Alexis can barely eat her dinner out of worry. Cheri is stuck in her room with a horrible headache. Ashton isn't home. He hasn't even texted. Yen isn't doing good. Something feels wrong. And she's having a hard time shifting without her head aching slightly. She picks at her food, wanting an answer to all the questions in her head.

'Alexis?' Cheri's voice comes from the bottom of the stairs. She sounds hoarse and ill. Alexis raises her head to see her. She has her pyjamas on, and she's holding an empty plate, 'I'm feeling a bit better now.'

'Good, want to come sit with me?' She plasters a smile across her face for the girl. Cheri nods and walks to the kitchen to put her plate in the dishwasher. When she comes to sit down, Alexis notices her right hand looks slightly blackened and is shaking. That is the one she mind-reads with.

'What's up with your hand?' Alexis queries. Cheri shrugs, 'I think you should stop reading minds for a while.'

'Yeah, it's probably best.'

*

The darkness engulfs Central London like a blanket, comforting the industrialized city like a mother does her child. The faint tinge of purple disappears before eleven pm, waving away like a good friend. The light pollution illuminates the city like a lightbulb. Most are either asleep or out doing God knows what. In the AMI, the recently fixed ornamental pot is thrown again at the wall by Strangelove. Every magic person is gone. She checks the CCTV footage.

'Piercebridge! Kathlyhan! I had a feeling!' She yells to herself. She picks up her work phone, angrily typing an abrupt text to her two top employees. How could she be stupid as to not know they had something to do with it?

*

The message on Kristoffer's phone appears on the screen. His phone is in the pocket of his jeans he accidentally fell asleep in. He and Ashton had talked to each other; it seemed like everything would be fine. He had told Ashton about Strangelove's supposed secret strike. He had said everything would be fine. The two had parted ways at a dimly lit train station, going opposite ways to return to their homes.

He stirs from his light sleep, groaning and clutching his head. He finally realises what's happening. Kristoffer pulls his phone from his pocket.

Strangelove

Piercebridge, we need to talk tomorrow. I saw the CCTV footage. There's no escaping from this one.

His head feels ice cold with anxiety. Despite his incredible need for sleep, he is bolt upright in bed, staring at the message. He keeps rereading it to see if he misread it or is just going insane.

He is insane. He is insane. He is insane. He is insane. He is insane. He is insane. He is insane. He is insane. He is insane. He is insane. He is insane. He is insane. He is insane. He is insane. He is insane. He is insane. He is insane. He is insane. He is insane. He is insane. He is insane. He is insane. He is insane. He is insane. He is insane. He is insane. He is insane. He is insane. He is insane. He is insane. He is insane. He is insane. He is insane. He is insane. He is insane. He is insane. He is insane. He is insane. He is insane. He is insane. He is insane. He is insane.

He is insane.

No.

It's unmistakable.

Everything enjoyable that day had taken a nose dive from a thirty-story building. Well, it seems like he's out of a job.

*

It's eleven pm when Ashton clicks the lock on the door open, a heavy feeling in his heart. He places his headphones around his neck. The rocky music is still playing faintly; he can hear it. He can't hear anyone in the house. It is a rather ridiculous hour for either Alexis or Cheri to be awake. He wonders to himself why he even left in the first place. He shouldn't have been so sour.

What should he really do? It'd be odd if he just walked to his room, Alexis was paranoid of people breaking in after the AMI attack. He couldn't wake anyone up, that'd be rude. He couldn't leave again, he'd gone to Brighton and back. That's when he hears a soft voice from the living room. Softer than usual.

'Ashton?' Alexis's voice is barely loud enough for him to hear. The usual rude nature of her voice had reduced to gravelly sorrow. It sounds like one of those days where she's so weakened by her headaches that the only thing she can do is ask for something to drink.

'Yeah, it's me,' Ashton shuts the door, locking it behind him. He looks in the living room to see Alexis curled up on the sofa, smaller than her usual shape. Her knees are tucked up so her chin can rest on them. Her usual bold personality has been folded up into an envelope and shipped away. She smiles at him, but her eyes well with tears again, 'I'm so sorry for leaving. I don't know why I did it.'

'No, it's fine. I'm such a dick,' Alexis sniffs, wiping her eyes. Ashton sits next to her, wrapping an arm around her back. He comforts her, rubbing circles on her back, 'I shouldn't have said that. While you were gone, Cheri's powers started failing. She read my mind and her head started hurting. Something's gone wrong with her hand.'

'She'll be fine. Want me to go check on her? I can make tea for us. I can explain a few things to you,' Ashton asks. Alexis nods, wrapping her arms around him.

'Thank you. You're amazing.'

*

Ashton opens Cheri's door. He notices her asleep until he sees one of her pale green eyes open.

'Cheri, I know you're faking,' Ashton laughs. He flicks the lights on and sits on the edge of her bed.

'I missed you,' Cheri sits up, her large eyes looking intently at him.

'You're so lovely, Cheri,' Ashton grins at her, 'What's going on with your hand? Do you want to show me?'

Cheri takes her hand out from under the blanket. Ashton looks at her worsening hand. It is disproportionately skinny compared to her other hand, almost like the bones. It looks like it is decomposing on her body, the flesh slightly green.

'It feels numb,' Cheri admits, 'I don't know what's happening, but it happened after. I feel like the magic is breaking. Something is weak. It's happening to Alexis too, she's having a hard time shifting.'

A cold shiver runs down Ashton's spine, spreading to his wings. Cheri yawns, stretching her arms above her head.

