The cloudy sky surrounded the area, with hints of the blue sky visible. Jason already knew that it wasn't going to be five days of peace before his birthday came. There were large holes that kept appearing, mostly injuring or killing children. They still don't know Ashley's whereabouts, along with whatever Greyson has planned.

Staring at the large hole behind the daycare, Ilya glanced over at him with Bella beside him. It was exactly like one of the streets Zane and the fire department tried to fill.

"Half the time, she kept standing still!" Ilya panicked.

She didn't report it until yesterday, when someone told them their friend fell into the large hole. It wasn't just one person who fell in; there were four injured.

"People were shooting at her yesterday. Henry and Finn—I think their names are. Five people died yesterday," Ilya rambled.

The numbers are slowly decreasing, and it has been two weeks. According to Zane, someone has already committed suicide in this ruinous place. In the first week, someone found the place overwhelming. It's understandable if people already have a mental illness or are just acting out of fear. Jason wondered if, when you die inside the bubble, you wake up in the real world.

Standing, he glanced over at Bella. "Zane and Devon will come over soon," Jason said.

"Do you have any idea what's happening?" Ilya asked. "Is someone attempting to hurt us?"

It was obvious that Ashley was out to hurt them, and people were being reckless, but he didn't want to create more chaos about this predicament. Eventually Ashley, or whoever they are, will get tired of creating holes in the ground.

"Just let us know if there's anything we should be concerned about," Ilya said. "Nevaeh informs us sometimes, but I'm not sure if it's always the truth."

Jason nodded his head and walked away with Bella. He didn't realize how easy it was for Nevaeh to get her hands on information through her mind. The last time he saw the girl was when she peeked into the house to confirm some gossip she had obtained about their injuries.

"Has Esme discovered anything to stop the disappearance?" Jason asked Bella.

"Nothing at the moment that even Nevaeh doesn't know any gossip about Greyson and the others. They don't seem to care much about other people's problems," Bella grumbled, shaking her head.

"With Greyson's demands, Luke's torture, and Scarlett's actions, they don't have anything secretive to hide," Jason said.

He looked toward the large hole before looking at Bella again. Her lips were pressed into a thin line, staring down at the grass. "Can we talk about the other day?" she questioned, looking back at him.

The other day, when he had kissed her when he had woken up from having injuries that made his entire body ache. It was in the moment that everything just seemed to fade away, and it just felt right.

"Sorry about that," he said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"I'm okay with it," her voice whispered toward the end.

Jason widened his eyes as she looked at him with a smile. He placed a hand on her cheek, kissing her again. Pulling back, they both smiled, beginning to walk into the plaza.

Holding her hand, Jason still saw small blood stains on the sidewalk, despite being sprayed down with a hose. There was extra security placed around town, between stores, or beside wooden benches. They all stood with weapons, and there were people he didn't even recognize before.

One boy named Maverick stood with his dark eyes narrowed as they walked past the boy. When Jason noticed he held a gun, he stopped in his tracks.

"I thought we weren't using guns for security?" Jason questioned.

"Greyson says downtown gets guns. Why are you scared?" Maverick snarled, a glare still resting on his face. "Your little girlfriend is quite cute."

Maverick reached a hand toward her, but instead of Jason slapping his hand away, that energy glowed out of his hands. It sliced off four of Maverick's fingers, sending them to the ground.

Maverick raised his hand slowly, maintaining a hard glare. There was blood pooling down his hand from his sliced fingers, which were only red nubs.

Jason then spotted large spiders starting to crawl up his arm. They were of different sizes and types that started to eat his flesh. He screamed, trying to get the small ones off. They wouldn't go away; they just spread between his pants and arms.

"What's wrong? Did your beam hit you?" Bella panicked.

He didn't understand what was going on. There were more spiders appearing from the ground that were crawling on his neck or picking at his skin, but none of them would come off. Suddenly, all the spiders dropped to the ground and disappeared.

Jason feared spiders, like most people did. One time, when he was younger, a spider climbed on his face while he was sleeping in the middle of the night. When he hit it off his face, it ended up just crawling up his bedroom wall, and his mother had to kill it. Spiders have been his greatest fear ever since.

"That's what you get for burning my fingers off," Maverick snarled, his right hand revealing only his thumb.

"You did those spiders?" Jason growled, feeling sweat all over his body.

Maverick attempted to wrap his hand in a piece of cloth from his shirt. It wasn't working, but it was mainly soaking up the blood that was running down his hand.

"Yup," Maverick firmed, smirking, still holding the gun in his opposite hand. "You can depose my fingers, right? It's your fault." He held his gun out, wobbly, toward him. "If you don't, I'll shoot."

Jason hesitated, but Maverick still held the gun pointed directly at him. Slowly, he walked toward where he stood, his narrow fingers sliced on the ground. Looking around, there was nothing in sight he could use.

The other security guards were staring, while one ended up vomiting on the grass. Using his own hand, he grabbed them quickly and threw them into the knocked-over garbage.

"At least you now know what you're gonna be messing with," Maverick sneered. "Spiders aren't the only things I can make you see."

That was one supernatural power he didn't want to mess with. How did that even work? Did the person just know their fear automatically?

Jason pulled Bella along, gulping without looking back at Maverick. Opening the Burger King door, they stumbled toward the front counter. Nelson glanced over at him, eyebrows knitted, with another girl walking with him.

"Juice, if you have it," Jason breathed out, leaning on the black counter.

"Only orange left," Nelson said, grabbing two mini bottles from the fridge.

They both grabbed the juice and chugged it. The sickening sight was still deep in his mind before he rushed to grab napkins, swallowing his drink. Holding his napkin to his mouth, Bella did the same, except she stared at the self-serve machine for drinks.

"That was sickening," she coughed out, still not looking at him.

