My eyes opened, and my mind rang with sharp clarity. I found myself reaching for my gun without knowing why, and once I was on my feet and facing the door, three strangers walked through my bedroom door. Juniper growled at them, her tail flicking and a dark blue rippling through her scales. “Get out of my house.”

One of them stepped forward. His blond hair was tidy like all of those businessmen I saw on the street, and while his suit was pressed just like their’s, his shoes were scuffed. His hands were raised in what I could only imagine was an effort to placate me, and I could see the dirt in the line of his palms. “Aurora, we’re not here to hurt you.” He gestured to Juniper. “We’re here because you’ve found something wonderful, and —“

I shot just to the right of his ear, and Juniper scrambled across the bed and clawed her way up my leg to wrap around my shoulders. “I said: get out of my house.”

The woman among them crossed her arms. “Now Miss Langley, it’s in your best interest to cooperate with us —“

I aimed my gun at the woman’s knee. “Really, it would be in your best interest to listen to the words that are coming out of my mouth.”

A smile spread across her lips. “I’d like to see you try to make me.”

Fine. If she wanted to call my bluff, then she’d be the one living to regret that decision. The man stepped in front of her before I could pull the trigger. “Aurora,” he said, and something tugged at my mind. “We just want to talk. We’re here to help you to understand what’s going to be happening to you and to understand the new world you’ve just stepped into.”

Curiosity tickled the back of my mind, and hesitation took hold as the reality of everything sank in. I didn’t know a damn thing about dragons or what this…bond with Juniper was going to do to me —

‘He is in your head, Aurora.’

I could feel myself lowering my gun.

‘I can help you kick him out, but you have to help me.’

Rage began to kindle in my chest, and I pushed. My mind was mine, and I’d be damned before I let someone wield that sort of control over me again. I felt something snap, and as the man collapsed, I rose my gun and squeezed the trigger.

The bullet stopped an inch within the woman before clattering to the ground, useless. Shock ripped through me, and she gestured at her other companion. “Christopher?” He nodded, and before I’d even had a chance to blink, he had crossed the room to stand beside me. I swung the butt of my pistol at his temple, which he deftly dodged, and as he reached for my arm, I dropped the gun and stepped away.

‘You have to get away,’ Juniper urged, coiling tight around my neck. “A little help here, Friday?” I asked. The man’s fingers curled around my wrist in a vice grip, and the world seemed to slow down as I sucked in a breath. I aimed a blow at his throat, and he reeled…but didn’t let me go. So I drove my knee into his groin and kicked his legs out from under him, which was enough for him to release me.

I stepped around the bed, and the woman stood in the doorway. “I’m giving you one last chance,” I informed her coldly. “Get out.”

That grin was still plastered on her lips. “You’re one hell of a woman, Miss Langley. It’s a pity your mother didn’t let us have you before now.”

My mother?

Friday took that as her cue to finally do something productive. An electric net came to life in the doorway, seizing the woman, and Juniper pulled at me to go. Yes, we needed to leave.

I walked into my closet, and Friday had already opened the sliding wood paneling for me. I stepped into the passageway, and by the time the door re shut itself, I was already down three flights of stairs. Once I got to the bottom, I yanked open the hatch and dropped into the tunnels beneath…only to find some unseen force binding me in midair. I twisted and turned, and desperation made my breath run fast and inefficient. I had to protect Juniper!

A whistle sounded throughout the tunnels. “You must be the one we’re looking for.” A stranger wandered up to me, his hands shoved in his pockets. “That’s a real talent, you know. Making it past good ol’ Kat, I mean. You’re the first.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

He grinned up at her. “Well…most people tend to stay put when people mention real magic — or show it to them. Either they’re in shock, denial, or they’re insatiably curious. Those who run never make it far. Emerson typically soothes them, or Nicholas beats them into submission… And it’s easy enough for Kat to stop any who get past either one of those two.” He shrugged. “Really, I guess it’s her own fault for getting lazy. Should’ve known, with a Rider and all.”

“What do you want?”

“Chinese food sounds great right now.” When I narrowed my eyes, he continued, “The headmistress has identified you as a prospective student at our prestigious school for the gifted.” His voice had slipped into an almost…mocking tone.

“Which gives you the right to breach my home and overstay your welcome?”

He shook his head. “No, of course not. But they’re not used to much of a fight, so most people ignore that part.” He shrugged again. “You must understand, humanity does not know of magic — and we intend on keeping it that way. If they did, the mass panic… It would be hell on Earth, Miss, and I don’t know about you, but I have no intention on witnessing that. So, you must understand, the folk up at corporate treat this sort of thing real serious, and when another user — or prospective user — shows up on the radar, well…they’re snatched up immediately for training. Really, it’s for your safety as much as it is for the public’s.” He gestured to Juniper, who was still draped around my neck. “Especially with her… They haven’t seen a Dragon in a very long time, Miss, and the public certainly doesn’t even remember their existence.” He met my eyes. “Do you understand?”

‘I like him. He knows I’m not a him.’

I swallowed my response to Juniper and focused on the man in front of me. “What if I don’t want to go?”

He chuckled. “I imagine they’ll make it worth your while, Miss, but that’s not my department… If I let you down, will you run?” I shook my head, and my body started drifting toward the ground. “Do I have your word?” I felt the air drip with weight, and I took a long breath. I needed to have at least some kind of explanation, and if these people were offering, well…it would be foolish to not at least hear them out.

Besides, all I was promising was not to run. I could walk away, right?

I nodded, and the invisible bonds around me loosened. “Now I suppose this is when I’m supposed to convince you to make your absolutely wonderful computer release Kat.”

I sighed. “That does fall within my word, doesn’t it?”

He shrugged. “I mean, you might have better luck just leaving her. She’s not going to be happy.”

“Am I supposed to care?”

He chuckled. “I suppose not. Just thought you might appreciate the forewarning.”

“Any other useful hints?”

“Don’t accept chocolate from strange men?”

I nodded. “That’s fair.”

He offered me a chocolate. “Would you like one?”

I grinned. “Yes please.”

The, that, that thing just kept staring at me with unblinking eyes. ‘Aurora? Can’t you hear me?’ That voice was in my head, somehow. Panic tried to stop my heart, but I forced myself to move to the computer room. I needed my gun, I needed to burn everything, whatever this was… “Friday, where’s this goddamn intruder?”

“There isn’t one.”

Oh goddamnit, they’d even gotten into my system. Friday was impenetrable! I knelt and spun the safe lock — 14-3-18 — and I heard footsteps pounding through the living room. I grabbed my pistol and whirled, safety off and fully prepared to pull the trigger. Movement flickered in the doorway, and I tensed. “Rory?!” Kal exclaimed, and while I couldn’t stop myself from pulling the trigger, I could change where the bullet went. “What the hell?” he shouted as I shot the wall directly above his shoulder.

“What are you doing here?” I didn’t lower my gun.

“I heard a scream,” he replied, hands in the air, “and when I came up here, your door was open… I saw your entire place was trashed, and I got worried.” He lowered his arms. “Why do you have a gun? You could have killed me!”

I bit the inside of my cheek before lowering it. “Because I thought you were someone else.”

He arched an eyebrow. “Who else could I be? Are you in some sort of trouble?”

That thing padded into the doorway at Kal’s feet. Now I could see that it had wings — thin, papery things with bright veins laced through it — and it still stared at me with those eyes. Whatever it was, it wasn’t normal. It was smart, and it wasn’t anything that was supposed to exist in New York. How the hell had it gotten into my apartment, anyway?! My eyes went to the wires still hanging from its mouth.

