT GOTH GIRL!”

At first she muttered which her uncle couldn’t hear until she spontaneously screamed that last sentence into his ear. He slowly hung up and put his phone away, and then let out a chuckle.

“She sure loves her brother…” He nervously said.

At last, his friend came to the table, and he placed a rolled up sandwich in front of Eric while he took a seat in front of him. He too had a sandwich and immediately unwrapped it.

“Open that shit up, my guy, it’s what we loved back in the days!”

Eric had a grin and shook his head. “Aight aight, lets see what you made me.”

His friend waited as Eric unraveled his childhood memory. When all the paper became unwrapped, Eric smiled ear to ear, and shook his head more.

“No fucking way man, is this—?”

His friend took the first bite, “fu—ck yea…h man!” he swallowed and wiped his mouth, “A pastrami sub with a tad of our southern grandmothers spices, ooweee!”

Eric took a bite and it was like heaven. He took another, then another until his friend joined in. It almost seemed as if they were having an eating contest on how fast they were devouring their food. The two childhood friends enjoyed their meals, customers ordered the same because of how much noise they were making from eating. As they continued eating, customers started to form a line, meanwhile, back in the traffic jam, things were starting to pick up slightly. Police that were stopping traffic started to un-pause it as the accident and the crashed car rubble was beginning to be cleaned up. Once cars were given the go to move, a couple of pedestrians decided to jaywalk right at the same time, bringing them to a complete stop. This made the drivers at the front line more than livid. They put their fists out their windows, cursed and honked their horns.

While this was happening, one man decided to stay behind, and slowly walked right in front of the four lane street, squeezing himself between the two cop cars that blocked the edges of the lane and only allowed the middle to go through. He had light brown hair, pale skin that gleamed death, an odd yet elegant outfit fitting for business and attending an important funeral, but his bright red eyes stood out the most. They seemed eerie beneath the afternoon shine and a sharp glint was evident in them as he glared at the miles and miles of cars. He had one hand on his hip, and had half a smile as the front traffic honked their horns like wildfire.

One officer approached him, “sir, you can’t stand here, you have to get out of the way and let traffic through.”

Another officer came to assist the situation. “Yeah man, stop being a nuisance and move along. Don’t you see all these cars, there's got to be more than three hundred on this road alone.”

“Shit, I wouldn’t be surprised if there were thousand!” Another officer said.

The stranger’s smile grew wider, wicked, and then, ear to ear. “Well, officers…”

He turned to look at them all with his creepy red eyes that made them place their hands on their holstered pistols. He glared at each cop, building, pedestrian that was in his view before bringing his eyes back to the traffic jam.

“I think I can be…”

He started to tilt his face further down, sharpening his gaze to transform it into a menacing glare on all the honking cars and slowly narrowing his eyes. The police kept their hands on their weapons and grew nervous, one even ran back into his car to radio for backup if things went south with this individual.

The glint in his eye deepened and glowed, “...of some kind of assistance to this—annoying situation.”

Back in the shop, Eric and his friend just finished their meal and lay back, smacking their bloated guts. They were both satisfied and filled with happiness. Both men grabbed a toothpick from a small container in the middle of the table, picked their teeth, burped together and let out laughter.

“Damn that shit was good Jackson! You outdone yourself homie.” Eric said while grabbing a glass of coke and drowning it.

Jackson gave him a thumbs up, and clapped. “Aight, I gotta pause the chit chat. I’ma clean up and help my crew real quick.”

“Nu nu, it’s all good. Take yo time, that traffic ain’t moving anytime soon.”

“Really?”

Jackson looked over his shoulder, taking a look at the crowded road lanes filled with honking cars.

“Goddamn, you right! Look at that shit.” he took a step, “ey, it looks like things are starting to—”

Suddenly, his front door, windows shattered into a million pieces, and Jackson was sent flying at Eric who caught him but he too fell back on his chair, and slid against the counter from an overpowered shockwave. Alarms were set off, an explosion was heard but sounded distant, everyone inside Jacksons store fell victim to the powerful blast wave that sent his friend flying towards him. Eric opened his eyes, his vision fogged by a smear of grey smoke, his friend lying unconscious next to him, he wondered what could’ve caused this catastrophe. Eric shook his friend, and tried reading a pulse, which he did, and made him relieved for a moment.

“Wh…at the fuck… happ-happened?” he muttered.

He scanned the area, witnessing the aftermath of that unknown explosion. He blinked a couple of times and once his vision cleared, he brought his eyes to the street, which made him become completely speechless. He reached for his gun, pulled it out, and limped his way out of the destroyed shop, and into a caved-in sidewalk. He walked further out into the street, and what he saw was utter destruction in its purest form. Glancing at both ends of the four-way lane, the traffic that was once there, was no more. The air had a cloud of red mist, light grey smoke covering it, limbs, guts, car parts, the black tar that made the road were scattered, curved, flattened from both ends. Eric stepped right into the carved earth, and eventually found himself standing in the middle of the once crowded road.

His eyes as big as a human’s could expand, his jaw dropped to the ground, Eric dropped his gun in disbelief. “This… can’t be—real?”

