Ashley tilted her head with a feral grin, her eyes glittering with malice.

"You two really thought you could save them?" she sneered. "Idiots."

The highway stretched in broken slabs beneath them, asphalt split and blackened from the blast. Smoke curled upward in thin, choking trails, and the air still carried the heavy stench of scorched blood.

Cassandra stood frozen.

Two bodies lay nearby.

The one girl who had super speed and the other with ice abilities were now dead.

Cassandra's gaze never left them.

Tears streamed down her face.

A slow clap broke the stillness.

Divina.

"Wow," she mocked. "Look at me. I'm so powerful that a couple humans are dead and now suddenly I'm the big bad god."

Ashley gritted her teeth. Humans were nothing but stepping stones. Every life she took pushed her toward something beyond all of this.

Something untouchable.

Her ankle jerked violently.

Ashley barely had time to register the force before she was yanked off her feet, her body slamming against the asphalt. The impact knocked the breath from her lungs as she rolled onto her back, her vision white.

For a moment, she didn't understand what was happening.

Then she saw Cassandra.

Ten feet away, trembling, her hand raised as if gripping something invisible.

And Ashley felt it.

Not just pressure, but something deeper. A strange, hollow sensation crawled through her limbs, as if something inside her was being pulled loose.

"You took innocent lives," Cassandra rasped, her voice thin with exhaustion. "I don't have much energy... but I'm taking them."

The invisible grip tightened.

Heat flooded through Ashley's body, but it wasn't hers—it burned unevenly, unfamiliar, like her body no longer knew how to hold it.

And then something gave.

It wasn't physical. There was no wound. But inside her mind, something tore away, leaving behind a sudden, gaping absence.

Cassandra's hand dropped.

Ashley's head struck the ground with a dull crack.

Silence followed.

Ashley sucked in a sharp breath and pushed herself up.

She raised her hands to use the burning light.

Nothing came.

Her fingers twitched, her focus sharpening as she tried again.

Still nothing.

A flicker of unease slipped through her chest.

This wasn't possible.

She tried again, more urgently this time, grasping for anything.

But her mind found nothing to latch onto. It was like reaching into a space that had been scraped clean.

"What did you do to me?" she snapped.

"Oh no," Divina said, pressing a hand to her chest in mock concern. "Did she take a way the high ranks?"

Ashley ignored her, her breathing starting to quicken as she searched again, more desperately now. She couldn't remember the powers.

" I erased your memory of your powers," Cassandra said, swaying slightly where she stood. "You remember facts, names, everything else."

Ashley turned sharply toward her.

She pushed herself up, legs wobbling, only for Divina's boot go slam against her shoulder, forcing her back down.

Pain flared in her ribs.

This wasn't how her plan was supposed to go after she killed those two humans.

"You shouldn't have killed those humans, God," Divina sneered. "I've warned you that this mutant child is stronger than us. It's not just about raw power; she knows how to use. And guess what? Once your powers vanish, mine return."

Ashley eyes snapped wide as she struggled to turn her head, but before she could, Divina's boot crushed her back down again.

"Impossible," Ashley spat through clenched teeth. "None of this should be happening."

Divina clapped her hands slowly. "Well, that just makes things easier for us. You're nothing but a pathetic joke."

A spark hissed past Ashley's shoulder.

She flinched as something small and burning struck her arm, the heating biting into her skin. She jerked backward, staring down in confusion at the sparkler as it cracked against her sleeve.

Another one followed, hitting her leg.

"Oh my gosh!" Nevaeh shouted.

Four figures spread across the highway.

Cassandra dragged the dead bodies with fading strength.

A few feet to her left, River gripped more sparklers, eyes widened.

What were those used for? Decorations? They couldn't possibly fight with those, could they?

Without warning, River threw a sparkler. It arched through the air, striking Ashley's arm. Pain flared like fire along her skin, and she flung the tiny incendiary toward the others. But it sizzled harmlessly, her mind still foggy.

Ashley's blurred gaze caught Divina gripping a heavy rock, eyes gleaming with delight.

"James brought this," she sneered. "Isn't it perfect? A few good bashes to the head sound like a delightful experience."

There was no sympathy in Divina's smile, but twisted enjoyment.

Ashley's blood seethed.

Even as Emma and James wept over the dead, all she could do was feel rage.

Why were they crying over them when she was being torn apart in front of their eyes? These stupid humans always thought they could win.

