Ryder woke in the middle of the night with a feeling of imminent destruction. Alyx was stirring something in her, unlocking things that she knew wouldn’t be good. What are you doing? She yelled at him. Stop… Stop it.

Alyx laughed. Part one of my plan is being put into motion, Ryder. You’ll see… Or maybe you won’t. All depends on you and your behavior when I start this.

Start what? Her eyes widened as she sat in the darkness. He was out for revenge. That much she knew. He wanted to destroy this place. She didn’t know how he would accomplish that, but in order to do so, he would need a whole lot more magic than she possessed. What if she had been wrong about how much power he held? If she was, he could be far more dangerous than he’d led her to suppose.

More images of strange beings and scenery she’d never seen passed before her eyes, and she could’ve sworn she could feel Alyx turning things in her mind and unlocking corners of her brain that had never been utilized before.

She wished she could call for help, but with Alyx at the surface like he was now, any attempt on her part would be blocked before the words even came out.

All she could do was sit and wait for him to act.

***

Donnovan sat on his bed in his dimly lit room and stared at his glass cat. The cat was fashioned to act as a paperweight. His grandmother had made it for him, but she had enchanted it so that it would walk and meow. It acted just like a real cat, but it didn’t need to be fed, and it was glass.

The green jade of the cat’s eyes winked at him in the fluorescent lighting. Mraw? The cat walked to him and rubbed its tiny head against his leg. It was smaller than even a kitten was, measuring only six inches in total length and five in height.

Donnovan laughed and pet her head. “Yeah… Don’t worry about me, Mya.”

He could’ve sworn that it was sometimes as though the cat talked to him. Then again, the strain of his job left him with only a few close friends, and not many to talk to at night when he couldn’t sleep. Which was most every night.

She stretched next to him and curled into a ball, purring as the light glanced off her green body. She began licking her paws, which made a funny sort of scraping noise as glass rubbed against glass. For Donnovan, though, it was soothing. He listened to it in the dark on nights when he would lay awake in the dark hours after everyone else had gone to sleep.

Mya was the perfect name for her. Donnovan remembered when his grandmother had first given him Mya. She’d told him that the cat was already named. The magic that brought her alive had also revealed the name. Mya was Burmese for Emerald. It fit the cat exactly.

“You know, she’s still out there somewhere, Mya…” Donnovan sighed and played with the stone pendant on his neck. It glowed with a soft inner light and warmed to his touch as it always did.

Mya simply purred and continued to groom herself.

“If she was dead, I’d know. Her necklace wouldn’t still glow. Besides, my mom always said that this stone was enchanted. She said she’d always be with me if I wore it… And then she just disappeared in the night. I wish I knew what happened to her.” He sighed. “Probably never will.”

Mya stopped grooming herself and bumped her tiny head against his knee. He absently reached over to pet her, but his mind wasn’t there. Instead, it was several years in the past, remembering a very dark place in his life.

“Donnovan, listen to me… You must keep hold of this for me.”

“But mom, it’s your necklace. You don’t want me to have this.” Donnovan tried to hand back the chain and pendant.

She shook her head and closed his fingers over the necklace. “You need to keep it.”

“Why?”

Her grey eyes filled with tears. “Just keep it for me, all right? Because so long as you have this with you, I will always be with you. Never forget that.” She leaned forward to hug him and kiss his forehead. “My son… Growing up so fast.”

He hugged her back, sensing that she needed it. Something wasn’t right, but he couldn’t figure out what. It was almost as though she was saying goodbye to him. “You’re not going anywhere, are you?” He whispered to her.

She laughed, but it was strained. “Of course not… Why would you think that?”

He pulled away and sat down on the grass of the landing strip on West Base. “Because you’re giving me this and telling me that with it, you’ll always be with me. Sounds an awful lot like a goodbye to me…”

“Not at all. I just want you to have it.” She smiled weakly.

“Why did you drag me out here to give it to me instead of giving it to me in the morning?” He waved up at the cloudy night sky. “It’s not like anyone except you and me cares if you give me your necklace…”

“Because it couldn’t wait. There are things that you don’t understand right now, Donnovan. But the one thing you must understand now is that you can never let that necklace go. Keep it with you always. And no matter what happens, remember that this necklace will let you know that I am with you.” His mother smiled and hugged him again. “Now go on inside. I need to think for a little. I’ll be in after a while, but don’t bother waiting up for me.”

Donnovan nodded slowly, and got to his feet. “Yes ma’am…” He trudged inside and back to bed, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that something wasn’t right with his mother. She was telling him goodbye, he knew, but when she was leaving and why he couldn’t tell.

A tear dropped off Donnovan’s cheek and hit Mya in the head. She hissed and shook it off as she walked to the opposite side of the bed to settle down again.

“She never explained why she left, and I still don’t understand. Her answers to my questions were so cryptic…” Donnovan mumbled as he removed the necklace from around his neck and rubbed it gently with his fingers.

The glass seemed to smoke up, and his mother’s voice rang clearly through the room. Donnovan yelped and dropped the necklace on the bed. Backing away, he ran trembling fingers through his hair. She’d left him a message. He’d never even thought to take the necklace off. He always wore it because that’s what she’d wanted, and while he’d often rubbed his fingers across it, nothing had ever happened. He wondered why it had happened now. Perhaps the message was time activated?

