All eyes in the cafe turn towards him. Not a sound is made. Everyone is frozen in place.

"What are you waiting for? Get him!" Someone shrieks, but instead of getting him, the cafe empties out quickly, everyone is climbing over everyone, fighting to get out of that tiny door. Issa stands there, and stares at me.

"Go! Get out of here!" I mouth to her. She nods her head, and queues behind the group of people trying to force their way out that small ass door.

I grab his hand and bring him quickly into the kitchen. I turn around and lock the door, pushing whatever heavy objects I can find to block it.

"Why is your face on that screen? Did you actually murder someone?" I ask, my voice quaking along with his shivering hands. His beady eyes look at me and his usually gruff voice is an octave higher.

"No, please, believe me, I don't know why my face is up there!" We look at each other for a brief moment, and he clasps my hands. I nod.

"Then we need to get you the hell out of here," I say, and hurriedly look around for a nearest escape route. A window, a back door, anything! I immediately sprint to the back door, and try to open it, but it's jammed shut. I hop over the counters to pry the window open, but it's also locked. We're basically trapped.

I can hear the sirens ringing in the air, and see the red and blue lights flashing. We're fucking trapped here. We're stuck.

"Hide kid," Franklin says quietly, his gruff voice is back, but I can hear it trembling. "Hide. It's not you they want, it's me."

"No, I can't leave you here!" I yell, before cupping my hand over my mouth. The police don't know we're in the kitchen. "We don't know what the hell they want with you!" I say softly but sternly this time.

Bang! Bang! "Open up! It's the police!" I hear a man shout, and the door is being hit repeatedly. Someone is trying to kick the door down. Fuck. There's no way out. We're stuck here. What the hell do we do? Bang! It looks like the door will give in at any moment. Franklin steps forward and pushes me behind him. Ash! Open up that space now! I'm trying.

"Get the hell away from here kid," he says forcefully, glaring at me. "As your boss, this is your final order. You didn't mean to be here. I forced you to be with me."

"Hell no! That's not what I'm going to say. I'm not going to stab you in the back after all you've done for me!"

"What the hell has this old man done for you? I can't give you anything! I'm an old man that's going to die soon!"

"You've given me a job even though I don't have a fucking ID!"

"Because A- Demitra forced me to!"

"You said I fucking matter to you!" There's temporary silence, except for the sound of the banging on the door.

"Yes you do kid," he mumbles. "You do. Please. So do the old man a favour, and protect yourself. Condemn me if it's the last thing you do. Get out of here, alive. Promise me."

I look at him, and I don't say anything. More boxes fall to the floor. A dent in the door has formed.

"Promise me," he grits his teeth, not looking me in the eyes.

"I promise," I reluctantly say, not knowing what the hell to do anymore. Ash. Ash, bring me into the damn room so we can fucking think. Sorry I've been trying. What? It's not working. I can't bring you into the room. TRY HARDER!

Boom! The door falls, and a buff, two feet tall policeman hovers directly over us. Gun pointed directly at the old man. Franklin slowly raises both of his hands, backing up slowly as he goes. He suddenly grabs the kitchen knife, and puts it dangerously near my throat.

"Let me go! Or I'll kill this kid!" He shouts, and I know what the hell he's doing. Oh my fucking god. No. Don't you dare Frank. I want to kick him in the knees, and I want to turn around and hit him.

Behind him, I can see a full force of policemen hovering around. We're surrounded. Rage bubbles up within me. Who the hell are they and what do they want to do with Franklin? Why is life so fucking unfair?

They want you dead. Ash's voice isn't...like her anymore. It's back. It's back, it's back. The hissing in my ears. The black fog that is clouding my vision. They want the both of you dead. They want to kill Franklin. Good old Franklin.

No! Fear grasps me and I can't escape. All I can see in my eyes is her...my foster mother...her eyes full of fear and plea. 'Save me,' she says. Except she isn't her anymore. She morphs into Franklin, chained and cuffed, being pulled away as his eyes are begging me to help him. I feel helpless as I stand there and reach my hand out. No!

Let me take over. Ash's voice overcomes me. Let me take over. I can save both of you.

