"Pity those who don't feel anything at all."
~ Sarah J. Maas (A Court of Thorns and Roses)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Old Lighthouse Cabin was a small, abandoned cabin that sat at the base of a hill, facing the sea waves crashing into the rocky shore. Its namesake was a ruined lighthouse that stood atop the crest of that same hill.

In olden days, the lighthouse used to look out into the sea, an anchor for ships that used to dock near the harbour and a steady promise of safety during storms. But when the harbour was shifted to a more convenient location, the lighthouse fell into disuse and soon was completely abandoned. With age, it started crumbling under the brutality of the tropical thunderstorms that came from the sea. It was now but a mocking skeleton of its previous splendour.

To Blue, it seemed haunting and bleak. Not somewhere she'd like to be. Ever.

"Why would Sherry call us here?" Blue asked, her voice a mere whisper, perhaps afraid to disturb the eerie stillness of the sea beyond and the lingering quiet that emanated from the lighthouse.

"I'm not sure," Miracle said, his face neutral but his eyes worried. "She had always been weird."

"Where is she?" Blue asked, looking around. A dark night had fallen, the moon appearing in its full silvery brilliance, casting long shadows. And there was no sign of Sherry. Blue was starting to think that she had fooled them, that maybe this was some sort of trap when a familiar voice called, "So, you came. I didn't think you would."

Blue whirled around to find Sherry standing on the sand, her pigtails blowing with the soft breeze.

"When did you come?" Blue asked, alarmed. "I didn't hear your footsteps."

"Who says I walked?" Sherry asked, smirking.

"Oh right." Blue remembered the way she and Warren had vanished into thin air. "Can you do that too?" Blue asked Miracle.

He nodded. "Of course, I can. People like us, we have certain...abilities, you might say. There are some common to all but, most of the time, it varies. Depending on what our job is. For example, those who are having a bad luck, it might be because Sherry is influencing them with her powers. Like, for instance, remember how you kept tripping that day on the alley? That was Sherry's doing. And same goes to Good Luck, me, Unfair, Fair et cetera."

"And we all have counterparts," Sherry supplied, walking past them and towards the cabin. Blue and Miracle followed after her as she easily swung open the door and stepped in. The interior was nearly empty except for some shelves and a bed with a rotting mattress and one single stool. The air inside was stale with confinement and a layer of dirt had settled over everything. But Blue did notice that the dust had been disturbed and recently so.

"Yes, counterparts are very important. It keeps the balance," Miracle explained. "Can you imagine life with only Bad Luck? People wouldn't even want to live. And if it was only Good Luck, people would stop bothering to work."

Blue nodded, thoughtfully chewing on her bottom lip.

Sherry blew the dust of the stool and plopped down in it. "My sister and I used to come here. It was our hideout. But then..."

"She fell sick?" Blue guessed when Sherry left her sentence to hang in the air.

Sherry shook her head. "No, about that...I lied. She isn't sick. I mean, I have no clue what's happening to her. She's...disappeared. I literally woke up one day and she was gone!"

"What?" Miracle asked, concerned.

Blue muttered, "Maybe she just grew tired of you."

Sherry glared at Blue. "No, she wouldn't. She is my sister. I love her. And she isn't the type to run away. I was going absolutely crazy with worry. And that's when I met Warren again, you see. I didn't have anyone else and so I asked him for help. Crazy, I know, but he accepted. But it was then things started to get strange. We realised that it wasn't just my sister who had disappeared. There are others like us who have gone missing. And quite recently too. Did you know that Fair had disappeared? And Hope? We haven't heard anything from Love either! And the worst part is...it's the better ones who are disappearing! I'm still here. Wrath is here. We even had contact with Unfair and Hate."

An anxious silence descended as Blue and Miracle processed her words.

"He's still here," Blue abruptly pointed out, looking at Miracle.

"Yeah that's the thing. We were worried that you had disappeared too which is why..." Sherry paused, her cheeks reddening with embarrassment, "...we bullied Blue. Warren hoped that you'd show your face when you sensed him troubling a child. That's why we transformed into middle-graders and enrolled ourselves into Blue's school."

