Tap...

My eyes flickered open at the soft noise.

Tap...

I quickly sat up, my heart pounding in my chest. I rubbed my head. Something tapped against the glass of my window. When did I pass out?

The scent of coffee filled the room, and I smiled. A mug sat beside the bed on my nightstand. Regardless of how long I was out, the coffee my mom made me still produced some heat. I sipped it, loving the small changes she made to the coffee to make it her own recipe.

Tap...

I climbed off my bed and moved my curtains to peer out the window. I squinted my eyes at the low light. The sun vanished behind the horizon, leaving only a slither of light in the sky. I flinched when something hit the window.

I opened my window right as something hit my forehead. A pebble. Another one flew through the window, nearly smacking me.

"Hey!" The voice of Khalib called from below.

"What are you doing? You know you can come in, right? You're going to break a window doing that," I said, peeking out the window.

"I thought this was a lot more thrilling after the trouble we got in," he replied with a smirk.

"Yeah, cause that makes a ton of sense."

"Fine. I don't want to be scolded by your mom as well. Are you ready for the theater rehearsal? Kim wanted me to go since I can't go to the actual show due to the family cruise. I really think it'd be nice to get out and get our minds off of all this." He scratched his head. "I also may or may not have wanted to get out of what my mom is making for dinner."

"That's tonight?" I sighed and rubbed the bridge of my nose. "And what is your mom making?"

"Yes, that's tonight. And my mother is making her favorite carnitas huevos rancheros and tamales. I swear every time she makes it, I'm on the toilet the whole day after. We can stop by a drive thru and grab a quick bite. On me."

My smile reached ear to ear. "Awesome. I could go for a double cheeseburger and large cheese curd. I'll be down in a minute."

Once he nodded and jogged away, I closed my window, chugged the warm coffee, and would've snatched the hoodie if it still hung from the chair, but it vanished. I pursed my lips together. Mom must've taken it when I fell asleep. I skipped down the stairs. She sat on the couch with a book in her hands and work clothes covering her body.

"Going to work late?" I asked.

"In a few, yeah. I'll be out for the night. Just heat up some pizzas and I'll make chicken tomorrow after the funeral," she said, flipping the page of her book. "You can invite your friends."

I eyed the holster on her hip and her attire. A star on her chest matched the same star on the hoodie. She didn't major in any science, so I assumed her to be an armed security guard for a facility. She didn't look up from her book.

"I'm heading to the school with Khalib. Kim invited us to watch the dress rehearsal," I said.

"You know, maybe after tomorrow, you two should go on a date," she suggested. "Just because it didn't work a couple years ago, doesn't mean it will never work out again. You two have your differences, but he's a nice kid and you two have gotten very close since the first time you dated."

I shook my head. "Mom-"

"Be back by midnight and text me updates," she requested. "I put the hoodie you wore earlier in the dryer. If you're going to wear it, please take care of it. I shouldn't even be letting you wear it."

I nodded. After grabbing it from the laundry room, I zoomed out the door to meet up with Khalib in the driveway. He held the car door open for me.

"Mom, luckily, let me keep my car, however she did take my consoles," he frowned with his confession.

"At least you didn't get lectured about how you are too much like your father who you've never met," I huffed and buckled myself in. When he climbed in the driver's side, I continued, "she thinks I can't handle my own. I can't wait to move out and go to college."

"Don't remind me," he said, kicking on the heat in the car. After a moment of staring at the clock on the dashboard, he added, "I'm going to miss you."

I sat back and folded my arms across my chest. "I'll be like an hour drive away from you. Just because you're going to a tech college doesn't mean you won't be able to visit me where I'm going. We are all within a short drive or train ride away from each other."

"Yeah, but we all know how it is with your schoolwork. You dive into it and don't really do anything else. Chances are you won't have time for us," Khalib sighed.

"Khalib, I've known you since we were little kids. When have I not made time to spend with you aside from when my mom says no?" I asked.