Divina grabbed the few strands of hair clinging to Ashley, yanking her scalp back.

"She can't even remember her own powers," she said. "And the best part? She doesn't have Jason or Greyson's abilities. It's all perfect."

Ashley's chest tightened, something cold and unfamiliar creeping in beneath the anger.

No.

Divina shoved her back down, releasing her roughly.

"Go on," she called. "Isn't this what you wanted?"

There was movement behind her.

James stepped forward, gripping a thick branch with both hands. His shoulders shook, his face streaked with tears, but his grip didn't loosen.

Ashley frowned at him, confusion overtaking everything else.

Why was he attacking her?

The branch came down hard against the side of her head.

The impact sent a burst of light across her vision, the world dropping into a dull, ringing silence before sound slowly rushed back in.

"Don't you get it, God?" Divina snarled, crouching beside her. "When you kill, you leave damage behind. Real harm. Cassandra's done playing your games. And what kind of god are you now that you can't remember the power you once had?"

Ashley pushed herself upright again, slower this time, her limbs no longer responding the way she expected. Something warm trailed down her neck, and she reached up to instinctively touch it.

Her hand froze.

An arrow jutted through from just below her throat.

For a second, she couldn't process it.

Then the pain caught up.

Sharp. Deep. Unavoidable.

Her breath hitched as her fingers closed around the shaft, slick with blood.

"I used to be p good at archery on the Wii," Cindy said, tightening her grip on the now loaded with a sharp arrow. "Eden gave this to me."

Ashley looked at her, then back at the arrow, then at her own trembling hands.

Still nothing.

No power. No control.

"You'll pay for this," she forced out.

She staggered to her feet, swaying slightly as she tried again to use any power.

Light. Telekinesis. Force.

Anything.

But the emptiness remained.

For the first time anger didn't come.

Fear did.

Cold and unfamiliar.

She couldn't fight back.

The ground beneath her feet shifted.

Ashley's eyes widened as the cracked asphalt gave way.

Her body slowly lowered.

And then she was sinking into the ground.

Mia tilted her head back dramatically, one hand pressed to her chest as if she were on stage instead of crammed into a truck

"Tell me, does your heart stop at the party when my name drops?" she sang loudly. "Like you've stood at the platform when the trains cross. Are you hurting? Yeah, you must be... or it's just me?"

The truck sped down the empty stretch of the road, tires humming against the cracked pavement as the glow of flames pulsed behind them, flickering through the rearview window in uneven burst of orange and gold.

Bryce knew it probably wasn't the smartest move burning down Uden Academy, but Cassandra might put out the fire.

"Your singing is making my ears bleed," he said casually.

"Why can't I sing sad songs?" Mia demanded, placing her hands on her hips. "What's wrong with that? Would you rather listen to Eden's boring church hymns? Didn't think so. Let me have my moment with the sad songs."

Eden shot her a glare. "I don't sing church songs."

"Oh, here we go," he muttered, glancing sideways. "Are you about to start crying now?"

Mia ignored him completely, already slipping back into her performance.

"But I'm only human, and I bleed when I fall down! I crash when I break down!"

She gripped her hand like a microphone, eyes half-lidded, lost somewhere far away.

A sharp crack split the air behind them.

The truck rattled as if something exploded in the distance.

Mia paused for half a second, blinking.

"That was louder than before," she admitted, then kept going as if nothing happened.

Will snorted, pointing at her. "You don't actually crash when you break down, Mia!"

Outside, the fire wasn't just light anymore—it was movement. Smoke rolled low across the road in twisting waves, and every so often another flare of sparks burst upward.

Bryce's grip tightened on the wheel.

Emma had gone to help with the fireworks.

At the time, it hadn't seemed like a big deal.

Was she safe?

"Your girlfriend is safe," Will said casually with his eyes closed. "Small group. No sight Esme or Jade's though."

Bryce let out a small breath.

Mia froze for half a second.

Then she immediately spun in place.

"That means fireworks aren't over yet!" she said loudly.

Will nodded. "Fireworks are usually time-based, not location-based, but if there's enough explosives we all get to see it!"

"I knew it," Mia said, scrambling to her feet.

She barely made it upright before Eden grabbed her wrist and yanked her down without warning.

Mia's face slammed into the radio console with a dull thud.

She dropped instantly, groaning.

"Since Bryce is actually worried for once," Will added, sticking out his tongue.

"I want to see more fireworks!" Mia whined from the floor. "They were so pretty."