“Donnovan, I know you don’t understand why I had to leave… I still can’t explain everything to you. But I want you to know that I was protecting you by leaving. Protecting you from what was coming for me. Because I’ve left, you won’t ever have to worry about it again. I want you to know that I’m so very proud of you. I don’t know where you’ll be now, eight years after I’ve left, but I know you’re doing something great. Just know that I am safe, but will not see you or your little brother again. I’m sorry it had to be this way…”

His mother’s voice cut off, and he heard muffled sobs as the message stopped. He picked up the necklace on his bed and sat down, stunned. Tears fell from his eyes to splash onto the necklace’s now silent stone. It continued to glow softly to his touch, but no more words from his mother came from it. He tried to reactivate it, longing to hear his mother’s voice again, even if she still hadn’t explained why she’d left. But the necklace remained calm and silent.

He curled into a ball and stared at the stone in misery. Eight long years since his mother left, and only now he got a message. He didn’t know why, and it only hurt more to know that his mother was well but had left them willingly. It shattered his hopes that she had been taken away by force. Not that he’d wanted to imagine that either. He knew that if she was kidnapped, nothing good would happen to her. However, it was preferable to believing that she had decided to leave them of her own volition.

Much of the remaining night hours were spent in weeping or attempting to get the stone to work again. He hadn’t really thought he would sleep anyway. He rarely did.

***

Ryder knew that Alyx was done when he took control again. She had been writing out a warning to Kane and was about to leave when he suddenly yanked control from her. The note was ended off at a confusing note, but she supposed it was better than nothing. Alyx seemed distracted since he didn’t do anything about her note.

He simply moved her out of bed and out the door.

Where are we going? What are you doing? Ryder tried to get information from him, but he wouldn’t respond. He greeted her with cold silence.

She watched at he took her through the turns of East Base. They were headed outside, but she wasn’t sure why. What could they possibly have to do outside?

As she walked out, Alyx waved her hand and muttered some words. The guards all around the Base dropped to the ground. Did you just kill them? Ryder felt panic rising. This couldn’t be happening. She couldn’t let this happen.

They’re just asleep. Relax… I’m not killing anyone… Yet. His cold tone chilled her, and she felt as though she might choke on the fear clawing inside her.

The Gate rose before them, its luminescent glow illuminating her face in its light. It shimmered faintly, and Alyx stepped back. Someone was coming through.

A party of agents came through, exhausted but laughing. They must’ve just finished a mission and were returning to report. Ryder usually worked alone, but she knew how good it felt to be returning home after a long, hard mission. Unfortunately, she had a feeling Alyx wasn’t here to make that feeling even better.

“Agent Parsi?” The head of the group stepped forward.

She recognized the man. He was an acquaintance of her friend, Hayden.

Hayden’s friend peered at her in surprise as she stood in silence. “What’re you doing out here, anyway? They don’t normally put you on night watch.” Since he was on the night watch most nights, he would know.

“Yes… Well, I think you’d be a bit surprised at what I’m here to do.” Alyx spoke through her.

Please, Alyx… Don’t do it. Ryder wanted to cry, but she couldn’t because Alyx was controlling her, and he felt no remorse over whatever he was planning.

He lifted her hand and a wave of fire lanced into Hayden’s friend. He burst into ashes as Ryder watched in horrified silence. You can’t do this! Stop now. She growled, fighting against his grip.

The group stared at their leader in shock, and then looked up at her. The fear reflected in their eyes was too much to bear. She pushed against Alyx with more determination. You are not going to kill anyone else tonight. She snapped at him.

Love, I most certainly am. And if you can’t stop fighting, you’ll have to be blanked out for the duration of it. Which is worse, getting the strange looks and being locked up with no recollection of what happened, or knowing what happened so that you can at least know why you’re locked away?

How about neither? If I stop you, you won’t do anything else to harm them.

If you stop me, sweetheart. I don’t think you can.

That’s where you’re wrong. Ryder hissed. She wrested control of herself from Alyx with one final effort.

“All of you need to run. Now… I can’t promise that I can control it for…”

Alyx grabbed control from her again and growled. Idiot girl. I think you do need to see this, just to see what happens to people who try to fight me.

I’m going to keep trying to take back control. You’d be better off to blank me for this if you want to kill them without interruption.

Alyx laughed. I’m not going to though. I’m going to put your mind into stasis for the time being. You won’t be able to do anything during that time period except watch. You won’t even be able to talk to me. It’s like being in a cell with sound-proofed walls.

Don’t you dare!

You asked for it, love.

The communication line was severed and despite how she shouted at him, nothing happened. She tried to take back control, but it was as though there were barriers blocking her into that one unused section of her mind.

Unable to stop it, she watched in horror as Alyx demolished the rest of the party. He didn’t take long as he worked in efficient silence. The victims’ screams would haunt her for many years to come as Alyx immobilized and killed each of them in turn.

A brisk breeze whipped up, and the ashes of the group’s leader were scattered across the concrete landing strip and into the grass and forest beyond. The wind continued to howl mournfully across the empty, silent expanse of concrete and mortar as Ryder was given control once more. She sank to her knees and wept in broken agony as the guards from the Base came running to her side.

“What happened here?” One guard shouted at her. “Why did you do this?”

She was the daughter of their beloved former general. None of them could understand why their best agent would do such a thing to her own people. The guards didn’t believe she could’ve done what they saw before them, but she was the only one who was capable of it so far as they could see. The only choice they had was to take her into custody.

“I’m sorry, Agent Parsi. But we have to take you into custody now.” The head guard told her as he cuffed her hands behind her back.

“I’m so sorry… I tried. I really did. But I couldn’t save them.” She wept as they pulled her away towards the Base. “I am so sorry.” She whispered to those who were lying dead on the pavement. “I should’ve been able to save you…”