All the cars, possibly over a thousand were vaporized in that moment from that unknown shockwave. There was nothing but the remains of what barely survived. All Eric saw was carved earth from miles on end, and a mushroom cloud that kept rising off in the distance. If someone used a drill and drill bit with the width of a football stadium to create a curvature in the earth but used it upside down, that’s the type of destruction Eric was looking at.

“Who… who could’ve—?”

Eric dropped to his knees, and then to his palms. He gripped the dirt in his hands, and looked to his left, and saw one person, standing right where the accident was. As the smoke slowly faded out, it was enough for Eric to see who it was. From what he could see, it was a tall pale man with light brown hair, red eyes that glowed but slowly dimmed, and his demeanor told the world that they were nothing but roaches to him by his twisted calm smile and confident causal stance.

“Is anyone else out there besides the screaming panic behind me?!” he playfully said in a tone that rubbed Eric’s ears all the wrong ways.

In hearing his calm gentle voice that spoke in an urgency of someone who’s causally taking an afternoon stroll and calling out like a salesman, this made Eric’s blood boil, and gave him back his confidence. He grabbed his gun, aimed it at him, and began walking in his direction. His friend Jackson stumbled out of his store and saw his friend walking, and also taking first glance at the destruction.

With a hand on his head that bled, he hovered one over his mouth. “Yo, Eric! Wh-what happened?!”

Eric turned to his friend, and the amount of fear and anger expressed on it made Jackson pause. “Get-Get out of here—now!”

Jackson didn’t want to hear why and what. He heard his brave friend loud and clear and rushed to his other workers who happened to be also trying to regain their senses.

“Everyone… let's go, we gotta dip!” Jackson shouted while keeping one hand on his wounded head.

They heard their boss loud and clear, and everyone ran out the back. Before Jackson could leave, he took one last look over his shoulder to Eric who disappeared from the corner of his destroyed store.

“Don’t die on me homie, because I gotta ask you if you survive what the fuck’s going on man!”

He hurried out and Eric was the only remaining survivor. He stumbled his way to the man who just stood there like a statue. For a moment, the man thought everyone was vaporized, erased out of existence until he saw a lone survivor. This made him express an open mouth smile, and tilt his head with amusement. His hand on his hip, he stepped forward. Eric continued his cautious approach, his heart racing out of his chest, his legs quaking in fear, he wasn’t sure if he was doing this because of bravery, or his bodies moving on its own. Whatever it is, Eric hopes to at least get something out of this interaction.

“Why, isn’t this a surprise! Someone did in fact survive my sharp glare. How fascinating. And he’s not just some ordinary individual either.”

Eric was getting closer, and he could see the smug casual grin on his face. This made him squeeze the handle of his pistol and deepen his glare towards him. The man patiently waited for the survivors' welcome.

“Come on now, I don’t have all day, good sir.” he said.

Eric was ten feet from him, and his feet stopped. Without saying a word, Eric cocked the hammer back on his handgun, and wondered what his body would do next. Now that he was this close to the eerie person, Eric could see more of his medium build, his short yet not long hair, and odd outfit that made him an unremarkable individual.

“Now that you’re this close to me, I take—you have some questions to ask? Before you also meet your end, stranger.”

The way he spoke, his tone, it angered Eric. There wasn’t an ounce of care in his voice, and the emptiness that gleamed off his eyes told him that this man was in fact supernatural. Eric already had a glimpse of this phenomenon, but to see something of this magnitude created by one person? It really hindered his thoughts and made him question his own fate. As the two had a stare down, a plethora of police cars and ambulances were heading their way, breaking the silence and bothering the well dressed man's ears.

“Oh what a bother… I find the oncoming noise to be undoubtedly annoying!”

He looked over his shoulder and when a couple of police cars had come to a stop, the police exiting their vehicles and starting to draw their weapons, he narrowed his eyes again at what they caught sight of. In an instant, all of the officers, their vehicles, and the other emergency vehicles that were closing in were torn asunder. Another cloud of red mist and blackened grey smoke puffed out as he let out his annoyance with a sigh.

“There we are, now then, where were—”

Eric’s body finally reacted, and he began shooting at the powerful individual, emptying out his whole magazine. Any man who was shot this close would’ve been impaled by them all if not some, meet their death and bleed to death. Yet every bullet ricocheted off of some unknown barrier that Eric couldn’t see with his eyes.

This made the man tilt his head as he shrugged off Eric’s attack. “...Hey, who taught you manners because I find that shooting someone on sight in the middle of a conversation is quite—rude!”

This made Eric gasp in shock, dropping his gun, and start to walk backwards. The well dressed man stood there, expressing his annoyance with Eric’s killing interruption. Eric couldn’t believe it, there wasn’t a scratch, a scuff, a hole nor any signs of blood from any of his shooting. Eric froze up, and the man sighed, pushing his forelocks in annoyance.

“Hey, listen, I didn’t mean to raise my voice like that in the end. It’s just, given that you and I were going to head into a conversation of what the hells going on! But have you shot at me like that?! Don’t you, someone as thuggish looking and strong as you find it strange to interrupt a man when he’s speaking?”

Eric couldn’t answer, only the sound of his frantic breathing was the only reply the man got.