Bryce exhaled sharply through his nose. This was how it always went. Chaos, noise, complaints layered over something much worse than none of them cared about.

"Are we gonna zoom our way over there and be the ultimate super boyfriend?" Will asked, grinning.

Bryce didn't miss a beat. "Yeah, I was actually thinking about stopping for a swim instead."

Will blinked, considering that for a second.

Eden didn't even look over. "It's called sarcasm."

"Oh," Will said.

There was a pause.

"Right."

Will could be rational—sometimes. But most often than not, he slipped into full-on airhead mode. Like the time he and Mia tried to camp out at the bottom of a hotal waterslide, only to get shoved into the pool by Eden.

"Honestly, I'm surprised you two haven't died yet," Bryce said, pointing at Will and Mia. "If this were some cliché horror movie, both idiots would have been the first to go."

Eden chimed in with an innocent smile, "Well, it's not over yet."

Bryce shook his head, but his attention had shifted forward again. Through the haze, something new came into view—faint flashes of street lights and glowing buildings flickered in the distance.

He slowed the truck, the engine rumbling lower as they rolled to a stop.

Immediately, Mia groaned. "Why are we stopping?"

"I think I see some people up ahead," Bryce said, leaning forward over the wheel.

Near the barrier, beside a closed McDonald's, a single police car sat with its lights off.

"Maybe if I sing, it'll wake them up," Mia said.

"Their ears will start bleeding," Bryce snickered.

Will laughed loudly.

Too loud.

A car door opened.

A tall figure stepped out of the shadows, the faint glint of a gun catching the light as he approached.

Bryce reached for his flashlight and flicked it on, angling it just enough to see without blinding himself.

Greasy ginger hair. Dark green eyes. A beard that hid more than it revealed.

"I figured someone would show up sooner or later," the man said.

For a moment, no one answered.

Will broke the silence first. "If you're undercover, does that mean you had to file paperwork for this conversation?"

Bryce smirked.

"Name's John Iverson," the officer said. "Ashley's father."

That landed differently.

"I need to ask you some questions."

Eden smiled sweetly, flickering her lighter open and closed. "What a joyous occasion. People are dying every day, and now we get a Q&A session."

John's gaze landed on her. "I need to speak to Zane or Jason."

He scanned all of them.

None of them looked innocent, but Eden's delinquency beneath that innocent smile seemed to explain a lot.

Most people's first impression of Eden was that devout Catholic freak, someone who could recite the Bible by heart. But in truth, she was the kind of girl who wouldn't hesitate to set a building on fire if the mood struck her.

"Don't see them," Mia said, twirling in place.

Bryce tilted his head.. "Why were you spying on us?"

"Undercover police officer."

Mia and Will both collapsed into laughter.

Eden didn't.

"You've got the wrong people," Will added, grinning. "We're model citizens."

"You're lying," John said.

Bryce's smirk didn't disappear.

"What's really going on with Ashley?" John continued.

Bryce shrugged lightly. "People say some purple goo got into her knee."

Eden picked it up instantly. "Then it took over her body, and now we're fighting for our lives. It's that thing's fault for trapping us here. She is the one who burned down Uden Academy."

John's face flickered into a mixture of emotions.

"She set the entire building," Will added. "No one knows why she picked an empty school to burn."

This was their routine—cover for each other, spin the story, and chalk it up to an accident or pin it on someone else. It's how they got away with nearly everything.

"Ashley always does stuff without a reason," Mia slurred, rolling lazily on the ground.

Bryce stepped intentionally on her hand.

"Ow! Get off my hand! I'm telling Emma you're bullying me again!"

"How does a girl burn down a school?" John asked.

"Fire," Eden replied flatly.

He didn't write that down immediately.

Instead, he watched them.

Bryce wondered if he might've been one of the officers who dealt with Eden before.

"Weren't you four involved in the Walmart incident?"

"Yeah, but that's all sorted out now," Will said, waving it off.

"The officer involved had a broken jaw," John said. "And a fractured rib."

Silence.

Real silence this time.

"What?" Will blinked.

Mia's smile faltered.

The three of them exchanged glances, then looked to Eden, whose eyes gleamed with a dangerous edge.

That wasn't how they remembered it.

Then again, he was high when it happened.

"You're saying you didn't know?" John asked.

"Nope," Bryce said.

Silence.

Bryce remembered part of the incident.

They were attempting to steal popsicles and ice cream, but Mia accidentally dropped hers.