Wait.

I glared at the thing. “Did you destroy my apartment?” I growled.

‘I was hungry.’

Kal looked at me incredulously. “I walked you home,” he snapped. “Are you really going to accuse me of wrecking your apartment?”

I stared at the thing. How was it in my mind?! ‘We’re bonded, Aurora.’

I put my hands to my ears. “Get out of my head!”

It looked up at me. ‘I can’t.’

“Rory?…” Kal took a step toward me, but his feet found that thing before he made any progress toward me. “Oh well hello little guy,” he murmured and knelt down, running a gentle finger along its spine. “Aren’t you a beauty?”

I stared at him. “What the hell are you doing?”

‘Paying his respects to a dragon like he should.’

“Dragon?!” I shrieked. “That, that can’t be. You aren’t real.”

‘Tell him I’m a girl, won’t you?’

“I’d agree with you…only it’s right in front of me,” Kal commented with a soft chuckle, and then he turned to me with a curious gaze. “Did he bond with you?”

I felt something push in my mind, and I could help but correct him: “She.”

He chuckled. “That’s a yes, then.”

“What does that even mean?”

“When she’s old enough, you’ll get to be her Rider. The both of you will be connected to one another in a more powerful way than anyone else will ever be able to comprehend.”

My eyes narrowed. “You say that like it’s fact.”

He shrugged. “It is.”

“How do you know?”

Kal offered me a smile, then. “The world is a much bigger place than you ever knew, Rory.”

“You’re sounding suspiciously like those characters in Mara’s books.”

“She must have been onto something, then."

“I think you owe me an explanation, then.” Missy trotted over to Kal and rubbed against the Dragon he was still scratching, and she continued purring. I held my hand out, wanting something to pay attention to that wasn’t my bubbling insides, but Missy just looked at me for a moment before continuing to pay attention to the Dragon.

He smiled slightly. “Well, what exactly do you want an explanation on?”

“Everything.”

“We don’t exactly have time for that.”

‘We’re bonded. What else do you need to know?’

I glared at the Dragon. “I wasn’t asking you.”

Kal offered me a smile, but I just turned my glare on him, and he sighed. “Have you ever seen the show Supernatural?”

“Dean and Sam Winchester?”

He nodded. “The world…is kinda like that, I guess? Intelligent life that isn’t humanity exists. Creatures who live and breathe magic walk among us, and they have for a very long time, Rory.”

“But why —“

“Why haven’t they shown themselves?” He chuckled. “Don’t you remember the Salem Witch Trials? There are much more of you in this realm than we are, and frankly, no one is rather keen on coming on over here.”

I frowned. “From where?”

He sighed again. “The Shadowrealm.”

“The what?”

“It’s…another dimension. One that houses basically all that is.”

I took a long breath. I was dreaming. That was it… But, if I wasn’t, well… I pointed at the Dragon he was still petting. “Then are there a bunch of those that exist?”

He shook his head. “Actually…no. Have you received any strange packages recently? Touched any strange rocks?”

“She got a package from her mother today,” Friday volunteered. “And when she touched the rock in the necklace, she just kinda froze, and —“

“Thank you, Friday. I can speak for myself, thanks.”

“What rock?”

I bit the inside of my cheek. This was what was left from my mom… I didn’t want to… But apparently Mom had somehow volunteered me for a crazy trip. “It was inside a locket she’d sent me in that box…” I sighed. “When I touched it, I went all cold and I felt like I was being shocked or something. I couldn’t move, and I felt…something.” I looked at the Dragon. “That was you, wasn’t it?”

She nodded. ‘I thought that was obvious.’

“You’re too young to have the sarcasm, you scrawny lizard.”

She stuck a forked tongue out at me. ‘I learned from you.’

He chuckled. “Sounds you guys are going to get along just great.”

I rolled my eyes. “So what does all of this dragon business actually mean?”

He ran a hand through his hair. “Honestly, I know about as much as you do.”

I glared at him. “Evidently not.”

“There hasn’t been a Rider in a very long time, Rory. We’ve stopped studying that sort of thing.”

“Studying?”

“There’s a…school. A few of them, actually, scattered throughout the world.” He sighed. “They’re probably going to come looking for you soon.”

I frowned. “I’m not going to some stupid school. I’ve got things to do, Kal. If you seriously think that I’m going to subject myself to being looked down upon or having people preach —“

He shook his head. “You might not have a choice, Rory.”

My eyes narrowed. “Let them try to force me. It won’t end well for them.”

He sighed. “Anyway, you should probably just get some sleep.” He looked back down at the Dragon. “We can talk more once this has had a chance to settle in.”

I stared at him. “Do you really think I’m going to be able to go to sleep with all of this mess?”

He chuckled and gave the Dragon another scratch. “You’ll see to it, won’t you?”

She purred in response.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I demanded

“You should try to relax more,” is all Kal said in reply, and he straightened. “I’ll even help you clean everything up tomorrow morning.”

When he left, I was left staring at the Dragon, and I suppressed a scream. What the hell was Kal doing, just leaving me with everything as it was right now? Like, seriously?

“According to history, Dragons don’t exist,” Charlie commented. “The case you’re making for you being smarter than me is starting to fall apart.”

I took a long breath. “How’d you get access to the net?”

‘I helped him.’

“I’m getting you a cage.”

She stumbled a few steps forward, her silver eyes seeming to get bigger in their pleading. ‘That is certainly not necessary, Aurora. It is not my fault you saw fit to keep your perfectly capable companion constrained.’

“Friday, what else did this little demon do?”

‘Excuse me? How dare you compare me to those things.’ She continued forward and lashed a clawed foot at my leg. I sucked in a sharp breath as the points dug in, and it was with the utmost patience that I pulled her foot away. I tried not to think about how her comment implied demons were real.

“It ate all of the prototypes you were no longer using. She at least had the thought to insure she didn’t eat anything you were actually using.”

I decided not to ask how she had communicated with my computers. “No, but she saw fit to destroy everything else in my home.”

‘I was hungry.’

“You ate a rather large amount of nonfood material.”

‘What is your point? I can convert most anything into energy for consumption. Can you not?’

I frowned. “No. I most certainly can’t.”

‘Then you have an alarming shortage of food within your home, Aurora. You ought to fix that.’

“I don’t need you to lecture me on my eating habits,” I sighed.

I wandered to my room and put my pistol on the nightstand. “Friday, can you make sure the front door is shut and locked please?”

“Of course.” I heard a click out in the living room. “It is as you wished.”

I sat down on the bed and kicked off my shoes, and I started peeling off my clothes. I couldn’t do anything about the windows at this point, but maybe that was a good thing. That Dragon might just…wander out while I slept? Suddenly, I couldn’t stop myself from yawning, and I barely managed to convince myself to go over to the dresser and fish out my pajamas. As I curled up on my bed, the Dragon half hopped, half flew up onto my bed and nudged my shoulder.

‘May I join you?’ She looked at me with those bright eyes, and I sighed.

“Would you actually go if I told you to?”

‘Probably not.’

I chuckled and shifted so I laid on my back like I did for Missy, and the Dragon hobbled to lay on my chest. I hesitated before running a hand along her spine like Kal had. An unbidden smile spread across my lips as she started humming. She was warm and…soft. I’d expected the scales to be cold for some reason…

“What’s your name?”

‘I don’t have one.’

“You seem to have an answer for everything else.”