“I mean, it’s common sense… bro! Like, don’t your people understand it more than anything? Not to be a generalizer of your race or demographic, but come on!”

Even hearing his racist remarks didn’t budge Eric’s fear that had him frozen in time. It only dragged on the awkward silence, which made the man click his tongue in further annoyance.

“What? Not going to talk now? What’s the matter now—man! Try and shoot me again since it appears like I’ve pissed your pants with my amazing display of showmanship. So how about you be a good citizen and answer my questions? I asked them and I expect them to be answered, you twit.”

Eric had enough and bounced, running away from the man. He blinked a couple of times to understand Eric’s reaction, but concluded to just let it go. Although that small glimpse of interest he sensed on Eric still had him locked his eyes on the guy who’s running away.

“He has an odd odor, but a very intriguing one. One I’m very interested in, perhaps… bond of. I wonder…”

Then, he heard soft crying, and turned to his right to spot a small child who was mourning the loss of his parents on the sidewalk. He began to scuff the ground with the tip of his shoe before walking to the kid. The kid kept balling his eyes, not noticing the shadow that covered the last remnants of sunlight that was on his dead parents' bodies. He carefully placed his pale hand on the kids head, and this made him stop crying for a second to turn to see who just touched him. Immediately, the kid went into a panic from his demonic glowing eyes, and clutched onto his dead parents' bodies.

He eased down, bending towards the kid's face. “Hey kid… Do you want to be of use to me? I promise to bring your parents back to life with the help of a friend if you just be my little eyes.”

The kid responded by screaming, and turning away to not look into the eyes of the devil.

This made him grin, and slowly drag his hand to the side of the kid's face. “Don’t worry, I won’t hurt you kiddo. Now then, let me explain to you what you have to do.”

He murmured a chant, and the kid stopped crying, slowly bringing his face back to the man. His eyes glowed red, and the kid drooled. He smiled and stood back, watching the kid do the same.

“Alright, youngling, this is what you have to do…”

He put his arm around the kids shoulders, bent his knees and pointed in the direction Eric ran off to.

“You see that black man? I want you to follow him and see where he’s going. That way I can figure out why he has such a beloved stench!”

The kid stepped forward, clenched his fists, and put one foot forward.

“Now, go then, and I’ll ensure you’ll be with your parents sooner than you think!”

The kid leaped forward, and vanished in a matter of seconds. He ran like the wind, and the man was alone, walking back into the middle of the vacant street. With a giant grin on his face, he heard helicopters coming and news vans approaching from the side, he sensed their presence and knew he was being documented from the shadows two minutes ago. He put his arms out to the sides, and leaned his head back, taking in a big breath of air.

“Rejoice! My fellow citizens… record, document, watch as you please—!”

Two news choppers hovered, and they pulled cameras out as the reporters began documenting the carnage. More news stations did the same, and more police were on the way. This made him chuckle and bask in his new fame that was about to surge.

“Because this is only the start to the true world that hides in the shadows of your false views!”

He brought his attention to the oncoming force that was ready to face him again. He expressed a vile grin to reach one ear as he arched forward, glaring at their direction.

“Welcome… to reality.”

It’s later, the beginning of dawn in fact, and still on the run was Eric. He’s drenched in sweat from head to toe, and felt his lungs were ready to explode. Never has he done this much cardio in his life. He’s been running for almost six hours. It takes almost an hour to get downtown by car, but by foot it was a marathon. He hardly took any breaks because he felt someone was following. His street senses screamed at him to not take more than ten minutes whenever he got the chance to rest. This really fueled the fear he still had embedded in him since the encounter. Already his smart phone has gone off so much because of the incident with alerts and a state of emergency.

After doing another twenty minutes of running, arriving at a park close to the town Angela loved coming to, Eric decided to take an actual deserving rest behind a big tree. He slammed against it, dragged to the grass, and began the process to regain his breathing. That feeling of being in an area he’s familiar with sublted some of that fear, but he knew he still had to keep going: Home has never felt closer. Poor Eric did his best to catch his breath, but his body was taking its toll since he had to push and overcome his own limits to get this far. He reached for his phone and checked to see the time, it was getting close to seven. He wiped his face, and let out a giant grunt, and got back to his feet. But again, his street senses kicked in, telling him that he was still being followed for some strange reason.

To dismiss this, he walked up to all the closest trees, but not without precaution. He made sure to check his surroundings and to see if he could lure out the enemy. He did this for a couple of minutes, but found nothing. This still didn’t give him closure to the sense of being followed, and with that being said, he heard a twig snap, and saw the edge of someone's face a couple of trees down. This made his adrenaline kick in again, forcing him to run again. Eric ran and he ran, running right down the street, to the next park, and eventually to a familiar sidewalk, where he accidentally bumped into someone. He was so blinded by his fear and determination to get home he didn’t realize he bumped into someone, although this person didn’t budge that much despite Eric’s speeding collision to his shoulder. He was the same height as Eric, pale, wore a business suit, had very blonde hair and blue eyes and his face told the world that he was miserable. It happened to be Leon, Sarah’s father who happened to be the one that Eric bumped into.

