"Hey, Nyne, wait up a sec!" yelled Alex, as he jogged her way.

Nyne stopped just before the dirt path leading out of town and spun around, bemused. "Oh, Alex."

Alex came to a clean stop a few feet from her. "Hey, sorry. You're probably super busy, but I saw you just then passing by, and you," he quickly scanned her up and down, "look much different than yesterday. No offense or anything."

She smiled, her lips stretching from cheek to cheek. "Actually, it's 'Six' right now."

"Huh?" Alex stared at her with uncertainty until it finally came to him. "Oh, you're the 'unaltered' ego. You've been away for a while."

Six nodded. "Have been since that day the rest of us met you. Whenever something adventurous, mysterious, even dangerous happens, it's a job for Nyne. She can handle that stuff, so I become her for however long the hype lasts. But something sad, frustrating, stressful — I just be me. Boring-looking, tragic, timid me. I can handle that stuff with ease as 'Six'. The only thing interesting about me is this tattoo," she held up her right hand with the lion's face, "and that was all Nyne's idea."

"I know it's only been like five minutes, but you Six, are one of the most interesting people I've met since coming here," Alex beamed, his smile glittering with infectious cheer. "You created an alter ego all with your own free will, and even made her incredibly distinct from you. Nyne is like a sophisticated wildcard. And you're like a...placid lion cub. Not boring at all."

"Maybe you would make a good Public Defender," Six chuckled.

"I'll consider it as a career prospect. But anyway, how'd you come up with such an interesting persona in the first place?"

"I don't know...I guess I was a real loner as a kid. When middle school started, I tried really hard to make friends. Too hard. The first time I offered to carry this girl's lunch tray, then I ended up dropping it all over her new dress. The second time I was running to catch up to some kids to play with at recess, when I stepped on someone's shoe on the way down the stairs, and that sent about seven other kids tumbling. The third time, some gum got stuck in this girl's hair so I offered to help get it out, but it was so sticky that I yanked it out along with a patch of her hair. The fourth time I knocked a jar of water all over this guy's portrait in art class. The fifth time I smacked a girl dead on the nose when I passed her the basketball during gym class. After all that, I thought of just giving up and staying a loner. I told my brother Three about it, and he said to try a different approach for the sixth time. You know how they say 'third time's the charm'?"

Alex nodded. "Yeah."

"Well, Three decided that the sixth time would be the charm for me. I just had to up my 'charm' — personality so to speak. He never really specified on how I should do this."

"So you just created an entirely different personality," Alex concluded.

"Exactly. I was going to do a complete one-eighty makeover on my entire self. I would transform into someone who didn't try so much. Someone adventurous and outgoing, and classy and sassy. And I wouldn't have created her, had it not been for Three. He was always finding solutions for my problems. You wanna know how I named her? Just put me and him together."

"Nyne," Alex grinned. "But, with a 'Y'?"

"Oh, that. Well I wanted her to be completely different from me — so that included the letters in my name. I know it sounds crazy, but it actually grew on me after a couple of days."

Alex laughed, the sound flowing through his gut. "So, was the sixth time really the charm?"

"It was, but I have to admit, it happened kind of unintentionally. And the person came to me first. One night my parents were going out, so my dad got a babysitter. It was the night that I was going to perfect my 'Nyne' persona, so I stayed in my room after the babysitter showed up. At some point I think I heard people arguing downstairs. I was way too focused so I didn't leave my room, but after a while I learned the hard way that I hadn't actually closed my door completely. I saw Ziro, eleven-years old, through my mirror, just standing there watching me."

Alex felt a strange shiver crawl up the base of his spine.

"He told me that the babysitter had to leave due to 'inappropriate' behavior, so his mom took over. Then he asked what I was doing. I tried to lie, but he saw right through me somehow. I caved and told him everything. But it was nice having someone ask me that anyway."

"So he just decided to be your friend after you told him?"

"Not exactly. He asked me two other things afterwards, like how he asked you that day we all met. He asked, 'Are you now having an identity crisis?' and 'Have you ever had a real friend?' I answered no to both. I know who Nyne is, and I'm aware of who I am. The only crisis I was having was making friends. Then he asked me if he could talk to Nyne. I was nervous doing that for the first time but, I tied up my hair, shifted my posture, and voila. He asked her, 'Are you now planning on stealing Six's life for your own personal gain?"

Alex's eyes went wide as he tried imagining a terrifying eleven-year old Ziro, pumping perplexing questions like a traffic cop handing out tickets.