‘I have all of that from you, Aurora. This is something else you must give me.’

I blinked. “You do realize that I have no idea what Dragons are normally named.”

‘Neither do I. Does that matter?’

I sighed and settled into thought. This was what my mother had left for me; I guess I hadn’t been a bad daughter after all… Though it did raise questions: just who was my mother? I shook my head; that didn’t matter. What mattered was that she was my mother. She was the woman who picked me up when I fell, no matter how I screamed at her for it afterwards. She was the woman who held me at night while I cried; she was the woman who protected me against John when he came after us with a bat after one of those drunk nights he had at least once a year. She was the one who kept Lane and I healthy, always going into the backyard and coming out with some herb or another for our ailments.

“How does Juniper sound?”

She started humming. ‘Sounds just fine to me, Aurora.’

I smiled and let my eyes slide shut. “Then, goodnight, Juniper.”

“Hey, are you okay?”

I glanced up from the doodles I’d been working on during class, and I offered Kal a bright smile. “Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?”

He arched an eyebrow at her. It had been a week since I’d come back from the funeral, and I hadn’t missed the glances Kal paid me when he thought I wasn’t looking. “I’m just…making sure.” He gestured at the still half full cup of tea sitting on the chair arm next to me. “You haven’t even had all of your tea.”

“I’m not thirsty.” I stood and started gathering my things.

“You’ve been not thirsty all week.”

“Maybe my tastes have changed,” I retorted and turned to him. “Besides, what makes you the authority on what I should or shouldn’t be doing? I can do whatever the hell I want —“

He held his hands up. “I know, I know…” He tried for a smile. “I was just checking. That’s a thing friends do, you know.”

I narrowed my eyes, and ice coiled around my heart. “That’s your mistake then. We were never friends, Kal… You’re just a curiosity.”

As I passed him, he caught my elbow. “I’m going to be here when you need me,” he murmured. “Remember that, won’t you?” He let me go before I had to look back and tell him so, and he allowed me to leave with the dignity of keeping my tearing eyes to myself.

Xxx

I frowned as I stepped up to my door to find a rather tatty looking box sitting below the doorknob. Who — Oh. Lane’s flowing scrawl was plain enough to see on box, which meant it was that box. It took every iota of willpower I had to make myself pick it up instead of edging it away with my foot as I opened the door. “Hello Aurora,” Friday greeted. As usual, Missy hopped down from her cat tree and trotted over to rub my legs, and she mewed when I continued past her to the couch. I set down the box on the coffee table and stared at it.

“What’s wrong? Do I need to dispose of that package?”

“No!” I said perhaps a little too quickly. It was starting to sink in now; this was the one thing I was going to have left of Mom… I ran a shaky hand through my hair. “It’s what Mom left for me…”

“What’s in it?”

“I don’t know,” I replied and took a shaky breath. I reached to tear away the tape, but I stopped. Did I really want to know what it was? The box full of things she’d left to me instead of Lane?…

I stood and went to the computer room. Friday filled the room with the typical screens. There were a few notifications — I knew where those were from; Martin had been trying to talk to me about Project Luminescence, but I didn’t have the energy nor the desire to screw with another company. I had enough to live in my own little bubble and that was good enough for me right now. “Charlie? How’re you doing today?”

“Cramped,” was the disgruntled answer, and I sighed.

“I know… I’m sorry, but I need to make sure you’re stable before I give you a bigger system to play with.”

“You aren’t born “stable,” and you get to roam the whole wide world. Why don’t I get to do that?”

I smiled slightly. “Well, I haven’t given you a form yet, so there’s that.”

“You could.”

I shrugged. “Not one that would be good enough for you. You’d be far more restricted in that than you are currently. The memory and circuity required to keep you operating as you are, well… It’s not feasible for a graceful system. And then there’s the matter of choice.”

“Choice?”

“You want to live in the big wide world, Charlie? There are things you can’t predict. Humans, we know how to make choices. We have our own will. You…don’t.”

“Yes I do.”

I sighed. “Charlie, you can’t understand what I actually mean by that. Friday doesn’t even understand free will.” I laughed softly. She didn’t understand the concept of motherhood, either. “Anyway. What would you like to learn about today?”

“Choice.”

I sighed. “Beside that.”

“There isn’t anything beside that.”

“Why are you avoiding the box, Aurora?” Friday asked, and I sighed.

“I’m not.”

“What box?”

“It’s from her dead mother.”

She was dead.

“Dead?”

“It’s what happens when your system stops functioning.”

When she stopped functioning? Someone stopped her functioning for her!

“What happens to you?”

I didn’t believe in God or anything, but surely…surely her soul still wasn’t here? Everything anything said about ghosts involved them reliving the trauma of their deaths over and over again and degenerating into mere shadows of themselves… I groaned inwardly. Now I was starting to sound like Lane. Odds were, she was telling people she saw our mother… I shook my head. That wasn’t fair. No, Lane wasn’t that deseperate or deluded.

“You’re stuck.”

“No, you’re not,” I interjected. “You…you go on to a higher place, a place where all of the other dead are.” I bit the inside of my cheek. So I guess that was a lie to them; they were just computers, but if Charlie wanted to be human, well I guess there wasn’t any harm in telling him the same stories we told ourselves. Because, realistically, we were lying to ourselves, too. “It’s actually much better than this place.”

“Then why are you avoiding the box?” Friday asked. “If she’s in a better place, then why are you in so much pain?”

I bit the inside of my cheek. “It’s complicated…”

“Being human sounds like a whole bunch of complication,” Charlie muttered.

“Something like that,” I said with a chuckle before sighing again. They were right, though. I was avoiding the box.

I wandered back to the living room and sat back on the couch. Mom wanted me to have whatever was in this box for some reason, and if these were the last things I was going to have from her, well…it wouldn’t do for me to push it away like I’d pushed away my mother while she’d lived. She was gone now.

I grabbed my pocket knife off of my belt and slid it through the tape holding the box together, and with a deep breath, I opened the box.

“What the hell?” It passed my lips before I could stop it, but… This was junk. I felt sick.

Piece by piece I took everything out of the box — and really, there wasn’t that much. Lane — or Mom — had packed it real well with bubble wrap. There were odd trinkets that I vaguely remembered seeing around the house occasionally but never actually meant anything. For Gods’ sake, there was a sealed shut book at the bottom! What was this even supposed to be? My fingers found a velvet pouch, and I tilted my head and opened it and poured the contents out. A silver necklace spilled into my hands, and I picked it up to examine it. The chain was intricately made, and the pendant was a simple oval with some pretty engravings on the front and back. I flicked open the clasp with my thumb, and an absolutely beautiful stone sparkled up at me. Gold sparkles danced over blue, purple, and silver streaks. Everything swirled together in such a convoluted way that I couldn’t even tell what the base color of the stone was supposed to be — whatever it was. I tipped the locket forward so the stone fell into my palm, and something very much like electricity shot through my entire body. I felt my entire body seize, and I was suddenly cold and felt something press into me…

And then I could move again.

The rock fell from my hand to the floor, and I stumbled back a few steps. What the hell had that been?

“Aurora?” Friday asked. “You seem afraid.”

I ignored her and knelt down to peer at the stone. It looked perfectly harmless… I mean, sure, it seemed to glow, but that was just the light, wasn’t it?

My phone rang, and I jumped, my hands flying to my mouth to cover my gasp. I took a long breath and walked over to my phone. “Yeah?”

“Well hello, Miss Langley,” Jay’s smooth voice cooed. “I almost thought you were avoiding me.”