“Hey man, watch where you’re walking.” he said, his tone defining the expression on his face as usual.

Eric at first stared, panting heavily and almost passed out, but he quickly came to his senses and shook his hand at the man.

“My… my-my… m…y ba-bad…” Eric immediately returned back to running and eventually out of the man's sights.

“I wonder what has him so spooked, although he has an odd stench to him: One that stunk of darkness and corruption.”

Leon’s senses were alerted to a nearby disturbance, which made him look over his shoulder to a small wooded area.

“Is this…?”

Leon looked around to see if any pedestrian was watching him. Seeing that he was alone, he placed his briefcase down and brought his attention back to the wooded area. In the blink of an eye, he vanished. The person who happened to make Eric’s senses stay active was the possessed boy who was still in hot pursuit on Eric’s tail. He ran like the wind, keeping up with Eric with ease. Seeing that Eric was taking another break on a public bench, the boy waited behind the tree as his eyes still had the glow of the man’s glare. Glaring in Eric’s direction, he didn’t sense that Leon was standing behind him. Leon grabbed the boy's shoulder, and this resulted in the possessed boy to attempt a strike at Leon’s face, to which he easily caught his fired arm. He grabbed the boy's neck, lifting him up by his arm and neck with ease without the boy making a sound. When Leon brought the boy to his level, he looked soulless and empty.

“So you’re the culprit to the man's scare?”

Leon increased the pressure of his clutch. This made the boy gasp for air, kicking the air as he tried to break free of his clutch. Leon furrowed his brows, and kept squeezing.

“Don’t worry… I’ll free you of your suffering.”

The boy kicked a couple more times until a loud snap was heard. His legs dangled, so did his arms, and his head hung backwards. Leon then ignited his corpse, burning it into asunder. With his body being engulfed in flames, it only took a matter of seconds until he became nothing but ash.

“Who could’ve done this?” he said as he watched the ash pile up on the ground. “I didn’t want to do that to him, but there was no other option, sadly.”

Once the last chunk of ash piled on-top of the charred mountain, a red spec came plunging up, and Leon quickly caught it. Once in his clutch, he knew exactly who and what this thing belonged to. It made his blood boil, ground his teeth, and crushed the spec, which reacted into an atom splitting explosion. He stopped it from spreading no more than ten feet, absorbing it and then releasing it through his feet like steam. He opened his hand, and let the last remnants of the spec to be blown away like red sparkles.

“This—can’t be… they’re still alive?” he said.

Leon looked up at the glowing orange sky, dawn was dying while nightfall approached. He scrunched his face, and blinked once, to then reveal a deep glint in his eyes as he balled his fists in rage.

“Those damn Witch cultists… are back.”

***

“Jack~”

A soothing gentle voice said, that of an innocent girl.

“Wake up… Jack~!”

The young man's fingers twitched.

Who-Who’s that? He thought.

“My loving, Jack… wake up, it's time.”

Time… time for what? He wondered.

“Wakey wakey, my hero, my beloved!”

Stop…

“If you don’t wake up… then your soul will forever be tainted by my envy, Jack Samr.”

“Mallory… is that you?”

“JACK!”

Jack’s eyes exploded, and he sat up. He panted, grabbed his head, and breathed heavily. After catching his breath, he noticed the air to be cool, and his surroundings to be pure white yet familiar. The ground felt solid but appeared cloudy, as if he were sitting on one. He got up on his feet, and patted himself, bringing his eyes straight ahead to the endless void of white cloudiness. He squinted his eyes as he brought his hands up to them, staring at his palms that have taken the lives of many. He closed them, lowered his hands, and deeply sighed.

“Am… am I—In heaven?”

“Unfortunately, you’re not my child.”

This voice. Jack knew exactly who’s voice this was. There could only be one person who had a strong ancient sounding English accent. He slowly looked over his shoulder and found William and Archard to be standing on a small platform with the huge screen behind them. This made Jack ball his fists, and grit his teeth, expressing his annoyance, anger, and confusion to the two.

“How dare you growl at us like that, you inconsiderate fool!” Archard exclaimed.

“Now now, Archard, he has every right to act this way. God only knows what he had to endure during the time we had lost touch with him. Oh, and we can’t forget his unfortunate demise that we witnessed yesterday.”

Hearing them talk so calmly, casually about the suffering he had to endure the past week fueled his returning hatred towards them. Jack took a step forward, showing them that he means business but also quaked in his boots. He was still afraid of these two power houses.

Jack raised one of his fists, and shut his eyes. “You sick bastards… how could you speak so lightly of my suffering. And you mean to tell me you’ve been watching this whole time?! And did nothing—TO HELP ME!”

“Silence!” William shouted, tapping his cane once on the ground that brought Jack to his knees.

Archard smacked his lips in annoyance. “Tch… and this is the thanks he gives you sir William. To raise your tone at his mightiness? What a rude prude you are, Jack Samr.”

William let out a sigh. “Archard, quit with the ego talking, will ya? No need to act so high and dandy like we did on our first encounter. I think I’m over that phase, I’d prefer to speak to him with respect.”

Archard crossed his arms. “Suit yourself, I just don’t like people of his status to speak so rudely to you, sir.”