'You're tired, Cheri. Go to sleep. We can talk tomorrow,' Ashton stands up, letting her wriggle herself under her duvet. He messes her hair up, 'Sleep well.'

*

'Really?' Alexis nearly chokes on her final gulp of tea. Ashton nods. He has just told her about Strangelove's supposed scheme.

'I don't doubt that it'll be plastered all over the newspapers,' Ashton adds, fiddling with the sleeve of his jumper. His eyes flicker over to a newspaper on the floor. It lies on the front page. The headline reads "Every Magic Escaped From AMI!". It makes him wince and double-take. Squinting at the paper, he notices his and Alexis's names on the page.

Every Magic Escaped From AMI!

After the recent escape of Ashton Armas-Rockwell and Miel Maeve Alexis Florakis, every magical person contained in the AMI has escaped. This is incredibly dangerous for our world as magic begins to seep into our safehaven society regularly. "This is utterly detrimental to our safety." Spokesperson Alistair De Von told us. "With more dangerous power in the world, we may have to shut down society as we know it. Samantha Strangelove needs to step up her game as a CEO.". There are no currently known leads at the time of printing, but it is suspected Mr. Armas-Rockwell and Ms. Florakis have broken in. Their whereabouts are currently trying to be discovered.

Ashton feels a cold, anxious shiver run down his back like iced water as his eyes scan the last sentence.

'Hm, I hate that newspaper,' Alexis grunts. She picks delicately at her nails, kissing her teeth as Ashton picks it up, making sure he didn't misread it, 'I'm writing some stuff out from the SPMP meeting. Should I add that to the news?'

'Alexis, why would we not?'

*

Kristoffer stares up at the vacant white building illuminated by yellow lighting. His mind flashes past every memory he'd made there, most too gory and horrifying for me to write down in this book. His head stings with apprehension, paining him combined with a rather awful one of his newfound headaches. He clings at his hair, emerald green eyes fluttering. Eudora walks up next to him, her breath anxiety-ridden.

'We're going to lose our jobs,' The usually fully planned out Eudora is now freaking out, a rare sight. Kristoffer had luckily formulated a plan the previous night. He places a comforting hand on Eudora's shoulder.

'We'll be fine,' He comforts, giving her a reassuring smile, 'Just let me say everything.'

Eudora nods, returning his fond smile. The duo enters the now deserted building. The only sound is their nervous footsteps toward the elevator. Brain clouded with freezing terror that smokes over his vision, he watches as Eudora presses the button that takes them to the third floor. The two go up in awkward silence, the atmosphere thick with tension. Kristoffer notices Eudora rubbing her eyes. Tears are forming in her brown eyes, clouding her vision equal to Kristoffer's. She fiddles with her black gloves to cope.

Kristoffer's scarred fist knocks thrice on Strangelove's door. It opens within half a second. Strangelove is still fuming with rage, although a minuscule triumphant grin pulls at the corners of her mouth. No words are exchanged. She beckons them in. The two take the same chairs as last time, shifting anxiously.

'Well, I've seen the CCTV footage. What's going on?' Strangelove demands. Her hands are on her desk, her body standing upright.

'Ms. Strangelove, Eudora wasn't on her shift then,' Kristoffer swiftly defends, 'And didn't we capture that shapeshifter, Felix Bradbury? It could be them. I can only assume that the security may still be down, and maybe one of us left our card on the desk. The staff room doesn't have a lock. Eudora could have an impersonator, an acquaintance of theirs?'

'Ah, I see,' Strangelove seems to buy the story, going pink in embarrassment. She sits down in her chair, taking a deep breath out.

That was easy.

Eudora gives Kristoffer a soft, unnoticeable nod, 'Well, that's okay. Now we're on the topic, I suppose it'd be best to mention this. We need to take a strike back at magic.'

Kristoffer's heart jumps, his stomach lurching. He tries his best to keep his face straight. Eudora clears her throat quietly. Strangelove continues, 'We've had too many escapes recently. If we could find a hotspot, a congregation of sorts, that'd be excellent. I've set Trenton off to work. If you two could get working, that'd be excellent.'

Kristoffer knows what he has to do.

'I know a place, Ms. Strangelove.'

Time flies. Within what seems like seconds, it's Sunday.

The day the AMI are going to attack. Kristoffer told Strangelove about the SPMP. Unfortunately, he doesn't have a plan for this one. What a disappointment. As they stand outside the theatre hall, Kristoffer can hear the sweet hum of Alexis's voice. Her words are not audible from outside the theatre, but her vocal tone is audible. Despite every AMI employee there, taking down everyone would not be easy.

Kristoffer's hands tremble and weaken themselves with anger. His brain freezes, terrified.

'That's about all we know,' Alexis concludes, giving the crowd a slight grin, 'Just remember to keep yourselves safe and-'

The doors break down: again. The crashing and splintering of wood raises petrified screams, filling the hall with noise. Kristoffer is shoved around by his colleagues running past him, blocking off the exits. He peeps timidly around the door. He catches a glimpse of Alexis and Ashton, eyes wide with fear. Cheri's anxious eyes snag on his, guilt making him nearly choke. The murmur of chatter clouds his brain. He hides behind the wall next to the doorframe.

'AMI! We're here to settle this dispute,' Strangelove holds her guns with her trigger finger prepared.

Niall fires a shot into the air, making a terrible cracking sound as it reaches the low ceiling of the entrance area. Concrete crumbles and cracks slightly.

Ashton's voice is brave, but Kristoffer can hear the nerves. He can't see him, but can only assume that he could be crying, 'Let's settle.'

Let the games begin.