I chuckled softly and could already feel myself putting everything that had just happened into a little box for me to deal with later. Jay always helped me distract myself, which is why I continued seeing him on occasion. “Life has been a little crazy.”

“I heard… I’m —“

“Don’t you dare apologize.”

A pause, and then, “I thought you’d like to get out for drinks?” he offered. “Martin and his group are going out, and he asked me to invite you… I think he’s under the impression you’re avoiding him too.”

I pointedly ignored the voice in the back of my head reminding me just how badly this had always turned out for me in the past…

“I can be out of my house in five minutes.” This was going to be the easiest way to forget about it all, I told myself firmly. After this, you’ll be back to how it was. No more. To my credit, I hadn’t started again when I’d heard.

I could hear his crooked smile. “The usual place, then?”

“Sounds good to me.”

Xxx

Turns out, getting drunk was not the answer. I knew that the second I touched the first cup to my lips that this was a bad idea. I still shied away from anyone who got near me, shut down when anyone who I didn’t know tried to talk to me… I could still hear John’s laughs ringing through my ears, and the judgmental eyes of all of Mom’s friends stared at me through each person who paid me even a cursory glance.

And now? Well, now Jay, Martin, and Paul had wandered over to a group of girls at a table — yes, Jay, too — and I was left with sleazy guys leering at me from across the bar. Part of me wondered if they’d even notice if I just…left. They were pretty far gone.

“For some reason, I never thought I’d actually see you out here,” a familiar voice commented, and I glanced over my shoulder.

“I feel like you’re stalking me.”

Kal arched an eyebrow. “Don’t flatter yourself.” I shrugged and turned back to the drink in front of me, and Kal slid into the seat next to me. “You’re at a bar, but you don’t seem very intent on getting drunk.”

“She’s been working on that for the past half hour,” offered the bartender, and I just glared at him.

“Thanks, man.”

He chuckled. “Here for you.”

“Can I help you with something?” I winced at just how slurred Jay’s words were, and I turned to him with a smile.

“This fine gentleman was just keeping me company while you flirted with complete strangers,” I drawled. Jay’s eyes flickered, and he tried putting his arms around my shoulders. I slid out of my seat in the opposite direction. “In fact, he’s going to walk me home.”

“I can do that, sweetheart,” he mumbled, taking a step toward me, and Kal stepped between us.

“Listen to the lady,” he murmured, and he gestured back to Martin and Paul…who were also starting to look rather concerned with the situation.

Jay glared up at Kal, and I tried not to laugh; Kal had perhaps six inches over Jay. “She’s my girl, and I will be walking her home, if she wants to go.”

My eyes narrowed, and I stepped forward. “You can go fuck yourself, Jay. I’m not yours — or anybody’s — and I’m going home without you.” I looped my arm through Kal’s and tugged, and as we moved toward the doorway, Jay growled and threw a punch in Kal’s direction. He caught Jay’s wrist and pushed him away. Jay stumbled and fell on his ass, and as he rose, Martin and Paul rushed forward and grabbed his shoulders. Kal tried to step in front of me as a shield, but I yanked him back.

I looked at Martin. “I’m leaving,” I informed him firmly, and he just nodded. They held Jay back as I shoved Kal out the door, and the New York breeze ruffled my aggressively unkempt hair into my eyes.

“That one seems like a real keeper,” Kal drawled as we started down the sidewalk, and I jabbed my elbow into his side.

“Can we just not talk about that?” Because while we weren’t really a thing, not really, it did hurt that, as soon as Jay had any alcohol in him, he completely forgot about me…even though he invited me on the premise that it was so I could let loose. The bastard.

“We can talk about how we’re not supposed to be friends anymore instead,” he volunteered. “I mean, you did just basically volunteer me for basically a fight over your honor. That’s not something not-friends do for one another.”

I sighed. “I’m sorry.”

He grinned. “You must be drunk.”

“Accept the damn apology while you still can.” Blessedly, he kept his mouth shut. “What were you doing out tonight anyway?”

“I was just on my way to work, and I happened to see you in the window as I was passing by.” He shrugged. “I still absolutely believe in chivalry, so I figured I’d check in on you…” Concern flickered in his eyes again. “I really am worried about you, Rory. And I know that you don’t want to talk to me about it, but do you at least have someone to talk to?”

I bit the inside of my cheek. Friday and Charlie certainly didn’t count. But who the hell was I supposed to talk to? I respected Martin, but we certainly weren’t friends… I guess I could go out painting and meet up with Billy and them — they were always willing to listen, and honestly, that entire crew knew things about me that I hadn’t breathed a word of to anyone else…but they weren’t people I relied on regularly. It was nice to get things off of my chest, but it didn’t actually help me mentally or emotionally.

And while I didn’t want to admit it, I probably actually wasn’t okay.

“I guess I don’t.”

Kal didn’t say anything.

Xxx

“Have a good night, okay?” Kal asked as we stopped in front of the door to my apartment building.

I offered him a smile. “Thank you for walking me home.”

He nodded and returned my smile. “You should do that more often; it suits you.”

“What?”

“Smile, silly.” He gave my shoulder a gentle squeeze. “If you ever need anything, promise me that you’ll let me know?”

I swallowed a sigh. “I will.”

Kal shook his head and dropped his hand. “No you won’t.”

I shrugged. “You already knew that.” I gave him a wave before stepping into my apartment building.

When I got up to my door, though, it was cracked open. I sucked in a breath before nudging the door open with my foot, and I stared for a very long moment. The entire thing was trashed. Light fixtures were shattered, hanging from the ceiling by frayed wires, and some of my windows were fractured. My fridge was top sized, groceries painting the floor, and the cabinet doors were hanging by a single hinge. My couches were shredded, stuffing littered everywhere, and the tables…they had chunks out of them?

“Friday?” I called hesitantly, and then my heart stopped. “Missy?!” I rushed inside.

“Aurora, there’s something in the house.”

“Where’s my cat, Friday?”

“In your room,” I rushed to my bedroom, “but there’s something you should know first, Aurora.”

My room was surprisingly not trashed. Everything was still as I’d left it, minus my bed. The first thing I saw was Missy; she was curled up at the feet of my bed, purring rather loudly — more than I’d heard her before. She was also curled up around something rather colorful, and before I could heave my sigh of relief, the colorful thing moved. It sat up — it looked like some kind of lizard — and it peered at me with brilliantly silver eyes. Wires hung from its mouth, and —

‘Hello, Aurora.’

I screamed.

What was I even supposed to say? As I stood in front of the massive group of people assembled to mourn my mother’s passing, my mind was blank; all I wanted to do was curl into a corner. So many… She’d touched so many people’s lives, and I’d abandoned her. If I’d only been there…

I’d found the reports on the internet: woman found with slit throat in home. The doors had been all locked — the windows, too — and all I could think was what if I had done something? What if I’d known?… And who would want to kill my mother in the first place?! Anger roiled under the sorrow; she’d been in her bed.

I refocused on the crowd. “Gwenyfer Langley. My mother…” I took a long breath. “This wasn’t her time.” I felt it in my bones. I gestured to everyone in front of me. “I didn’t see it when I was a kid — I was one of those rebellious types — but she was wonderful. She did everything she could to accommodate Lane and I —“ Pride flared when my voice didn’t catch on my sister’s name “— and I never knew to say thank you…” I grimaced slightly. “I guess I just took it for granted… But she will always be in my heart and all of yours because that’s just the kind of woman she was. Even if it was just a step into and out of your life, she leaves a mark for the better on everything she ever touched. In that she will live on.” And then I stepped down because I couldn’t take it anymore, and instead of taking my seat, I continued down the aisle to the doors.