Jack can’t handle this anymore, and slammed his head on the ground to get their attention again. This made William furious and tapped his cane again, raising his fist to Jack.

“Damn it boy! Don’t be such a pellock and slam your head like some deranged junkie! Have you no shame?!”

Jack brought his head up. He’s been busted open and he defined the word deranged by his relentless growling and heavy breathing.

“William… you lying bastard!” Jack shouted. “You promised I wouldn’t be hurt to this magnitude. Do you have any idea of how much suffering you had me experience?!”

“Huh? What do you speak of?” William replied, raising a brow.

With his forehead bleeding, the blood covered one of his eyes, turning half his vision red, Jack growled more.

“Don’t play dumb! The pain, the suffering, the emotional damage I had to go through this whole week!”

The young man shed a tear, and William responded to it by slightly gasping beneath his breath.

“But most of all… watching someone I cared for come back to life and be killed in front of me—in the way I had to witness… that was the last straw!”

“Woah woah woah, slow down! Everything that you’ve said up to this point is all new to me.”

“How… how?! When you’ve been watching me this whole time!”

William marched forward so Jack could see just how serious he was.

“I already told you, I’m not lying. Besides, what you say is right, we have been watching but only for the trials. But I will admit, we did lose contact with you a couple of days ago. That is why I said what I had to say.”

Jack still can’t believe his words, but he can tell when some ones lying by how much they blink, the way they might show certain body movements, or by not keeping eye contact. Despite all that, William has not shown any of those signs and he sounds just as genuine as he ever did. This made the young man subtle his anger and calm down a little bit.

“If what you say is true… then explain to me why I’ve died three times this week…”

Hearing that made William’s eyes grow big and take another foot forward.

“Three?! What do you mean by three, Jack?!”

Jack got back on his feet, and wiped his face. “You heard me… three times I was killed.”

This made the mighty Exorcist angry, but he didn’t want to display it in front of Jack. He kept his mannerurism and profesionalism on full display. Instead he grabbed his chin, tilted his head, and one of his eyes slightly twitched as he brought his thoughts together.

This friend of his that was resurrected and killed… could that have been the name he said when he was finally brought back to us. William thought.

William lowered his hand and his face was as serious as before.

“I’ll be honest with you, I was expecting for you to meet death. But not to a child, but these other two, and the friend… could you give a bit more detail?”

Jack wasn’t sure if he could. He was hesitant, mainly due to him feeling that he still might be lying. But seeing, and hearing just how serious William is, it rejoiced some of that trust back into Jack towards the mighty William. Jack crushed his hands, he wanted to bring his thoughts and emotions together before he was ready to answer the Exorcist. Feeling barely ready, the young man gulped, and took a deep breath.

“My first death, it happened the next day after our discussion. Two teenagers were setting a church ablaze, and one of them had stabbed me, leaving me to bleed. I lay there, coughing, feeling my life drain away, and soon after, the building began to collapse, and with it, the bell tower fell onto me.”

The next day huh? That’s exactly when I lost contact with him. William thought.

“My next death, it happened so suddenly. It took a couple of days for it to happen, but in those days, I reunited with a friend whom I lost when I was just a boy. But seeing that she was alive, and thinking that you had a part in her resurrection, the two days I spent with her were the most relaxing I had in years.”

“Could you tell me her name again, Jack?”

Jack slowly balled his fists, and looked at William. “Alexandria… was her name.”

“And she was a childhood friend?”

“More or less, but to me, she was more than that. When I escaped Dr. Cato’s facility with Angela, and ended up living in the streets. She was the first person who took us in and showed us how to survive.”

“Ah, so she was your first friend outside of your usual group before the events of those selfish men.”

Jack nodded. “Not only that, she was also someone I related to… because she too was an addict—just like I was.”

“You two… were addicts?” William muttered.

Archard sensed his master’s emotions starting to soften. It surprised him and he saw William’s face starting to sulk, he was reminiscing at the moment.

I knew someone who was an addict… but I wasn’t one. William thought.

William clutched his cane, brought it up, and stared at it.

This is all that I have left of them… my closest, dearest friend—and—

“She also tried to teach me what it means to… love.” Jack said.

After hearing that, this made William’s heart sink. He felt bad for Jack and frowned.

“She gave me a glimpse, examples, and upon her resurrection, a taste.”

William had a small grin, and lowered his cane after hearing that.

She also was his first actual lover… hmph, poor boy.

William scratched his face, and walked more forward to Jack.

“So what happened? What brought on your next demise with this old friend?”

Jack’s brain flashed a surge of images of that diner, bringing him to a complete state of silence. He placed one hand on his head, and turned away.

“Give me a second, the past’s trying to call me again.” Jack said.

“Take your time.” William replied.

Archard was next to his master, and grabbed his shoulder. “Sir William, that little story of his almost sounds like—”

“I know, Archard…” William shook his head, “I couldn’t help myself but remember in that moment. My apologies if I had you worried there.”

“No no, it’s understandable, but I also realized why of all the people we’ve conjured, helped, Exorcised, and put out of their misery: You’re so willing to help this young man.”