I gazed at him, saddened by his words. I mean, he wasn't wrong. A frown tugged at his lips. He pulled his shoulder length hair up into a ponytail which he must've cleaned when he got home. The hair moved out of his face revealed his crooked nose that he used as a shield too many times.

"I just don't want to lose you," he muttered.

I smiled at his comment. I would've replied, but something else bugged me. Something I wanted to ask him for a while. I leaned my head back and stared at the road ahead.

"Hey, Khalib?"

"Hm?"

My lips parted to speak, but only air drifted through. My words caught in my throat and I gulped. He glanced at me.

"Kota," he hummed.

"Sorry. I just-"

"What is it?"

"Do you ever wonder if you have a bigger purpose in life?"

"What?" He glimpsed at me again with his thick furrowed brows. "Did you go down the meaning of life conspiracy rabbit hole again?"

"No! No!" I shook my hands and my head. "My mom is hiding something about me, and I don't know what. I think it has something to do with my father. I just wonder if I know who I really am."

"Maybe he's alive?"

"Haha, very funny. There's no way. If he was, she would've told me by now. I can just," I paused and squinted my eyes at the road, "see the loneliness in her eyes. The pain of losing someone for good."

"Hey, no need to be pessimistic." A smile flashed across his face. "Maybe you don't have a father."

I rolled my eyes. "That's ridiculous."

"Have you actually ever seen a picture of him?"

"Well... no..."

"Oh! I got it. Born in a lab. Raised from a test tube. You know, that would make sense why you love science so much."

"Khalib."

"If you think about it-" he pointed a finger to the roof- "you suspect your mom works at a laboratory of some sorts. Maybe she got you from there! Stole you from one of the test tubes and raised you as her own to be used as a weapon to take down that very same company who are creating super soldiers to take over the world!"

I smiled and tilted my head with a giggle at his ludicrous story. "That's not funny."

"Anyway, to answer your question," he changed the subject, "I think about it all the time. I always second guess whether my crafts are my calling, and if that's something I can use to make change in the world."

"Yeah," I sighed. "Me too."

My eyes veered to my right, and I glared out the window. My heart skipped a beat when a black figure hovered next to my head in my reflection in the window. I blinked and wiped the window.

The same feeling from earlier that day dawned over me, like a weight dragging me down in the mud. I couldn't stop wondering about it. I gripped onto my hoodie's hem and squeezed.

"Do you ever feel like you're being watched?" I asked.

He glanced at me as he drove. "What do you mean?"

"Like, eyes digging into your soul. A breath on your neck. Voices that are there but nobody is around. A stalker, or a ghost, or something. I don't know." I shrugged.

"No," he said, adjusting the heat in the car to a comfortable temperature. "Do you?"

My eyes fixated on his hands as they moved around and waved through the air.

"I just have this odd gut feeling," I grumbled, sinking down in my seat, "that something isn't right."

He squeezed my shoulder and tossed me a reassuring smile. "Either way, I won't let anyone near you, but I don't think anyone is watching you or following you."

"Right," I said, twiddling my thumbs. Of course he wouldn't believe me. No one ever does.

We stopped at a burger place and grabbed some food before arriving at the school. Only a handful of cars occupied the lot. We finished our food, got out, and started towards the double doors of the auditorium. I scanned the cars. A woman smoked a cigarette a couple rows away. She didn't look away from me, just inhaled the cigarette and exhaled the smoke. She raised her chin - causing her blonde hair to reveal her whole face - as we walked further away from her.

Just someone having a smoke break with nothing else to look at. Nothing to worry about. I exhaled slowly and turned back to Khalib, who strolled a couple steps ahead of me. He kept his hands in his jean pockets. Without his favorite hoodie, his clothes outlined his stout figure. He exercised just enough to keep him in healthy shape, but he liked his junk food.

Deep down, I wished he'd tangle his fingers in mine, or keep me warm when the temperature dropped like that night. Just like old times. As much as I wished we could go on a date and be a couple again, it wouldn't work out. Our personalities clashed too much. Two years ago, it took six months to discover we did not fit perfectly together.