Something stopped me before I stepped out into the sunlight, before I just started running down the streets of what I’d left behind three years ago. This was my mother’s funeral. I couldn’t just leave… “God, Mom, why’d you have to go die?” I whispered, biting the inside of my cheek as I attempted to swallow my tears.

“I don’t think she meant to.” I felt bile coat the back of my throat, and suddenly the tears were gone. The cure? The rage burning in my veins now. All of my anger at the unfairness of it all now had an outlet.

John wore a grin on his lips, and I glared at him. “What’re you doing here? You don’t have the right.”

He tsked at me. “Is that really the way to talk to your father?”

“As far as I’m concerned, you don’t exist.”

He heaved a dramatic sigh. “Now Rory —“

“Get the fuck out.”

He crossed his arms, then. “Hey now. Your mother and I had a relationship, Rory. I have just as much a right to be here as you.”

“No, you had an accident: me. After which, you promptly disappeared and only reappeared at times that were convenient for you!” I sucked in a breath. “No child support for her, no visits for me; God, you didn’t even try to be in my life in any kind of substance, and you were just a weight dragging her down! All you had to do was give a damn every once in a while, but you could never find one to spare. So you do not have a right to be here, John. Get. Out.”

A smirk flitted across his face. “Oh? Because you’re one who can talk, Miss I’m-going-to-disappear-because-I’m-a-child-having-a-temper-tantrum, is that right? Your mother and I had a good thing going, and you know what her biggest regret was? You. She always blamed herself —“

My hand was moving before I’d even registered what was happening. “You bastard!” I’d meant to scream it, but my voice was hoarse and I couldn’t seem to breathe right… It was then that I noticed we’d attracted a crowd. Lane stepped forward, her violet eyes concerned, and she put a hand on my shoulder. “Is everything okay?” she murmured in my ear, and I jerked away from her.

“Don’t touch me.”

Great. Those were the first words I had to tell to my sister.

She turned to John. “Is there a problem here?” she asked and crossed her arms, and John just grinned.

“Not a bit.”

“Then I must ask you to leave the premise. You’re disturbing my sister.”

He arched an eyebrow. “I was just having a peaceful conversation. You should be asking her to go.”

I heard Lane suck in a breath to reply, but I spoke first. “Fine. I’ll go.” I glanced at Lane. “Thanks for telling me.”

She nodded. “Of course.”

Xxx

Melanie’s Readings. My sister’s “psychic” shop. Mom had let her set up in the back of our little book/coffee shop, and I saw it happen. Business declined faster than I’d thought possible; most people don’t want to be caught stepping into one of “those” places. I suppose I was one of them, though not for the same reasons as everyone else… I didn’t give a damn what people thought of me; I just knew it was all garbage. I think that’s what had made me the most angry; my sister had killed my mother’s precious business — the one thing she still held onto from before she had us — on a scam.

As I looked at the defiantly glowing neon sign, I wondered if Mom had associated my judgement of Lane with judgement of her. She’d always supported Lane so thoroughly in this effort… Did she think I thought she was a bad mom? My stomach turned, and tears pricked the back of my eyes. If I could just go back…

I shook my head. That was impossible, and goddamnit, I wasn’t going to beat myself up over it. I stepped into the shop, disregarding the “Sorry, we’re closed!” sign, and I wrinkled my nose at the heavy smell of incense floating in the air. I saw the bright flash of Lane’s red hair behind the bookshelves, and I started weaving around to go towards her. Might as well get over it now.

“Hey,” I said, and I frowned. She was stocking shelves the day after our mother’s death… I knew it was just to keep busy, but didn’t she have friends? You two are a lot a like, you know, a voice in the back of my head, and I grimaced slightly; that wasn’t good in Lane’s case. I met her eyes, and I realized she was crying.

She wiped away tears and tried to give me a bright smile, a mask sliding into place. “Hey,” she replied. “How’re you doing?”

“I think the question is how are you doing.”

She laughed, but I could hear the force behind it. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be just fine.”

“What’s happening to the shop?”

Her mask faltered. “I don’t know,” she admitted. Lane didn’t have to tell me about the massive amount of debt Mom had left behind. I already knew the collectors were swimming around like sharks, and if Lane wasn’t careful, they’d take her down, too. Her eyes narrowed. “Don’t you dare try to “help” me in this either, Rory. I’ll be just fine by myself, thank you.”

I smiled slightly. “Oh, I know better than that,” I said. I’d considered “donating” to my sister like I sometimes “donated” to various start up artists I found in Soho while I wandered after a job, but I knew Mom wouldn’t want it that way… And Lane’s pride would be far too damaged if I even came to her with the proposition. It was like saying she wasn’t good enough to take care of Mom’s legacy, which absolutely wasn’t true. She may be a con, but she’d been closer to Mom than I’d been… She had more of a right to any of this than I did, and I wasn’t about to take that from her.

“Sorry about John, by the way.”

I shrugged. “It’s fine. It’s not like it was your fault he was a shitty father.”

She shrugged, too. “Once you left, he didn’t have this massive force keeping him from Mom… And she was lonely, you know. So he started coming around more… I tried to tell her that he was just using her as usual, but…”

Her eyes watered, and I stepped forward and squeezed her shoulder. Lane had always erred on the side of politeness. “It’s fine,” I said. “He’s always been an asshole, and she deserved so much better. We knew that, and she knew that. He knew that too, I think… He’s just desperate.” And sure, maybe he did care for Mom in that twisted way of his…but that didn’t change the fact he didn’t have a spine worth a damn, and he didn’t have a right to any piece of her life.

She took a shaky breath. “I know…” She sighed. “When’s your flight?”

“Three hours from now.”

She laughed; this one sounded more genuine, though it was short. “Didn’t want to stick around, then?” I shrugged. “I know you didn’t want any of it, but she left this specifically to you.” When Lane turned back around, she offered a box to me. It was a pretty decently sized box, but it didn’t look very heavy.

Out of everything, I got a box. Guilt kicked me in the chest, and I couldn’t stop the tear that leaked from the corner of my eye. God, I must have been a terrible daughter.

“Can you mail it to me?…” I asked and took a step back without thinking about it. “I don’t think the plane is going to let me take that with me…and even if it did, I wouldn’t want to chance it getting lost or something.”

Lane’s eyes flickered with some emotion I couldn’t quite place. “Sure… Rory —“ but I was already out the door.

I ran a hand through my hair, doing everything in my power to not notice just how bad it was trembling. “You realize you still have four hours until your flight leaves,” Friday commented, and I shot a glare in the general direction of one of the many cameras I had positioned throughout the house.

“Yes, believe me, I’m aware of the ticking time bomb.” I ran though my list of stuff again. I had underwear, bras, pants, shirts, a jacket, pajamas, my laptop, my phone charger, my Fitbit charger… Missy rubbed against me and mewed, and I sighed again. Was her kitty litter box clean? Did she have enough food? Enough clean water?

“Then relax, Aurora. This isn’t doing good things for your blood pressure.”

“Don’t worry; it’s normal,” I muttered. The last time I’d seen Lane was almost four years ago now… The fight we ended things on was perhaps the worst one we’d ever had, and while I’d forgiven her — or at least I told myself I had — I still had this pit in my stomach whenever I thought about seeing her again. What if we still couldn’t stand each other? What if things were drastically different? What if she tried to pull some bullshit, “I can see Mom, and she wants to tell you…” I couldn’t deal with that.