William smiled. “So you’ve noticed? And you know how I don’t soften up to strangers either.”

“Yeah, the two of you have some in common, and I think you see your younger self in him.”

“Mm…” William’s smile faded, and he tilted his head. “Perhaps…” he murmured.

Jack brought his attention back to the two, and took another breath.

“My second death was met by an unknown entity. I was having lunch with her, until a sudden explosion blackened my whole world. And when I woke up, I saw her lying dead under the rubble. I-I had to sever one of my legs to reach her to hope that she was just unconscious.”

William and Archard both furrowed their brows, and were ready to hear the strange entity who had taken his life. William was thinking that this might be the culprit, but still had doubts.

“When I managed to do so… I dragged myself to her, and once I realized that she was gone—the cloud of molten smoke in front of me expanded, and an enormous entity, taller than a grizzly bear if it stood straight up, stood behind the smokey screen…”

Both men briefly looked at each other, and nodded.

“...I couldn’t see what or who it was… just the hellish glow of its pupils, and strange marking on what would be a neck were all that I saw behind that black smoke.”

“Marking? What marking?” William asked.

Jack rewinded his thoughts to the morning Alexandria woke up with the same mark that illuminated off that monster that took his life.

“The strange thing about that mark is—Alex woke up with that mark on her wrist. If I remember correctly, it was a combination of shapes: First a crescent circle that merged with a pyramid, but that’s all that I could remember.”

William tried thinking of anything that might cross his mind about Jack’s detail of the marking. He tried thinking of encounters, talks, everything that he could, but what Jack provided wasn’t enough.

“Jack, what more could you give of this thing? That way, I can tell you what exactly took your life.”

Jack shut his eyes. “I’m sorry, but the last thing that I saw was the stream of a laser sight coming from his direction… and eventually landing, turning my vision red—then bang! I was dead… again.”

The hurt in Jack’s voice, William can relate to what the boy had experienced. Losing someone close to you so suddenly, it reminded him of a couple of encounters hundreds of years ago. But this strange entity, just who was this thing that had taken Jack’s life before William found him again?

And from there, whatever altered history he was placed in was destroyed, and resurrected again to our current flow: Eventually leading to the butterfly effect of my own doing. Just what in the world is going on here? Who’s interfering in my plans and getting in the way of God’s flow.

William deepened his gaze, gripping his chin.

Whoever it is, like I mentioned before has a close relationship to God… but not without that feeling of corruption tied to their soul.

William tamed his suspicion and anger to make Jack feel safe. At this point going forward, the last thing William wants to do is scare, drive Jack’s mind further into madness. He can sense that Jack’s mind is just one tap away from being broken. The mighty Exorcist came to a conclusion, one that’ll relieve stress off the young man's back.

“Jack.”

The young man opened his eyes again and brought his gaze back to the mighty Exorcist. He unballed his fists and sulked his shoulders.

“Yeah…?”

William let out a quick sigh, and glanced at his partner. “I’m going to put a pause to your trials.”

Archard was shocked to hear this. It had his jaw drop but more so on the fact that he’s never seen or heard William this fonding of a stranger. Archard wiggled his lips but closed his mouth, and believed in his master's decision. Even Jack was surprised to hear this. Ever since their first meeting, he’s seen them as the villains, but as this journey went on, William has shown more to be of neutrality rather than the main antagonist. Yet his partner can’t be said the same, Jack still believes he’s still up to no good. And as time has shown, more enemies have appeared along the way. So all Jack could do now was listen and see what William had planned for next.

“Really? What for?” Jack replied, his voice sounding in defeat.

“After everything you’ve gone through the past week, the last thing I want to do is drive you into a wall and break into the path of psychopathy.”

William rubbed his jawline and slightly grinned.

“I want to give you a break. Yes we are watching but not in a weird way, more on your actions and what you’re doing that’ll lead up to your dumb decisions. So don’t conclude that we’ve been watching you 24/7.”

“Huh, okay. But I got something to ask you, William.”

“Go on, ask to your heart's content.”

Jack hesitated, the voice of Samantha echoed again, this time of the short reveal of the existence of Sins and Virtues. But he had to know if what she said is true, and do the virtues exist or are long extinct like the others besides Samantha.

“Is it true that… your party has birthed all the majority of Sins?”

William paused and his cane dropped. Archard stepped forward, getting in Jack’s line of sight.

“How dare you accuse us of being the mass production of the original seven—!”

“Yes…” William replied, which shut Archard up and made Jack’s jaw mildly drop.

William gently pushed his partner aside to get back in Jack’s line of sight again.

“But who told you, Jackeline?”

Jack moaned, and started to shake. But he swallowed his fear and tensed his body up.

“Aby…Abyzou did!”

On hearing the name, William raised a brow of intriguing while Archard’s eyes exploded upon hearing the reveal bomb. He ground his teeth, clenched his fists and marched forward. William felt Archard’s intensity grow, his rage bursting through the bottom of his feet that released steam as hot as the sun. Jack put his forearms forward, William snapped his fingers to protect Jack’s skin from being melted off their bones with a barrier. William would usually do something to ease his partner's temper, but he wanted to see if his partner would say something about this, to give him an answer as to why he hates this woman so much.