She can save...both of us...I can slowly feel the fire burning in my chest. Rising higher and higher, and wood added to the flames. They'll kill Franklin. Her voice echoes in my mind again and again like it's on a broken recorder. They'll kill him. I start groaning and hitting my head, hoping that if I hit it hard enough I'll knock her out of my body. Out of my life.

"Kid, what's wrong?" I can only vaguely hear his voice. Frankie. Frankie...

Just trust me. Don't you want the old man to live?

My body has already lost control of itself. It's only my mind that's left fighting. My hand is reaching for the knife in my shoe. The pictures of the massacre that Ash created flash in my mind. The blood. The bodies. Me.

"No!" I start to say, but Ash wraps her hand around my mouth and leans in closely to my ear. My eyes are watering, as my irises move to the corner of my eye.

You want this. You know you do. You know you want to save him.

His face becomes clear in my mind. I stare at his face for a long while.

"I mean I see you kid," his voice echoes.

I'm barely breathing when I finally say...yes.

Done.

Everything goes black.

...

"Avery, Avery!" A voice hisses, and I can feel someone shaking me violently. I groan, and feel a sharp stabbing pain in my stomach. When I wake up, I feel weak, I'm trembling, and I can't breathe properly. My vision comes in and out of focus.

"Avery, are you okay?" Franklin. Franklin. Franklin! I shoot upright, ignoring the fact that my stomach hurts so much I want to pass right out again.

"What happened? Frank, are you okay?" I grab his arms, and pull him close, then I check his body for any injuries.

"Am I okay? Look out for yourself first you idiot!" He shouts, and pushes me back down. When I look down, I realise that there's blood staining a white cloth around my waist. The pain suddenly becomes unbearable, and I scream. I scream because I also suddenly see...her.

"I love...you..." her voice echoes in my head. Again and again. I love you. I love you. I love youiloveyouiloveyouiloveyouiloveyouiloveyouILOVEYOUILOVEYOUILOVEYOUILOVEYOU.

Her blood is all over my hands. Her blood is all over her face. Her neck cracks. Her eyes bulge.

"AAAA!" I sat up again, drenched in my own sweat.

"Kid, you alright?" Franklin asks, for what must be like the hundredth time.

"Yeah," I mutter, with barely any strength to speak.

"What happened?" I ask, and the same thing happens again. Every time I try to remember what happened, all I see is fog, and black spots, and all I can hear are gunshots.

"What happened? What do you mean what happened? You went fucking nuts!" he says, eyes shrinking in fear. "You were like a completely different person. You fucking. You..." He stops talking, and shudders, like he's saying something forbidden.

"Where are we, then, how did we get here?"

"Where are we? How would I know? You brought us here!"

"How?"

"Kid, do you have amnesia or something? You teleported us here." I...teleported? Teleported...

Ash. What happened? Ash? Ash? Silence. Dead drop silence. For once in a long time, I can't hear Ash. Ash isn't speaking to me. This isn't funny Ash. Come out Ash, I know you're listening. Nothing. Silence. Ugh, whatever.

"What's the plan now?" I ask, looking over at Franklin.

"Kid, we're on the run. I think I know why we're on the run. I think they're after you too. Your face will appear on the news."

"No shit Sherlock, I literally attacked the police," I mumble. He shoots a glare at me, and I shut my mouth.

"Not that idiot, I think they're after people like us."

"What do you mean people like us?"

"With powers." There's a silence after what he says. Utter and complete silence. I can't process this right now. My brain is too tired.

"Powers? You have powers?" I ask, incredulously.

"Yea, I have 'em too kid." he mumbles, so softly that I can't hear him quite right. I must have misheard him. He has them too?

"What can you do?"

"I can track people," he says, and ruffles his hair. "And I can turn invisible." I immediately frown.

"Then why the hell didn't you turn invisible?"

"Cuz you were there kid. They would've taken you. I can't turn you invisible."

"But...but we could've...never mind." After all this while, he's telling me, he can literally turn invisible, and we could have gotten away, unharmed. He could have turned invisible. And I could have pretended not to see him. And we could have gotten away.