I pondered what he thought as he hopped the curb and onto the sidewalk.

"Do you blame me, too?" I asked, catching up to him.

"What for?"

"Gavin."

"Should I?" He questioned, perking a brow.

"I don't know what to think," I grumbled.

We reached the doors and he opened them for me. I glanced back at the woman who climbed in her car, then I walked through the door and into the hallway. Odd, I thought. Chills floated down my spine. I shook my head. You're just over thinking.

"Oh my God! I was starting to think you'd never come!" A voice screeched from the auditorium doorway.

"That's what she said!" Khalib beamed and clapped his hands together.

I smiled brightly at the woman who greeted us. Her golden dress barely fit through the doorway. Her copper hair sat above her head in a loose, messy bun with curls hanging down, and her face weighed heavy with makeup. A yellow headband tangled in her hair. If I hadn't known her role in the musical, I would've mistaken her for a real princess.

"Kim, you're beautiful," I complimented, giving her a light hug.

"Awe, thank you!" She tilted her head and her brown eyes gleamed. "April is inside reading her book. I don't think she cares much about the musical. However, I cannot tell you how excited I am! I've always wanted to play the part of a fantasy princess!"

She continued on and on as I peered inside the door. April, the fourth and final member of our little group not including Gavin, curled up in a seat among the empty rows, not paying any mind to the singing and acting on stage.

"You play the part well, Kim. I mean, you're almost too nice to be a princess," Khalib said, bowing his head.

"Oh, stop trying to kiss up to me," Kim huffed and wrapped her arm around my shoulder, "I didn't think you two would've come together. Y'all on a date?"

"No," we both harmonized.

"Pity. I'm never going to forgive you for ending the relationship with this lady. You two are inseparable."

Khalib rolled his eyes and played with the chain around his neck. "I don't need your forgiveness. Why we ended it is between me and her. You have no say in our relationship."

"I do have a say! I'm her best friend..."

I ducked under Kim's arm and walked into the auditorium. Khalib and Kimberlin continued to argue as I sauntered over to April and sat a couple seats away from her. She glanced up and narrowed her silver eyes.

"What do you want?" She asked, tapping her blue nailed fingers on the seat.

A ring wrapped around each finger, except for one. The one where Gavin's promise ring used to be. My stomach sank, knowing I held responsibility for the heartbreak of the soon to be high school sweethearts. They had a ton of plans for after school ended.

"For things to be okay between us. What do I need to do?" I questioned.

She put the book down on her lap and turned to me, her expression heavy on her face. "You can go to his funeral tomorrow and be there for us."

"Okay, I was going anyway. I can do that-"

"You can tell the truth to everyone there why he called you and not me. I don't want an apology from you. It's not worth it. If you'd rather not show, don't bother ever speaking to me again."

I nodded and peered to the stage as the director called for Kim. She rushed to the stairs the best she could in the heels and oversized dress.

"I'll be there. I promise," I reassured and held out my pinky and pointer finger for our group's special promise gesture.

She scowled and it. "No."

I pursed my lips together and took my hand back. That's okay, I told myself. At least I'm getting somewhere with her. If only I could with Ryan...

"I want to make things right. I don't want anyone else to get hurt," I hummed, playing with my hoodie. "I'll make it my life's mission to protect you and everyone else."

"We'll see about that. I don't need protection. Just from you."

Khalib plopped down in the chair next to me. He exhaled heavily through his mouth and his eyes rolled to the back of his head.

"Man, that woman can talk for days," he said. "You bring up one fantasy TV show and she goes off about everything."

I nodded with a giggle. The cast on stage continued with their rehearsal as if we didn't exist in the back of the auditorium. April got back to her book. My fingers tapped on my tight lightly, making no noise.

Perhaps I zoned out, because the whole scene on the stage changed when a knot tugged at my stomach. Whispers flew past me like wind in a hurricane. I tugged at the hem of my hoodie, and Khalib glimpsed at me.

