Ashton sits on his bed, looking at things on his laptop. He hears his door open with a soft click.

'Ashton,' Alexis says softly, 'Cheri told me what she saw and...'

Here we bloody go. Ashton shuts the lid of his laptop, sighing, 'I know, I know. It was wrong. But she didn't need to tell you.'

'She did. It's the right thing to do,' Alexis tries to keep her cool. She shuts the door behind her, leaning against it, 'You know what I said, we aren't letting him come into our house again. I feel like you don't listen to me.'

'It's my life, Alexis. Stop acting like my mum,' Ashton huffs, looking at her with a severe expression. Her heart sinks, but he persists, 'I'm turning twenty in six months. We're both adults, and you aren't me. I'm not me. I'm thankful that Kristoffer saved us, and, to be honest. I... I'm still in love with him.'

'It was a school relationship, Ashton. It's not serious,' Alexis feels herself snapping slightly, her eyes prickling with warm tears. Her voice shakes, 'Him saving us is the least he could do.'

'The least he could do?' Angry disbelief floods his mind. He finally raises his voice above the usual volume, 'We were there to see the grim people who work there. Imagine what they'd do to him if they found out what he did. He did that for us. Not for him, not for anyone else in the world. Us.'

'No, Ashton. He did it for you,' Alexis screams, tears running from her eyes. Ashton's face falls. She furiously rubs at her eyes, smudging her mascara. She returns to her usual tone, 'Look. I think he's nice. I've thought he was good for you as a boyfriend and good for me as a friend. But I've been nothing but sour to him. That's screwed everything up. But now... I can't forgive him for what he did.'

'Being sour is your fault. Not mine,' Ashton hisses, his head leaning down so his hair covers his eyes, 'Get out of my room before you wake Cheri up.'

'But...'

'Get out.'

Alexis nods solemnly, opening the door and swishing out. She clicks it shut. She hears angry footsteps toward the door and the rarely used lock clicks shut. Alexis feels numb. She checks in on Cheri. Still asleep.

Well, not really.

Cheri keeps up her fake sleep routine. She had heard a brief muffled argument about Kristoffer. Had she done this? Maybe her mind reading had done this. She shouldn't have been so nosy. She should've just asked him to listen. She doesn't hear the conversation. Alexis sighs heavily and swiftly walks across the corridor to her room. She hears a soft sob from her room.

*

Kristoffer presses his head against the desk, groaning. His brain is full of buzzy thoughts. Being the only one working a night shift is pretty awful. Suddenly, the staff room door slams open. Eudora stands in the doorway, out of uniform, out of breath, and carrying a huge plastic Tesco bag.

'You look upset,' She pants, flicking a straggly strand of hair from her eyes. He lifts his head from the desk, nodding, 'Well, look. I have a plan. We're getting all these magic people out of here.'

'This is.. news to me. But I'm in,' He grins, his spirits slightly lifted. Eudora puts the piece of paper between her chair and his. It looks as though it had been scribbled out like a midnight intrusive thought. Kristoffer looks at her face; she has flaking mascara and purple, tired eye bags.

'Look. Here is a blueprint of the facility. We have about five floors, so we need to get everyone down to the bottom floor, down here,' She points to random parts of the blueprint, 'To this exit. It's at the back. Then, we leave with them.'

'Why-'

'Are we doing this?' Eudora knows his question before he can even ask, 'Well, I overheard Strangelove talking to Niall about some sort of fight. Like planned out stuff. It's only the right thing to do for them. We've stolen them all away from their homes. There have only been two recorded people to escape.'

She looks at Kristoffer from the side of her eye, giving him a slight grin. He shifts uncomfortably in his chair. Eudora clears her throat awkwardly and returns to her plan, 'So, we need to herd them all up on the bottom floor. We could get people to pass the message down. Get them all downstairs quicker.'

'Sounds good, what time do we start?' Kristoffer asks, looking closely at the contents of her bag. It looks like clothes, a screwdriver, and a pair of shoes.

'Uh, it depends. Do you have your out-of-uniform clothes with you?' Kristoffer looks down at his ridiculously oversized shirt, tie, trousers, and blazer, shaking his head. She hands him the bag, 'Good thing I came prepared.'