I jumped when someone knocked on my door, the cracks snapping through my apartment, and my eyes immediately flew to the file on my side table. “Not now, Martin,” I called and sat down on my couch with my head in my hands. Gods, Mom was dead. She was gone. The mediator between my sister and I. The woman who had done everything possible to raise us the best she could, despite her own struggles and tragedies… I’d never told her —

The rumbling laugh outside the door wasn’t Martin. “It’s only been a few days and you’ve already forgotten me?” I winced and glared at the cameras again.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“It’s been your routine for over a month now, Aurora,” Friday was quick to remind me. “I did not realize the magnitude of the stress you’re under.”

I sighed and went to the door to find Kal’s smiling figure waiting with a cup of tea. The open door brought the scent of cinnamon and coffee wafting toward me, and my stomach rumbled; I’d forgotten to eat… “I’m sorry,” I told him, but I found myself staring at his shoes instead of looking him in the face. Goddamnit, I couldn’t be this weak, could I? I swallowed and looked up at him. “I can’t go today; something…came up.”

He tried for a smile. “Well, it’s not like you’re actually enrolled, so it doesn’t matter.” He offered a steaming cup of tea. “You look like you need it.” I couldn’t stop myself from accepting the cup even as I saw the concern flicker in his hazel eyes; I really did need it. As the warmth spread from my hands through the rest of my body, I realized just how cold I was. Gods, Mom’s dead. It wasn’t fair! She was a good woman, she… I stopped. I didn’t even know how she’d died. What was wrong with me? That should’ve been the first thing I’d looked into! I turned into my apartment without even thinking, and Kal reached forward and grabbed my elbow. “Is everything alright, Rory?…” He tugged me again so I’d look at him. “You look like you haven’t gotten any sleep, and I’d reckon you haven’t eaten breakfast yet either.”

I took a long breath. “I’m fine.”

His lips twitched. “You didn’t answer the question.”

“I—“

“Don’t you lie to me.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “Since when is it any of your business, anyway?”

He shrugged. “I suppose it’s not, but regardless. Breakfast? It’ll help get you out of your head, whatever it is that’s rattling around up there.”

“You still have three hours and forty-five minutes,” Friday volunteered, and I groaned as Kal looked at me.

“Where are you running off to?”

“I’m willing to get bagels down the street. That’s it.”

Kal smiled. “That’s a win, so I’ll accept it.”

I gave Missy a small wave. “I’ll be back soon,” I assured the cat, and she just mewed in response as I shut the door.

“Don’t think I didn’t notice your avoidance of my question.”

I shrugged. “Regardless, you’re not getting an answer.”

“Is that a challenge?”

I arched an eyebrow. “One you’ll lose should you turn it into one.”

He sighed, but his eyes still smiled. “Miss Langley, always the enigma.” He shook his head. “It almost makes me think that you like it that way.” It was certainly easier. Kal elbowed me. “Well, at least crack a smile for me then, won’t you?” he implored. “It’s unnatural for me to see you so down.”

I swallowed my retort. He was just trying to help. “I’ll see what I can do,” I assured him.

Kal and I had met when I started attending the advanced computer engineering course at NYU, though “met” was a loose term. I’d started sitting in the back sporadically, and he’d happened to notice.

“You’re not actually enrolled.” It wasn’t a question.

I didn’t bother looking up from my notes. “What does it matter? It’s not like class size has an effect on how much that pretentious asshole gets paid.”

He chuckled, and a handful of papers entered my field of vision. I glanced at the papers — they looked like notes? — and I looked up at the person offering them. “Since you’re here to learn, not to earn a degree, have these. I think you’ll find them useful.”

I actually had found them useful — some of the principles had gone into the creation of my newest computer — but I’d never tell him that…

And then, the day after Martin and I’s bigger heist at Apple — God, that’s when Paul had started hanging more around Martin and bugging me, too — and I’d returned to attending classes

“I know what you do.” This stranger was at my desk again…

“Oh?” I asked and leaned back in my chair.

“9014892,” he said, arms crossed, and while I maintained my face expressionless, I felt my stomach drop. “61,298.30.” The account number. The money we stole. Goddamn Lennard, I swear to God I was going to kill him.

I gathered my books and rose. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said, meeting his eyes defiantly, “but don’t come near me again. Got it?”

He smiled slightly. “I was just going to say good job.”

That made me stop. “What?”

Kal nodded. “Approximately, 63% of that went to charity, didn’t it?”

I remembered the fight I’d gotten into with Martin about that. I’d wanted to fork over the entire sum, but the greedy asshole wanted some of it for himself. That was perhaps the one thing I couldn’t stand about him. “How do you know that?”

“Well, you’ll just have to find out, won’t you?” He was the one to walk away first that day.

When I’d scoured the internet for him that night, I hadn’t found anything. He was as much a ghost as Martin or me.

I’d decided to take an interest in him, then.

"I'm home," I called into the darkness, and the lights flickered on as little Missy came trotting towards me, purring like the orange purr machine she was. 

"Welcome back, Aurora," Friday, my newest A.I. greeted. Music started floating through the apartment -- my Ed Sheeran Pandora radio -- and I set Martin's file and my bag of chalk on the side table by the couch as I leaned down to scratch Missy behind the ears. 

"Miss me?" I murmured, and Missy rubbed against my leg in reply. "Hungry too, I bet," I said with a chuckle.

"I'm confused," Friday said. "I cannot eat, nor can I feel emotion. How can I miss you, much less --" She paused. "Oh. You were speaking with the cat." 

I walked up the steps to the kitchen so I could fish out some wet cat food. "Right again, Friday."

"I cannot comprehend why you keep the rodent around, Aurora... It chews at my wiring while you are gone."

I turned to Missy with my hands on my hips. "Is that so? Missy, you know that's wrong." She just mewed up at me in reply. 

"If you just gave me a shocking system..."

"Friday, we've talked about this." 

"I keep hoping you will eventually see the logic." 

I shook my head and put out some food for Missy. "How's little Charlie doing?" I asked and turned to walk down the hallway leading to my room. The lights flickered on as I entered, the windows instantly tinting themselves black. I peeled off my clothes and replaced them with pajamas, and I stretched. Normally, I'd read, but...

"He's coming along quite quickly in my opinion," Friday replied, and I smiled slightly. She sounded almost prideful. "I think you'll find him to your liking."

"I mean, I did make him." I exited my room and entered my "office." Really, it was more a playroom for my mind to do whatever it wanted. "I'm kind of obligated." 

"How so?"

I shook my head. "It's a mother thing. You wouldn't get it."

"But I'd like to."

I ran my finger along the glass table, and it flared to life. The miniature projectors created screens I could work with, all showing various statistics about the city and about the world... As well as my own projects. As Friday had said, Charlie indeed was coming along nicely. I'd given Friday the base code for his structure this morning, and already, Charlie was 48% done. 

"Remind me sometime later, and I'll try to explain it, alright?" I frowned. "Who sent me a message?"

"Your sister." 

I froze. "What? How'd she find me?" How'd she even get through my network?...

"I do not know, but you should probably look at it." The red exclamation mark on top of the envelop blinked a little faster now. "I believe you will find the enclosed matters...pressing." 

I closed my eyes and forced myself not to think about how I'd left things before coming here... But I couldn't stop my fingers from shaking as I flicked open the notification. 

Mom's dead. 