"No we couldn't have," Franklin sighs. "I know what you're thinking. But they knew you kid. They recognised you."

"Recognise me?"

"Yes, they did. They called you Avery. Even though I never gave them your name."

"When?"

"I think at some point you seemed to have blanked out, and at that moment that policeman said, 'Let go of Avery, Franklin'."

"They...how...I..."

"Were you on the news before?"

"Well, yes but...I changed my appearance." I mumble, not realising what I just said. Franklin looks at me in horror, everything falling into place for him. He stumbles back, moving away from me.

"You! You--" his trembling finger is pointing directly at me. "You...You're the boy...that killed your foster family?"

"Yes," I say, calmly, because I know he won't understand. He will never understand. We did it for us. Oh now you want to talk? But I wave her away because Franklin is more important right now. His eyes are shrinking in fear. "I'm not going to kill you, I just saved your life didn't I?"

"Okay, okay. Anyhow, where the hell are we?" he asks.

I can't really see. It's dim, but I know I'm in a bedroom. A bedroom. Fuck. The anime posters on the walls. The pictures...the art pieces and pins...I know where the hell we are and I do not like it.

"...My foster brother's room..." I muttered. Ash what the hell you brought us here? Back to where I committed my crimes? Directly at the crime scene? I start shaking violently, because now I have realised it I can't unrealise where we are. All I can fucking see is the blood splatters everywhere, all I can feel is the fear that I always had staying in this place.

There is nowhere else to go. I sigh at this, and sit up in bed. Wondering what the hell I have gotten myself into.

...

A lady with long hair that reached her chest is facing a mirror. She delicately twists the lipstick, until just a little bit is peaking out. She opens a pocket mirror, even though there is a big one right in front of her. This is her regular daily routine. First, take care of her face. Skin care. Then, apply makeup. Last of all, apply the final touches, such as her favourite blood red lipstick. Regardless of the day, this is what she absolutely must do. Even if there's nothing planned for the day ahead.

Footsteps are heard in the corridor, and a smile tugs at her lips. She can't wait for the news her head chief of the police will deliver to her. She expects nothing but the best news from them.

"Open the door," she waves her hand to her assistant, who bows and quickly swings the door open.

"You lost them, Henry?" Snap. She snaps her pocket mirror shut. This was not the news she had been expecting at all. And she does not like it when things do not go the way she planned. "How? I put everything in place for you! There was no way for them to escape."

"Sorry, ma'am. We weren't expecting one of them to be a teleporter," A police officer with defined, buff muscles and veins tracing them, bows. His head is held low, like a puppy being scolded by its master.

"Teleporter?"

"Yes ma'am,"

"Which one?"

"The teenager, Avery, ma'am."

"Avery...But why didn't you cuff them? Before they could use their powers?" She knows that it is true, they don't know what powers Avery has. But she's not going to give in to any of their excuses.

"Well ma'am...Avery went berserk. He nearly killed all of us," Henry lifts up his hand, to show it wrapped in bandages, 2 fingers are missing. "If Lucious hadn't stabbed the boy, we would all be dead."

She swings her chair around and crosses her legs, right over left, and rests her chin on both hands.

"So you're telling me, a fully armed police force with at least 10 men, couldn't handle...an injured teenager?" She enunciates the last word, and it rings in the air. The room becomes darker, a black cloud forming directly above their heads. Henry gulps, as he feels the static all around them. Ready to strike at any given moment.

"Sorry, ma'am."

Crack! The lightning strikes with a deafening sound in the room. Missing him by just a hair. He, although built like a fierce bear, is shivering like a mouse cornered by its predator.

"You better find them," She demands, tracing her lip with a freshly polished nail. "Or you know what's next."

With that, she waves her hand in the air, and turns her chair back to the mirror. Why must I do everything myself? She thinks to herself. She's certain that a second chance won't help them capture the people she wants. Rage bubbles up within her. She had them right in the palm of her hand, she set up everything perfectly in place for them. And they had failed. The two slipped away as easily as snakes.

The door behind her clicks. And so does her tongue.

She'll find them. She'll find them all.

If it's the last thing she does.