*

'I look ridiculous,' Kristoffer groans, re-entering the staff room. He has been given a huge black T-shirt with a Nike logo and an almost comically large pair of sweatpants. They smell like scented floral washing-up liquid. The shoes are luckily his size, a rather nice pair of white trainers.

'Sorry, didn't know what size you are,' She apologises, but can barely hold back her giggles, 'Right, we're starting on floor 5. You've got a keycard in the trouser pocket; use it.'

The pair set off, looking inconspicuous. As they enter the lift, Eudora gives him a look. She sighs and says, 'If there's something wrong, tell me now. Don't suffer in silence.'

'I... rejected someone I want to go out with? It sounds dumb but...' Kristoffer struggles for words to describe it. Eudora leans her head on his arm.

'No, I get it. We can talk about it more if you want later. We're here,' The door makes a ping sound, opening alarmingly quickly. Eudora meets Kristoffer's eyes, 'I'm taking that side. You go from 501 to 512. I'll take 513 through 524. We'll do that for every floor, okay?

'Makes sense, yeah.'

Eudora nods and runs down the corridor, her long hair flying behind her. Kristoffer uses the keycard to open the first door; a little girl, shivering and holding herself. She only looks about six, but her clawed hands are covered in scars. She looks up to Kristoffer in the doorway. He notices her pupils are long and triangular, almost like a cat.
She begins to break down in tears seeing him.

'Hey, hey, don't cry...' He soothes her, running to her side. She falls into his arms. He strokes her brown curls, shushing her, 'I'm getting you out of here.'

'Really?' She hiccups.

'Yeah. What's your name?'

'Darcie-May.'

'Okay. I'm Kristoffer. Do you want to stay with me while we save the others?' Kristoffer asks. She nods softly, holding his hand, 'Well, let's go. Can I put you on my shoulders?'

He earns another soft nod from Darcie-May. He lifts her gently under her arms, placing her on his shoulders. He tells her to hold on and goes off at a quick pace to the next room. He unlocks it to see a boy of about fifteen rocking back and forth on his bed.

'Hey, you alright?' Kristoffer pokes his head in, looking apologetically at him. He lifts his piercing blue eyes to him, shaking his head, 'I'm getting you out of here, come on.'

He stands and follows, Kristoffer, staying non-verbal. Next room is an older man with scales covering his cheekbones. Next, a woman with ice powers. She brushes past Kristoffer, and his skin begins to be covered in frost. The next is a man with demon-like hands, bruised and blue. A woman with ripped wings like a tortured faerie. A young woman with scarred legs. A person with frizzy, almost electrocuted hair. Kristoffer reaches every last room down to the first floor, a parade of magic loitering behind him. Darcie-May grabs onto his hair with her small hands. Despite the pulling feeling, it comforts him to know she's safe. Eudora and Kristoffer meet in the middle, letting the groups merge.

'Got them all?' Eudora asks, before laughing softly, 'You've got a passenger.'

Kristoffer looks up. He can hear Darcie-May snoring softly on his head.

'Darcie? Darcie?' Kristoffer hears a mother from the back of the group screaming her name. He lifts the little girl off of him and makes his way toward her.

'Here you go, ma'am,' Kristoffer hands the slowly awakening girl toward her mother. Her eyes begin to fill with tears.

'Oh, thank you! Thank you!' She sobs, picking her daughter up. Kristoffer steps back in shock; emotional situations aren't his best friend, 'You're ever so kind.'

'Kristoffer! I'm opening the door!' Eudora shouts. She uses her keycard to open the double-doored exit. The doors swing open, causing a deafening frenzy of 120 people to run from the building. They watch as everyone runs past, profusely thanking the terrified two. As the last person leaves, Eudora slams the double doors behind them. She looks up at the security camera. The red light is on.

It filmed the whole ordeal.

'We're fucked. Totally.'

*

Cheri sits at the breakfast table, reading a book and eating a bowl of cereal. She looks up from her book to see Alexis, eyes puffy and red. She sighs, pouring hot water into the cafetiere. She leans against the counter, eyes closed.