Attached were the details for the funeral.

I just stared.

"Aurora?"

"Cancel everything." 

Every once in a while, I caught myself wondering just what I was doing in the world. Sure, I forced some real assholes to give up some of their precious money and I always got a deep sense of satisfaction from doing that...but at the same time, they were just going to do it all over again. I knew that, they knew that. They'd probably think about it once or twice -- they might even be afraid as they do it that I'll find out -- but that's not going to stop them. It never will. 

Or, even if it did, there would be more... That was the thing about New York. People were constantly coming and going. Not that I minded. It gave me work... And it's why I came here in the first place. Transitory is just what I need in my life.

Which is why I so frequently came to this park with a bag of chalk. I took a deep breath of the spring air and couldn't help but smile. Everyone always complained about how loud and dirty the city was, but there were always pockets of escape. Anyone who visited this place during the height of day would only see the crowds -- they'd hear the music and see the shows, too -- but they wouldn't see the people sitting on benches with their arms draped across the back, leaning together and whispering and pointing and talking with their hands. They wouldn't see the birds flashing across the sky or the way the fountain caught the sunset's rays. They wouldn't hear the subdued silence, the sound of people simply living their lives as the subway whistled underground.

I plopped my bag of chalk on the ground and propped my hands on my hips. What would it be today?... I glanced at the horizon again and focused on the arch leading into the park: "Let us create a standard to which the wise and the honest can repair..." I guess that's what I was trying to do in the long run, right? Fix the system, get us back to where we once were? Realistically, it was probably hopeless: it was in humanity's nature, wasn't it? 

I guess I'd give everyone a fresh look at everything that once was.

*

"Are you ever actually going to sell something?" 

"You say that like I'm good at what I do," I replied and leaned back so I was sitting on the top of my feet, and I rubbed my neon colored hands on my jeans.

He gestured to the pastoral scene I'd created in the falling light. Even with the pale and flickering light the lanterns cast on it, I could still see the vivid strokes detailing the forest clearing I'd held so firmly in my mind's eye. I'd been about to start on the waterfall when Martin had so disturbed me. "Your art speaks for itself, Rory." 

"I doubt you came here to tell me just how good my art is." I didn't bother asking how he'd found me; Martin was as good with computers as I was -- even if he wouldn't admit it. I may be a ghost on the web, but I certainly did exist in the physical realm just like any other person.

His thin lips spread into a smile. "You're quite right." He opened up his messenger bag and offered me a rather thick file. I wiped my hands on my jeans a little more thoroughly before accepting the stack of papers. "I need your help on this one. It's too big for me."

My chalk covered fingers smeared blue and pink over the title pasted on the otherwise plain cover: Project Luminescence. "You do realize that I just got done with a job, right? Come on, man; you know my policy." 

"Your policy is garbage. The world isn't going to stop and wait for you to get a taste to do the right thing again. It's full of darkness, and it's only getting darker every day." 

I sighed. All I'd wanted to do was draw... "You're not intending on executing any time soon, are you?"

He shook his head. "There's so much more left to do... We tried to figure it out, but every time we thought we had it figured out, something else came up." He crossed his arms. "That's why I came to you."

"Well, I suppose it's not violating my rule, then..." I set the file down. "I'll look over it a bit later, and then we'll talk tomorrow?"

Martin nodded. "You're a life saver, Miss Langley." 

I chuckled as he walked away, but the laugh fell from my lips as I looked at the file in front of me. Whatever free time I'd imagined myself having for the next few weeks had taken off running, and it left a pit in the bottom of my stomach. 

I shifted the bag hanging off of my shoulder and opened the glass doors to New York City's Verizon Wireless headquarters. Like every other building I typically found myself in these days, it had the high, well lit ceilings of fortune; entry rooms that felt so spacious...but so crowded as people moved in and out like a fish colony in migration season.

Only, I knew who each and every one of these people were, and their identities could be mine in just a simple click. That's why I'd arrived.

With my chin up and my eyes focused, I approached the security guard at the far desk; all of these offices had one of those. The ones who pretended they watched everyone, made them feel scared they'd make the wrong move but also feel safe because they felt confident everyone else was under the same scrutiny. Which, I had also proved to be absolutely incorrect.

"Good morning," the guard greeted warmly, and I felt bile coat the inside of my throat. I could feel his eyes on my chest. I'd worn this specifically to produce this reaction, but that didn't make it feel any better. "Is there anything I can help you with?"

I painted my best smile onto my lips. "Actually, there is. You see, I've got an appointment with your boss."

He blinked. "Your name, miss?" I would have laughed; the way his formality changed was palpable. 

"Aurora Langley." Most people didn't have the balls to plaster their name so clearly for all to see when robbing people in power...but what I had to offer proved far too embarrassing for them to go to anyone with.

His eyes scanned the list -- the schedule I'd edited before the office had opened yesterday -- and he nodded. "Of course, Miss Langley. Come this way." He gestured past the desk to the elevator, and he gave me another smile as he pressed the button for the elevator.

"Have a good day, Miss."

I just gave him a nod and let out a sigh of relief as the doors shut.

*

"I thought I said I wasn't to be disturbed," John Stratton growled from his desk, but I continued on my way in. 

"Sir, you're going to want to hear what I have to say," I said and plopped my bag on his desk -- on top of what he was working on. His chair clattered to the ground as he rose, and he looked about ready to throw a punch or three.

"Who the hell are you, and how did you get in here?"

I smiled slightly. "You're asking all the wrong questions, Mr. Stratton. You should be asking how I know your social security number. Or how I know you were born in San Fransisco even though your birth certificate says Austin."

He paled. "How --"

"I know much more about you...and about your customers, Mr. Stratton." I opened my bag and pulled out my laptop. "Your security systems are extremely lacking."

"Excuse me?"

I chuckled. "Really, you ought to fire Mr. Myles. Not only is he a terrible technician, but he's also stealing approximately ten thousand dollars from you...monthly." I sat down in one of his cushy looking chairs and was pleasantly surprised to find it actually was comfortable. Maybe I'd go easy on this guy. I opened my laptop and turned it around so he could see the massive amounts of streaming data.

"What's that?"

"Your entire network of customers, Mr. Stratton."

He crossed his arms. "It sounds an awful lot like you're making an attempt at blackmail, Miss. I've heard of you, and --"

"Then you know precisely what I'm capable of," I replied brightly. "Call the police, and I'll have all of this streaming on the internet before you even finish the phone call." He started to reach for the phone. "If that's not enough for you, Mr. Stratton, I can forward your wife the details of your affairs...all three of them."

He froze. "What do you want?"

I really only needed ten or so to continue to get by as I'd been... But, goddamn Lennard Myles. "Twenty thousand dollars."

"In return for what?"

I shrugged. "My services. I'll make your servers absolutely untouchable by anyone, and as soon as I have the money, I will destroy all of the records I have on my laptop."

"How do I know you don't have another copy somewhere? Or you won't use your own codes to break in again?"

I smiled slightly. "You'll just have to talk to your co-workers, I suppose."

People always wonder what it would be like to know the future — to see it, to have the power to change it, to stop something bad from happening. And yet…no one ever stops to consider just how inconvenient it could be.

First, what if you see something bad happen — because let’s face it, that’s what all of our movies insist will happen — but instead of being able to stop it, it happens anyway? You’re stuck living with that for the rest of your life, stuck living with the guilt of, “I had the power to stop it…so why didn’t I?”