“Aby-Abyzou!” Archard shouted, and soon after, their white dimension turned into sauna. “How dare you say that name around me!”

“Wh-What’s your problem?!” Jack shouted as he fell backwards from the intense hot wind blowing around Archard's feet.

“That damn devil, of course she would tell you to make us look like villains! I swear, I SWEAR I’LL EVISERATE HER ONCE I FIND HER AGAIN!”

Archard raised his clenched fists to his sides, his cape bellowed, his clothing fluttered from the intensity of his releasing might. It felt like Jack was experiencing a solar wind if he were a satellite drifting close to the sun. Never has the young man experienced such destructive force coming off of anyone thus far. William watched as his partner was starting to lose his cool, but he wanted to see if he'd say more.

“Samantha!” Archard yelled.

He even knows her citizen name too?! Jack thought.

“You’ll rue the day, you’ll… rue! For—ever playing with what makes me a man! You inconceivable Witch!”

William placed his hand on his partner's shoulder, squeezing it quickly and that knocked Archard out of his tantrum. Everything went back to the way it was, eerily quiet and empty. Archard shook his head, got on a knee, and panted. Jack coughed and the barrier around him went away. As the young man got on his feet, he couldn’t stop shaking anymore. This guy Archard is the epitome of danger. If that was just a glimpse of his might, Jack didn’t want to imagine what his full power was like. Despite that, William easily countered it with just the clutch of his hand, thus concluding even more to Jack Samr that he had not a single chance of ever beating these two.

“That’s quite enough, Archard. If you continued you most likely would’ve shattered my dimension and caused disruption to reality. And you would’ve taken his life, you bellend.”

Archard got back up and took a deep breath, rubbing his shoulder. “My bad… I didn’t mean to, Sir William.”

“And yet you said I was ill mannered and hot headed when in fact you’re just as worse as me!” Jack shouted.

Archard looked away, smacking his lips.

“Now now, no more. What else did she tell you besides the existence of Sin holders being mainly Exorcists.”

“She also revealed the virtues that countered the sins. But, did you know all of them, William?”

William frowned. “Yes I did… every single one of them, as well as the virtues and the four that exist today. And sad to say, all the Sin holders were close comrades of mine.”

“Oh…”

So four virtues still Exist? Damn, more super powerful beings… Jack thought. Holy cow, but that also means that if those holders are not here…

“Were you the one to take their lifes away?”

William’s face changed. It told Jack that it was a touchy subject and he looked hesitant to answer.

“Nevermind, you don’t have to tell me.”

William shook his head but grinned again. “You’re a strange boy, you know that? Jack Samr.”

Archard butted in again, pointing at Jack. “What else did you discuss with that Witch! Boy!”

“That’s only for William to know, not you, but since you’re by his side I have no choice but to tell you.”

The young man blew his frustrations and fear out his mouth, and shook his body before answering.

“If you must know, I made a deal with her. A similar one to yours's, William.”

“Oh?! Is it what I think it is!”

Jack nods, “Yeah, and that is to untie the connection with Mallory, the girl in my dreams and with the white dress.”

William picked up his cane again, and smiled. “Oh Jack, you’re so naïve. To make a deal with a holder of Sin without knowing the repercussions and their motives in a desperate attempt to get what you want—It’s so bizarre of human nature but realistic.”

“W-What do you mean by that?”

William twirled his cane, and pointed it at Jack’s direction. “Not only have you become an apostle to the holder of Envy, but if you stray away from her deal, her motive… then you’ll meet a fate worse than the deaths you encountered!”

Archard raised the edge of his lip in disgust. “Of course she’d do something like that, why am I not surprised.”

Jack expressed regret and sadness. “So she really did lie to me… damn it.”

“It’s okay Jack, you need not to worry! Remember who’s watching. But I can’t interfere too much since I forbid using our powers in reality, if only allowed by God. For now, Jack Samr, just do what she says and keep going forward.”

Jack tilted his head down, and mildly raised his hands in defeat. “What do I do now besides that?”

“Live life, Jack Samr. Everything will be alright, trust me.”

“Trust…” he murmured. “It’s kinda hard to trust anyone at this point… even now, I’m starting to have doubts about the only person who I can actually rely on since their mother’s a holder of Sin.”

“You mean your Witch friend, Sarah?”

The doppelganger of Samantha… Archard thought.

Jack shrugged. “I guess… should I even trust her at this point?”

William suddenly appeared in front of Jack, forcing the young man to step back by surprise. “Jack, you need not to worry about her. She’s just as genuine as you may think. When I met her, I knew she’s someone whom you can trust. Besides, who else has been by your side ever since the reveal of the supernatural?”

Jack didn’t respond, and looked just as depressed as before.

“Jack…” William put his hand on the young man's shoulder. “I know you have your doubts, and it’s realistic to have those feelings knowing that one of their parents is a devious being—but! Believe me, she’s the one you want by your side at this point.”

And someone who will only lead you down to a path of darkness, regret, and soon your demise! Archard thought as his arms shook in anger.