"Hey, you alright?" He asked.

"Yeah-" I pursed my lips together as I swiftly stood from my chair- "I'll just be back."

His lips parted to speak as I moved past him, but I bolted out of the auditorium before he spoke a word.

My chest heaved as I tried to catch my breath and scramble out of the room and down the hall. The rim of my vision blackened. I made it to the bathroom just in time. I needed to isolate myself whenever it started, or else someone might have gotten hurt. I kept my eyes trained away from the mirrors, but something deep down drew me closer to them, nagging at me to see my reflection.

This shouldn't be happening. I took my medication.

I splashed my face with ice cold water in hopes to wake myself up all the way. When that did nothing, I blinked several times and splashed it two more times. I glimpsed in the mirror, finally giving into the urge. Orange eyes stared back at me as the black swallowed my vision fully.

My lips smacked together as an overwhelming heat surrounded me. I craved water or any cool liquid. Sweat dripped down my face, and I tugged at the neck of my hoodie. The same orange eyes pierced into my soul, however it came from something darker, not my reflection. A black silhouette standing yards in front of me as if we planned to duel like old cowboys.

I wanted to speak to it, or it to finally speak to me. Perhaps it couldn't speak because it was just a shadow. An imaginary silhouette my mind made up. My own reflection haunting my sleep. All I could do was stare.

My toes scrunched at the dry grass below me. My fingers burned like I touched hot coals. I pried my eyes off the orange orbs and examined the dark building to my right: a two story cabin with a hanging candle on the porch. I narrowed my eyes and tried to place the structure. Where had I seen it before aside from my dreams?

An ear piercing scream caused me to fumble back right before the windows of the cabin shattered and white flames sparked from inside. My eyes widened as the flames reached me, however, only a cool sensation covered me. The cabin submerged under the flames. I'd seen it plenty of times before with no clue what it meant.

Once I found my balance, I turned back to the figure. Its orange eyes dug into my soul. My fist clenched at my side.

"Miranda," a voice called as a body morphed into shape from the flames. "It has been a long time. I see you've been communing with HAVOC and Raymond."

The person who spoke faced another person who formed in front of them. Her dark hair pulled up into a baseball cap, and the same shirt she wore when I left the house hugged her body. I tilted my head in confusion, recognizing it as the same exact outfit to the T. The shoes, the pants, the holster and hat, the shirt, her bruised knuckles and the bags under her eyes.

"Mom?" I managed to voice out.

Was I experiencing an out of body experience? A memory? The future? It happened with the visions, but rarely, as if I could hack into someone else's memories, or be somewhere in mind and not body. Astral projection, except more complicated and not common. Not common at all.

"Sir," Miranda, my mom, hummed and pressed her left fist to her chest above her heart, "you've been gone. Welcome back."

"I want an explanation, Johnson. Raymond is our enemy."

"I understand that."

The light of the fire flashed over his aged face and glinted off his glasses. My jaw dropped. I hadn't seen him in years. Sebastian Parkinson, the man who studied my visions as a kid. If he ever figured something out, he never elaborated on it to me. He fixed a couple pins on his button up shirt then pushed up his glasses.

"I don't think you do." He sighed and shook his head. "If he gets his hands on any of the relics, or the power these children have, or even the keys to Kal'derae, then we are done for. Kyrazin is done for."

"Raymond's intentions aren't about destroying anything. He simply wants war and bloodshed to end."

"What do you think he's going to do to achieve that?" Sebastian asked. "It's the way of the beast. There will have to be bloodshed and war to end it. The only issue with that? Do you know what it is?"

"It never ends..."

"It. Will. Never. End. There will always be someone out to get revenge or sabotage or seek to hurt others out of their own pleasure. Raymond knows my true plans, and he's trying to stop us. What does that tell you about him?"

"Yes, I understand that. I spoke with HAVOC only because they formed an alliance with Faywyvern."