"Yeah, I know," Six went on. "Nyne said no, of course. So Ziro stuck around and we hung out in my room for most of the night. We even played a bunch card of games. Did you know Ziro used to carry a deck of cards in his pocket wherever he went? God knows why. Anyway, next day at school he introduced me to four other weirdos, and I had to repeat my whole journey-to-make-friends story. They got used to Nyne pretty quick though."

Alex nodded cheerily then glanced at the dismal sky. "So where were you off to on such a rainy morning anyway?"

Six's gaze fell sullenly. "To visit my brother...in prison. Despite what he did, I believe he had a good reason. I can't just shut him out."

"Mind if I ask what it is that he did?"

Six mustered a small smile. "About six years ago, Three was thirteen, and he got a job delivering newspapers. Some older prep school kids were looking for someone who could do the job for one of their dad's companies. The newspapers were already prepared, rolled up and everything, so all Three had to do was deliver. He had to go to all these shady neighborhoods that didn't usually get papers delivered. He told me not to tell our parents because they would say he was too young and make him quit. So I didn't."

"One afternoon I went with him on his job, and when we got to some women's house she unrolled the paper he gave her and threw it right back at us. She yelled saying she didn't want any drugs, and threatened to call the police if we didn't take it and leave. We checked the paper after we left and saw a laminated sheet of Vampire Dust stuck in-between the pages. We obviously searched the rest that we were carrying, and it turned out that they all had a hidden sheet. Three swore to me that he had no idea. I believed him. Luckily no one heard the women yelling, so Three told me to go home and he would take care of it. I went home, and waited and waited. Later that night we got a knock at the door. Three was arrested for killing two people. Those same guys who gave him the job."

Alex felt his blood turn cold. "So...he really did it?"

"I got the full story when I went to visit him two days later in juvenile detention. He said later that evening he met up with those two guys at some alley and confronted them. They didn't deny that they knew about the drugs in the newspapers...they didn't tell him on purpose. Three tried to quit but they wouldn't let him, saying he should've just pretended not to see anything. Apparently they knew he had a sibling — my name, where I went to school. They threatened to hurt me if Three quit. Three got angry and tried to hit one of them, but they fought back. One of them grabbed onto Three, and when Three shook him off, he fell back and his head hit a pile of bricks on the way down. The guy died by accident. Then the other guy got more vicious with the threats, and brought our parents into it...Three couldn't let it go, and he knew the guy wouldn't let it go either if he just left him. Three charged at the guy, tackling him to the ground. Grabbed a nearby brick, and..."

Alex tightly shut his eyes for a moment; breathed in an out as quietly as possible.

"...Three told me he didn't really regret taking their lives, but he did regret taking the job in the first place. He plead guilty, and got ten years with parole after he gets out."

"Woah. But...you still take the dust, despite what happened?"

"I know how it might seem. I didn't start taking V-dust till about two years ago. Ziro was having a party, and Jeremi and a few other kids brought some of it over. Literally everyone there was dusting. The group wanted to try it too, and I didn't want to be some backseat-driving hindrance in the short young days of our lives. Sorry if that's dramatic, but I mean it. And I don't blame the drug for what happened to Three anyway. I blame those assholes who tricked him. I already told Three I was taking V-dust. We don't keep secrets from each other."

"Noted."

"Everyone at school looked at me differently after it happened, even in high school. I didn't care so much, but my dad really resented Three for that. The group looked at me differently for like an hour, and then we went back to normal after I told them everything."

"Weirdos..."

Six laughed. "Damn straight. The best kinds though." She checked her red wristwatch and was startled at the time. "Woah, we've been talking for a long while haven't we? I better get going if I wanna make it before visiting hours are over."

"Tell Three I said hello?"

"Of course, Alexy. I'll be telling him all about you!" Six waved goodbye as she continued down the dirt path.

Alex waved and watched her go. The rain began to let up. He looked at the sky, and still felt tiny drops of water plummeting onto his face. A refreshing feeling.

"Hey! Hey you! Hey, Alex! Alex Prior!"

Alex jumped in his skin, and spun around to see Tate sprinting towards him at full speed. "Oh, Tate-"

Tate came and grabbed him by his wrist. "I need your help! You're the only one! Come on! Come on!"

Alex nodded and let himself get hauled away in the direction of Faerie bridge. The rain had completely stopped now, and the clouds were slowly beginning to part.