Jack brought his gaze back to look into William’s holy eyes. William’s right, there wasn’t anyone else he could trust besides her. She's been by his side since her confession of also being a part of this nonsense. Despite her mother being the evil entity that she is, Sarah hasn’t shown one ounce of this emotion like her mother has. Jack showed half a grin and nodded.

“I’m about to send you back to the world, and you get a good rest. I don’t know what your journey has in store for you now that you’ve made a deal with the devil… but! I know later on, we’ll be involved in your fiasco as well since I!—have unfinished business with her despite meeting her once but only the mask hitting her true identity like you have, my dear boy.”

“Okay… I believe you, William.”

William tapped his shoulder which healed Jack of his open wound and backed off. “Alrighty, I believe you. Now, when I clap twice, you’ll be back in your room like if this was all just a dream.”

“Before you do that, William… Do you know if anything’s going to happen to me going forward? Since you knew of my death… it’ll just be nice to know so I can be prepared.”

William slowly shook his head. “I’m afraid I don’t, and I’m being honest. So whatever is bound to happen going forward will also be a surprise to me. So expect the unexpected, okay Jacqueline!”

“Not the name picking again…”

“That’s the spirit Jack!” William tucked his cane beneath his arm, and raised his hands. “You ready?”

Jack tucked in his lips and closed his eyes. “Yeah, whatever…”

Archard couldn’t help but glare at the young man because he made a deal with someone he hated. He crossed his arms and ground his teeth, clicking them, smacking his lips to turn his head away, feeling shameful for the young man.

“What a pitiful gullible idiot.” Archard said, “Just like I was his age…” he muttered.

William clapped twice and Jack gasped, opening his eyes again to find himself back in his room. He looked around and quickly walked to his window, pulling one of the curtains to the side, and seeing that it was night time. The young man moaned and walked back to his bed, laying flat on it. His phone unexpectedly vibrated and he turned to it, it was oddly placed on his nightstand when it should’ve been in his pocket.

“William…” he mumbled.

Jack crawled to his phone, and saw twenty miss calls from Eric. He also saw five from Sarah, and thirty from his sister. There were others but they weren’t of too much of an importance to him like Veronica or even Annabelle since it was just one missed call from each. When he was about to set it back down, it rang again and this time it was Sarah again. Jack dragged one of his hands on his face, and deeply sighed.

“Remember what William said,” he answered and placed his phone against his ear. “Yeah Sarah?”

Sarah was in her backyard, wearing just a hoodie, hugging her knees as she watched the night sky that was covered in a sea of stars, but one star stood out: The glowing giant that was Betelgeuse.

“It’s about time you answered, dummy.”

Jack smirked, “whatever, anyways, what’s up?”

She moved around in her seat, and stared deep into the orange star. “We’re back in the correct flow of time it seems.”

“Who told you that it was?”

“My mom, who else? Even though I’m a little upset with her if I were being honest.”

“Hmph…”

She has no clue what her mothers up to. Jack thought

Sarah yawned, “well, anything you want to tell me that made this possible?”

Jack groaned and moved around on his bed. “Let's discuss this tomorrow… It's been a long two days again. Is that fine?”

Sarah grinned. “You too huh?”

“What? You got some stuff to tell me too?”

“Mm, nah, it’s none of your business for now. But uh, what’s your plan going forward with the burden of those Exorcists on your shoulders? Anything new come out of it since your supposed deaths?”

Jack blew steam out his nostrils as he stared at the ceiling. “You have no clue, but to be honest Sarah, I don’t know what to do now.”

Sarah brushed some of her hair behind her ear, and smiled. “Well, at this point, if there isn’t anything else in the way, now's just a matter of time. I guess for now Jack, just live life if there really isn’t anything else.”

Jack quietly gasped, and for a moment, pulled the phone off his ear.

“Live, huh?” He couldn’t help but chuckle, “her too.” he whispered.

“Jack? Hello, earth to Mr. Darkness?”

The young man pressed his phone back on his ear, and smiled. “Yeah?”

Sarah rolled her eyes, “you haven’t fallen into insanity yet right?”

“Mm, no, not yet.” the young man sat up, “say Sarah.”

“Uh, what?”

Her sassy tone made Jack shake his head, but made the grin on his face grow bigger. “Thanks for sticking by my side so far.”

His compliment made Sarah’s eyes mildly grow big, but fueled her ego a little. It made her place one of her hands on her wide hips and nod.

“As you should, Jack Samr!”

Jack’s grin faded, “I really mean it… I couldn’t have asked for anyone else better, goodnight.”

Sarah’s smile also faded, and she blinked rapidly. This was the first time she’s heard his tone so soft and serious. It actually made her heart skip a few beats, but she didn’t mind it. She rolled her eyes again, a soft grinned emerged as she stared up at the sky again.

“Goodnight too you too, see ya tomorrow, Jack.”

The two had hung up and the young man sat in darkness. He averted his eyes back to the window with the moonlight barely going through his curtains.

“Just live life, huh?”

He tossed his phone to the side, and crashed backwards on his bed. Staring at his dark ceiling, Jack felt gassed out again after the long talk he had with William and his partner. Slowly, Jack began to shut his eyes and take a deep breath, starting to relax his body and his mind.

“Hmph… we’ll see about that.”