"Faywyvern?"

"Yes. You," she paused and her eyebrows furrowed together, "you haven't spoken with any of your children, have you?"

"They are busy, as am I. I have to get back to Kyrazin soon. Unfortunately we do not have time to catch up."

"If Raymond and the Faywyvern Highchair become buddies, then they'll have a better chance of getting their hands on the other two. I can barely keep Dakota safe and she's the most surveillanced! We had to fight off a couple of mercenaries last week."

My eyebrows scrunched together. Other two? Who else did he study? Were there others like me? Mercenaries? Surveillance around me?

Miranda continued, "I just don't understand what your game play is. You're playing checkers while they're playing chess."

"New threats have risen over the years in my absence. I have new goals. New plans. And yes, I need the three Successors for it."

"Raymond's been a step ahead of you on that game for years. Estienne was practically raised by the Faywyvern, and they've got her wrapped around their finger at the moment."

"And Claire's father, one of the relic guardians, worked for me. They will make their own choice, but they will soon realize which side is the right side. Give it time. Fate is on our side."

"What other side could there be?" I asked. My words flew right over their heads. I gazed straight ahead at the orange eyes. "If only you could answer my questions."

"Right, because who wouldn't want three naive Deities on their side who, for one: two of which don't even know their Deities, and two: don't even know their abilities exist?" Miranda huffed and folded her arms across her chest. "We need to start getting them ready. It's been eighteen years since Finnik and the Kasperov's sacrifice, and who knows who else. The war on Kyrazin has lasted too long. Claire's old enough to be told the truth her mother's death as well, and Estienne -

"She goes by Zoey. You know this."

"Well, Zoey needs to start taking things seriously. She's been training with her magic since she got to Earth. Maybe it's time they meet."

"Do you underestimate the choices of the Gods?" Sebastian asked.

Miranda narrowed her eyes and waved her hand around. "I have not been given a reason to underestimate their choices, no. From what they've told me, however, I should not trust you and the Lehezan. So, tell me, Bastian. Why should I throw Raymond and everything he argued away and choose Lehezan over HAVOC?" She pointed at him, almost poking his chest.

He inhaled deeply, straightening out his back and stretching his shoulders. His green eyes stared down at the shorter woman.

"When the real threat arises, HAVOC won't have the resources to protect you," he said.

Miranda tilted her head and her eyes darted away as she spoke, "you're missing one key factor. They do. You just don't know about it."

"Doubt me-" Sebastian stepped forward to close the space between them- "and you risk everything. You risk losing Dakota. I know you aren't just protecting her on Lucillia's demands anymore. You've grown close to her. You don't want to lose her, right?"

"Is that a threat?" She asked, her hand lingering on the weapon on her hip.

"Miranda, you know she's not safe without the protection of the Lehezan. How about you sleep on my offer. I have to get back to the prince before he blows a fuse and blood bends me to death." Sebastian chuckled.

"Speaking of the prince: how is he? How is Karlile holding up?" She asked.

"The prince grows more powerful by the day. He's become such an incredible young man. You would be proud. Karlile on the other hand isn't doing so great. It's thought that the prince will be crowned as king soon. I'm sorry."

Miranda dropped her chin to her chest and squeezed her eyes shut. He patted her shoulder as he slipped past her.

"Wait." Miranda held out a hand, sighed heavily, and changed the weight on her feet. "If you can promise the protection of Dakota and my youngest, through the war that you believe is coming, then-" she paused and grinded her teeth together, "-I will share whatever you want about HAVOC."

The fire swallowed the two, leaving me in a void of darkness and flames, except for the orange eyes. My arms dangled at my side.

"She's burning up," a voice resonated beside me. No one occupied that space - like Miranda and Sebastian- but I knew it to be Kimberlin's sweet voice.

"Well get Khalib to take her home. I don't want her here where she can hurt anyone else," another voice, April, demanded.

As someone shifted my body, I fell into unconsciousness.