'Good morning,' Cheri attempts to get Alexis's attention but miserably fails. She grumbles and goes back to her book. She feels consumed by her thoughts and can barely read a word. Ashton appears at the bottom of the stairs, staring daggers at Alexis.

'Ashton, I'm...'

'I don't care right now. I'm going out,' He snaps, flicking his hair out of his eyes. He puts his shoes on and unlocks the front door, 'I won't be back anytime soon.'

He swiftly exits and slams the door. The coffee pot begins to whistle loudly, making Alexis and Cheri slap their hands over their ears. Alexis takes it off of the stove, her eyes welling with tears. She pours the coffee into her mug, taking it over to the table. She sits opposite Cheri, who is grumbling over how she lost her page. She looks up, seeing Alexis with silent tears streaming down her cheeks.

'Oh, sorry Cheri, love. I don't know why I'm crying,' She sniffles, rubbing her eyes, 'I... said the wrong thing to him. I should've said sorry earlier.'

Cheri raises an eyebrow, 'Give me your hand.'

Alexis complies, giving Cheri her hand over the table. Her eyes turn fully white, floating in the air. The thoughts and words fly around her mind. Cheri suddenly yells piercingly, landing back in her chair. She clutches her head, moaning in pain.

'Cheri, what happened?'

'I... don't know.'

*

Kristoffer called in sick for work. He didn't need the trouble. He feels as though he should get out of the house to get his mind off of things. He gets dressed, thinking about yesterday. He looks at himself in the mirror. His hair looks almost ridiculously grown out, past his ears at this point. He grabs his phone and wallet, placing them in his pocket. Kristoffer doesn't eat breakfast, just brushes his teeth and makes his way out of his apartment. He feels lucky; the AMI pays great, so he has a lovely place with a great penthouse view.

The train. Kristoffer's least favourite form of public transport. Considering it is seven in the evening on Tuesday, most people would either be at home or going to night shifts. But today was different. As he looks down the train to find the optimal window seat, he notices a familiar person. It makes his heart beat out of his chest. Of course, the best seat is right opposite him.

The perfect excuse.

Ashton has his headphones on, scrolling on his phone. Kristoffer isn't quite sure what to do without coming off as a stalker. He works up the courage to sit opposite him. His eyes flicker up from his phone.

'Heya, Kris,' Ashton returns to looking at his phone, looking frankly uninterested. Kristoffer blushes at the nickname.

'Hi. I... where are you going?' He queries. Ashton smiles, putting his phone down and placing his headphones around his neck.

'Away from home. I can't... stay there. Not at the moment,' Ashton laments. He looks into Kristoffer's eyes, 'I think I want to go to Brighton. I love that beach.'

'Me too. Do you remember when we went together?' Kristoffer reminisces.

'I do, I do,' The setting sun makes Ashton's eyes and hair glow, 'So, are we forgetting about that... thing from a few days ago?'

'No. Please can we not? It was a great idea. I want to. Don't ask me why I said no,' Kristoffer takes Ashton's hand, 'You're honestly one of if not the best person I've ever met. I... I love you.'

'You love...me?' Ashton isn't quite sure how to react. On the one hand, his stomach feels fuzzy and ecstatic because someone can love him. But on the other hand... how can someone love him? Why would someone love him? He awkwardly clears his throat, 'I... don't know how to respond.'

An awkward silence fills the air. Kristoffer looks at Ashton after a while, 'I never told you this, but...'

Kristoffer had been practicing his magic. He shows Ashton his hand, creating a little smoke dragon. It's grey, with purple stripes around its body. Ashton's eyes begin to sparkle seeing it.

'Wow... can I hold it?' He asks. He holds out his hand, letting the miniature creature crawl on to his hand. It turns a vibrant shade of pink. It makes a soft growl before puffing into a cloud of smoke. The two watch as the smoke whispers away.

'It's a new thing. I went to this lady called Biserka. She helped me out,' Kristoffer admits, looking down at his feet, 'She gave me my powers.'

'Biserka? Biserka Vorobera?' Ashton's eyebrows knit together in confusion, 'Kristoffer, she's been dead for a hundred years.'