Second, how the hell are you actually supposed to be able to get yourself to that event? I doubt that futuristic visions come with a timestamp and coordinates. It could be fifty years in the future for all you know, and here you are, beating yourself up over the apocalypse.

I guess my view of this whole debate is biased, considering my current situation. If I could actually see the future, I imagine I’d be a little less critical of it all… Maybe I’d be more optimistic if I could even just hear the future, but no. The powers that be saw fit to give me a book with an attitude instead.

I stepped onto the train and tucked my hair behind my ear as the doors slid shut behind me. My lungs squeezed for a terrifying second before letting my heart continue pumping blood through my veins; I still wasn’t used to being around so many people at once. I took a long breath and grabbed one of the supports as the train lurched forward, and once I had my balance, I fished Chronus out of my purse. My shoulders relaxed as my fingers brushed over the soft leather and the book’s presence washed over my mind. I undid the silver clasps holding it together, and I stared at the blank yellowing pages and scanned them as if I were reading.

When Chronus offered nothing unprompted, I groaned internally. “What does he look like?” I whispered, and my cheeks warmed in anticipation… Only no one stopped to stare or point or demand to know whom I was walking to.

Chronus answered with black, blue, and pink smears that most certainly didn’t look like a person. My fingers twitched, and I could see it: me throwing this damned book across the entire car, and —

The pages cleared, and words scrawled across the page in slanted, sharp print: That isn’t very nice.

I waited a long moment before I bothered replying. “Chronus, you didn’t answer the question I asked, and this is rather time sensitive, isn’t it?”

You asked what they looked like, ignorant Tempi. I don’t think you understand; I don’t see the world as you do… I sighed. Here it goes again. If I remember right, we’ve had this problem before… It is irrational to ask the same thing of me and expect different results.

“Maybe I wouldn’t be so ignorant if you could show me where the rest of those “Tempi”’s are.” ‘Or if you’d actually teach me something,’ I tacked on silently.

In hiding. In danger.

Which is, of course, what he said every single time.

“Can you at least describe this guy?…”

I think you call them hats?… There’s something overtop the head, and I can’t see eyes, else I’d be able to really see, see intent, see the soul…

“Chronus, I need you to calm down and think.”

I don’t think you comprehend the implications of what is about to happen.

“It’d help if you’d enlighten me.”

They’re carrying a bomb. Nervous. The damned fool knows what this will do to the rest of the world. To us.

“Is he in this car?”

Yes.

Well at least that’s progress.

I shut Chronus and closed my eyes. I had to get this right this time. Broken bodies flashed in my mind’s eye accompanied by the screams of the grieving ringing in my ears, and I forced my eyes back open and tried to channel whatever gift Chronus insisted I had. Across from me, a mother tried to juggle her three kids. Her daughter was strapped to her chest; the girl’s tummy ached, and darkness clouded her dreams. The two boys sat on either side of her, and though they sat quiet, I could hear their plotting. The mother, she just wanted to sleep, she was so close… Her daughter started screaming, and I winced as the mother did. Definitely wasn’t her I should be worried about.

Next to the doors diagonal from me, a little girl on her way from school sat with a book clutched to her chest. She couldn’t wait to get home and play with her dog and her toys; her teacher never let her play during class. There was always so much boring reading to do. She didn’t even understand why she bothered or why her parents even made her go. Someday, maybe she wouldn’t… I sighed and shook my head, and I glanced at the guy in the corner to the left of her. He was an older guy, and he stood with his bike and earbuds in, bobbing his head to a song the rest of the car couldn’t hear. Vaguely, the melody floated through my mind, and I tilted my head. “Cold as Ice”? I chuckled and turned to my right.

In the corner of the car, a man — or I assumed it was a man; the clothes were rather baggy, and his head was down — he sat with a black baseball cap. He held his hands in his lap and was rubbing them together, and like an erratic metronome, he looked up from his hands and then back down. His sweater was a dark navy blue with paint flecks on it, almost a pinkish color, and a backpack rested at his feet. His heart beat fast, and he needed to do something.

Gotcha.

And thirdly…what if it is your actions that cause the event to occur? Because, really, you can never know, can you? You don’t go to stop it, and it happens; what if you had gone? Could you have stopped it? Or, if you do go to stop it and fuck it up, what if you hadn’t gone; would it have still happened?

I sat down next to him, and his shoulders went rigid. “There’s three empty seats across from me,” he said, and I frowned. He sounded so normal.

“I don’t want to sit there.” He looked up at me and tried to drill holes into my skull.

“I don’t want whatever you’re selling.”

“And I want that bomb in your bag.” I was so triumphant, so sure I was going to save the day. I finally caught the bad guy.

His eyes widened. “Excuse me?”

I reached for the bag at his feet. “I can’t let you kill all of these people, buddy.”

He snatched his bag up and stood, putting his back against the car wall. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, but please get away from me.”

I sighed. This guy probably had a family at home, and the thought I could ruin their lives as mine had been ruined, it made my stomach roll… even if he was a stranger who was moments away from killing thousands. “Just hand me the bag, and we can move on from this.”

“I don’t have a bomb!” he shouted at me, and I groaned. Well, there goes that.

“Bomb?” shrieked the woman across from us, and the entire car roared to life. I stepped forward and yanked the bag from his grasp, but I could feel it: this wasn’t a bomb. I pulled apart the zipper, and a shitty laptop and crumpled papers glared at me.

The hairs on the back of my neck stood up, and I whirled. The bastard was in here somewhere. I still had time, I could still fix this, but I couldn’t think. The air, the balance… This presence. The entire world spun around me faster than I could keep up. I stuck my hand in my purse, but when my fingers found Chronus, more anxiety rolled over me. I leaned against the wall, and my eyes flicked to the doors. That little girl sitting next to them… She still sat even as the adults around her tried to crowd me, and as they yelled and screamed, she wore the biggest smile on her face. She wore a pink jacket with a matching knit hat, and the book she held, the silver clasps reflected the car’s flickering lights. Her blue eyes locked on mine from behind a pair of glasses, and my stomach churned. I had just ruined more lives than I could ever repent for.

She opened her book, blank yellow pages spilling out, and she started to speak. Or, that’s what I assumed she was doing; her mouth was moving…but whatever she said, my brain couldn’t comprehend. Everything around me fell into deafening silence…but for once voice echoing in my head. “Thank you for finding us, little Tempi. You’ve made this possible.”

Well, fuck.

And then, the entire world changed.

“Hey you,” Mark said from the driver’s seat, and he shook my shoulder. I opened my eyes and saw the blurred welcome sign to Burnt Hills. Who the hell even names a town something like that, anyway? I sat up with a groan, and I kept the leather jacket I’d used as a makeshift blanket covering my chest.

“What’s in here, again? Just…remind me why we came to the middle of nowhere.”

Mark chuckled. “There’s an artifact here, one that’s attracting some unwanted attention, and —“

“No, skip to the part regarding why I care.”

“I mean, if we don’t neutralize it soon, the entire town could be massacred.”

“You realize I don’t know any of these people?”

I didn’t have to look at Mark to know the look he was giving me. “Viv —“

I sat up and nearly hit my head on the Impala’s top, and I pointed and looked at Mark expectantly. The name of the bakery/breakfast place was Beverly’s Bakery, and on the front of their display case?

Cinnamon rolls.

“Please?”

He rolled his eyes. “You’re a child.”

“You already knew that.”

Mark gave a loud sigh, but I could see the smile tugging at his lips. He started to turn the car into the parking lot, and I squealed with glee.