As they were fleeing the store, the people greeter said something and they were confronted by a staff member.

Eden had kicked the man in the stomach, but when they reached their CRV, a police officer was already there.

He tried to reason with them, telling them to put the stolen items back, or they would be charged.

They knew the risks, but Eden wasn't about to back down.

Eden's emotions flickered like a switch; either icy calm or explosive rage.

That volatility was why she lost it on the officer before they were tasered; she believed sheer defiance was their only way to resist.

For months, they were kept under strict surveillance, confined to their dorms with no chance to leave, except for class.

They were forced to write reflection letters about their behaviour.

The headmistress demanded Eden to write an apology to the injured officer, but she never complied. It wasn't forgetfulness; she simply had no remorse for what'd she'd done.

Eden broke the silence.

"So what?" she said, her voice colder now. "That's not my problem. He should be grateful."

"That's assault," John said.

"And what about the offence committed by a mother who kills her own child, or a father who left the country?" Eden shot back.

The words cut clean through the air.

No one moved.

No one joked.

"I saw it happen with my own eyes," she added.

The fire crackled in the distance.

Mia didn't speak.

Will didn't laugh.

Eden exhaled slowly, then smiled again like nothing had happened. "If that's all, we're done here."

Bryce turned, already walking back toward the truck. The others followed, the rhythm snapping back into place—but not quite the same.

"I can't believe he actually thinks Ashley did it," Mia said, forcing a laugh as she climbed in.

"People are such idiots," Will laughed.

Eden's mischievous gaze flicked toward Bryce. "A court hearing will make things easier."

"I really don't want to go through court again," Mia groaned, dropping into her seat. "I'm counting on the Highlighter to get us out of this."

Will leaned back, staring at the ceiling. "No birthday cards. No Christmas gifts. Just... nothing."

Bryce didn't say anything.

It wasn't the delinquent antics that truly connected them—it was the shared pain of abandonment.

Bryce's parents hadn't even said goodbye before shipping him off, and since his brother Jace was already eighteen, there was no point sending him off to Uden Academy.

He didn't care much about any of that; all he wanted was to live on his own terms, even if that meant defying his parents' rules.

"All because we're disappointments," Will said.

Behind them, the fire was still burning.

They laughed anyway.

Because that was what they always did.

And whether by blood or by choice, this reckless, chaotic group was still the closest thing Bryce had to a family.

Cindy stared at the ground, her fingers tightening around the bow and arrow. Although she had never trained in archery, she'd managed to figure out how to fire the thing.

A gun rested near her right foot.

She picked it up slowly, staring at the blood smeared across the pistol.

It was the kind of quiet that told Cindy people had died.

Nearby, Cassandra lay asleep on the ground while Divina stared with open annoyance.

Emma and James were sitting on the ground beside each other, not saying anything. River looked around as if he didn't know what to do as Nevaeh attempted to light another sparkler.

"Well," Nevaeh muttered. "We should probably tell people."

Divina scoffed at the suggestion. "Screw that. I'm finding that stupid god," she spat. "I'm not sticking around for some depression and sleeping mutant child." With that she ran off.

Cindy watched as River came toward her, looking awkwardly around the scene. "I think Cassandra knows what happens," he mumbled.

She crouched down to see the sleeping girl on the ground, tears still on her cheeks.

Cassandra had probably blamed herself for Esme and Jade, no matter what had actually happened.

With a gentle motion, Cindy carefully passed the bow and arrow to River, who knitted his eyebrows.

She then carefully lifted Cassandra, who was still sleeping soundly, which made her wonder where she should bring her.

Did she bring her back to camp to sleep?

Scarlett is out in Simcoe, which made her press her lips together.

When she bopped away, she landed inside Scarlett's RV.

Cindy slowly laid Cassandra down on the pull-out bed. The girl didn't even stir. Ash clung to her sleeves, and there was dried blood near the cuff of her hoodie that Cindy didn't think belonged to her.

For a moment, Cindy just stood there staring.

She had helped bring this child into their world, and now Cassandra was breaking apart because she couldn't save two people.

Underneath all that determination and stubbornness, Cassandra had a painfully pure heart. She wants to try and save those around her without more dying.

Ciney wiped roughly at her eyes with the back of her. She didn't even know why she was crying anymore.

Maybe it was Melany.

Maybe it was Esme and Jade.

Maybe it was because Cassandra tried so hard just to watch people die anyway.