Blue flushed with anger. What--? So, she was their guinea pig? How was that fair?

Miracle seemed to reflect her thoughts because he glowered at Sherry. "That was highly unnecessary, Sherry."

Sherry shrugged. "It was the fastest way. And you know Warren; he likes to pull your socks."

Blue partially wanted to stand up and throw a good, solid punch at Sherry's nose but she restrained herself, mustering all her twelve-year-old willpower and resolve. "Why couldn't you guys use, I don't know, this thing called cellphone? It's really popular and works efficiently!" 

Sherry scornfully looked at Blue. "You don't understand. Electronics don't work with us. Maybe it's our powers. Or just simply our essence but they always go haywire, especially the more complex ones like cellphones, TVs, cars et cetera."

Blue let that sank in, although she was still seething. But she decided to be the bigger person and say, "Okay, well, fine. What do we do now?"

"We?" Sherry said in disdain. "Excuse me, Blue, but it would be way better if you stay out of it. I don't even know why you're here. I only asked Miracle to meet me here."

Blood rushed to Blue's cheeks in embarrassment and indignation when Miracle spoke up, his voice cold, "She is here with me. And she will stay, unless she herself didn't want to. If you want my help, you better get used to that."

Sherry looked cross. "Fine, do whatever you want. And besides, this isn't just about my sister. It's about the safety of each one of us. You, especially. Whoever is responsible for their disappearance will, no doubt, come for you next, Miracle."

"But how do we find out who is behind all of this?" Blue asked, crossing her hands on her chest.

"If it's even one person," Miracle added. "It might be a whole group of kidnappers."

"Why don't we inform the police?" Blue suggested, only for both Sherry and Miracle to burst in laughter.

"Blue, my Blue," Miracle said. "Calling the police is not an option. They don't even know the existence of our kind! Revealing ourselves to them would bring in a whole set of problems!"

"Besides, have you never read a book or seen a TV show? You never let an adult do the job. They always mess things up. It's the kids who must take on the responsibility," Sherry said seriously.

Blue was pretty sure that real life was vastly different from TV shows but, then again, all these people that she had learned about---Miracle, Sherry, Good Luck, Warren, Fair etc---weren't they as good and unreal as magic? As fantastical and impossible as the mythical creatures she had read about in her books? And hadn't she always yearned to go on an adventure of her own? So, why was she shying away now?

"What about Warren?" Miracle asked grudgingly. "What does he have to say about all this?"

Sherry shrugged. "As far as I can tell, he's pretty worried too."

Blue snorted. "Warren? And worried? About others? Blasphemous!" (Blue was more than pleased that she finally got to use the word 'blasphemous.' She had been dying to say it for quite a while now.)

"Look, I know he seems mean and cruel - probably because he is a little mean and cruel - but he isn't a bad person. A bit sadistic, yes, but not a bad person. I know it seems hard to believe, Blue, but he does care. And if it makes things better, he can't help what he is. It's his very nature."

"That makes about zero sense!" Blue cried.

"We can't fight our own nature, Blue," Sherry said, almost sadly.

Blue, though, wasn't ready to hear that. "Saying that is just lazy! It...it's cheating!"

Sherry sighed and rubbed her temples tiredly, not an entirely common gesture for a twelve-year-old and Blue was reminded again that they weren't really her age.

"You don't understand, kiddo," she said.

Blue was outraged at being called a kiddo, especially from the girl with three pigtails. She was ready to pounce on Sherry and show her who the kiddo is here but a cool hand wrapped around her wrist and held her back.

"Both of you, stop it!" Miracle shouted, his frustration palpable. "This is serious! It just occurred to me that..." he gulped. "If what you say is true, Sherry, then..."

"Then what?" Blue asked loudly, feeling the need to appear strong and loud to establish the fact that she was not a kiddo. Anything but a kiddo.

Miracle looked at her grimly. "If all the good ones are disappearing, it means nobody is there to carry out their jobs. Which in, in turn, means...

Sherry added darkly, "That people will start losing hope, love and all things that truly matter to them."