"I tried my best," she mumbled.

After a few moments of scanning the quiet street, Cindy bopped into Simcoe.

The town felt dead.

Burned houses lined the streets like black skeletons, their windows shattered inward. Smoke still lingered in the air, mixing with the smell of melted plastic and wet ash.

Cindy's shoes crunched over glass as she walked toward the plaza.

Just as she reached it, something suddenly grabbed her ankle, and she tumbled onto the ground.

"Ow," Cindy grumbled.

Mallory waved her arms back and forth, pointing around the plaza as if Cindy had missed something.

"There were these things, and they looked like they were gonna to eat us. Like that vacuum cleaner," she said.

Getting eaten by a vacuum cleaner wasn't actually possible, but Cindy was too exhausted to argue.

"Those alien things?" Cindy asked. "Cassandra cleared them away."

She looked around the burned-down street of houses. She assumed that her own house was reduced to ash, just like most of the houses here.

"So, we all don't have to hide?" Mallory asked, letting out a long sigh and looking around. "The other three went to the plaza, while I stayed on the lookout."

"I need Scarlett," Cindy said.

"Why? What happened? Did something bad happen?" Mallory began to ask.

Cindy remained silent but walked with Mallory to the destroyed plaza. She saw Mark and Angel search through the rubble of the buildings while looking around a piece of broken road.

Scarlett first saw her with knitted eyebrows, clearly confused by her arrival.

"Something happened," Cindy announced, loud enough for Mark and Angel to look back.

"Did Ashley burn camp?" Angel panicked.

Cindy grabbed Scarlett's forearm to bop her inside the trailer. Her eyes grew wide as she looked for an answer.

"Cassandra collapsed from exhaustion," Cindy said quietly. "And Jade and Esme were killed while she was there."

It's what she assumed happened when she arrived, but she didn't know the true reason.

Once Scarlett was inside the RV, Cindy bopped back to the highway, nearly stumbling when she landed.

Her head pounded instantly.

Teleporting this much sometimes made her feel sick.

She saw Nevaeh twirling a sparkler, while Emma and River stared quietly at the dark sky.

"I'm pretty sure they are going to fall over," Emma panicked, wiping away tears.

"They'll be fine," Nevaeh said.

Jason suddenly flew off the table and crashed onto dead grass.

Cindy eyes widened, as she saw Greyson struggling to prevent a large table from skidding to the ground.

"For the record, I didn't push him," he clarified.

Emma rushed to Greyson's side while Cindy slowly approached the scene. To her surprise, Jason wobbled back to his feet, seemingly unharmed.

"Wait... Ashley was supposed to be here," Greyson muttered.

"Nah, she's gone. Divina's unhinged-ass is hunting her down," Nevaeh chirped, spinning her sparkler like she was trying to make a point. "The good news is that she doesn't have your powers. Although, Esme and Jade were shot before we set off more fireworks."

Why hadn't Esme run away before she was shot? Wouldn't that have been the better option?

Unless Esme wasn't the first one shot.

Did that mean Jade was shot first, causing Esme to panic, and then Ashley shot them?

How did Divina not intervene?

There were endless questions, but only Cassandra has the answers.

"Eden burned down Uden Academy," Jason coughed.

"I knew it," Emma mumbled. "Bryce said that Eden can be just as crazy as Luke."

"Mia always says she used to burn things all the time," Nevaeh chimed in. "She's drugged people to get away from their illegal activities that they pulled at Uden."

Cindy used to think the crackheads were just reckless partiers who liked causing problems.

Now she realized they were dangerous because they balanced each other perfectly.

Bryce had the charm.

Mia produced the drugs.

Eden used violence.

And Will funded it all.

According to Nevaeh, Will had access to his parents' bank account without their knowledge, meaning they were draining his parents' money.

Was this why Zane teamed them all together? It wasn't just that they were all crazy, but they actually worked well together.

"Give me some of those fireworks," Greyson said, looking at River. He grabbed a black box and snatched it from his hands. "We'll give that thing a show."

Jason stumbled, attempting to catch up with where Greyson had been walking.

The five of them stared for a moment before Nevaeh started running around with a sparkler in her hand. It burned just like their world had in since all of this started.

Maybe Cassandra could still get them out once she recovers.

If Ashley didn't kill someone first.

If Divina didn't do something reckless.

If any of them survived long enough.

She hated this game.

And it finally felt like the end was coming.

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