"What happened?" Nelson asked as he came around and stood near them.

"I burned off someone's fingers," Jason breathed. "This stuff comes out of my hands and can burn anything."

"I can't get the picture out," she mumbled, clenching her hands, while slowly sitting down on the beige tile flooring.

Jason put his hand out as she tentatively stood, hugging him with closed eyes. They then heard a cough and were looking around for any sign of where it came from.

"Did you cough?" Jason questioned.

"I don't think this place is haunted," Nelson said.

"Now there are ghosts..." Bella trailed now on her feet.

Looking around, Jason then spotted a figure that appeared faint. It was as if an outline had been drawn, only it was clear.

"Someone's here," he called.

Preston showed himself in the middle of the dining room, drinking a can of Coke casually. He looked back and forth around the store before eyeing them again.

"He's from Uden!" Bella exclaimed, pointing at him.

"Have you been robbing here?" Nelson blunted it.

"I had been asked to follow you," Preston remarked, sitting on the table, staring at Bella. Taking another drink from the can, he set it back down on the table.

"Follow me?" Jason gawked.

"Seeing if you found that ugly girl," Preston said, his mouth in a thin line. "The one with ginger hair and glasses? Ring a bell?"

Jason knew that Preston was talking about Ashley. It's not like Greyson and his group could do much now that she melts holes or has that purple substance in her body. No, she isn't even the real Ashley anymore.

"Well, I don't know where she is," Jason spat.

Preston turned invisible once again while they all looked around. There was no sound except the cooking of food or talking outside. Bella spotted the door open, then closed quietly. Sometimes these abilities didn't scare her completely.

"Who's he talking about?" Nelson asked, adjusting the black Burger King cap he wore.

"Ashley," Jason said, but he didn't include that she was his stepsister.

It didn't feel right to say when he had a biological twin who had his own ideals and resentment stored inside. There was spying, searching, and kidnapping among the mix of injuries, deaths, and survivors in this place.

"I think Greyson has something planned before we vanish," Jason sighed.

Luke dragged Henry with a thick rope. He was unconscious, with blood dripping down his face. Unfortunately, Greyson wouldn't allow him to kill him. He thought about throwing him into the lake, but that would kill him. It was his fault for shooting recklessly. Don't they know the best would be sneak attacks?

"Look!" he heard a deep voice, glancing back to see Maverick holding up his hand without four fingers. Luke dragged Henry toward where Maverick stood, a gun under his armpit. "Jason did this."

Luke wore a sly smile because this was perfect. The Dipstick, figuring out how to fully use his powers, becomes bad for Greyson but not for Luke.

"Guess I'm going to kill him," Luke sneered.

Maverick frowned at the boy, while Luke grabbed his gun. He looked down at Henry and dropped him to the floor with a thump.

"Bring Henry to Greyson," Luke said, grinning, walking toward one of the SUVs. Shutting the door, he sped down to Simcoe, his gun and hammer on the seat beside him.

At one point, he overlooked the fact that he had hit two children, thinking they had been rocks. He didn't stop and look, but he wanted to kill Jason before Greyson could.

People dodged out of the way while he drove through the grass, hitting mailboxes or, when the fun ended, crashing into a parked car. He felt like one of those players in Grand Theft Auto, driving however he wanted. Looking around, he tried to figure out what road he was on. Just house after house, with some staring or crying.

Jumping out of the cracked window, he walked around. His arms and legs were cut by the broken glass with blood dripping down them, but he didn't feel it. Going to the opposite side, he grabbed the hammer and hid the gun under his waistband. As he searched the streets, many screamed upon seeing him.

It wasn't Uden Academy following the rule that killing wasn't okay anymore. This was the bubble where anything was okay in his mind. If he murdered someone, he could pass the blame to someone else. If he could pass it on to Scarlett, that would be great.

Scarlett, the arrogant bitch who was always by Greyson's side. If Greyson did end up disappearing, he'd leave her right away. Nobody would be there for her, which would leave her helpless, and he could eventually kill her too.

Greyson had always punished someone who threatened her. It was how he stopped the bullet that killed David. The kid had been stupid enough to even think that he wouldn't reflect the bullet.

"You look like trash." Luke plastered on a sly smile.

"Esme," Luke spat.

Esme was one of those freaks who started developing powers where she could run around all the time at the speed of light. Those freaks got on his last nerve, especially the ones that were harder to torture.

"Why are you being chaotic with everything?" Esme asked with a hand on her hip, glancing at the hammer he held.

"It's fun," Luke snarled, grinning with a shark-like smile.

Esme still held her ground, despite the insane student who stood in front of her who may have killed someone. She knew what he could be capable of, but she wouldn't fear him.

"Where's Jason?" Luke demanded.

"Does it matter?" She turned her frown into a smirk. "I may know, but you can't catch me, Lukey."

Esme waved a hand before speeding off in a straight direction. Luke looked around for any sort of transportation. That little speed demon already pissed him off. Spotting a mountain bike on the street, he grabbed it, sat down, and peddled hard down the street. When he reached the main plaza, Luke glanced back and forth multiple times. When he stopped the bike, a devious smirk was plastered on his face.

"Can't hide the truth from me," he muttered.

Luke sped his way into the Burger King, seeing Esme on the ground while Jason and the slut were inside. There was another boy he recognized from the meeting they had, but he was irrelevant to him.

"Easy work," Luke said, holding up the hammer like a baseball bat and waving it back and forth.

He smashed the glass of the door with the hammer that shattered part of it. He kicked the rest of the glass away and entered with a devious grin. Esme was attempting to stand from her shoes being destroyed, which left him with one thought.

"Maverick told me about your little incident," Luke said, stepping on Esme's back when she tried to stand.

"So, you've come to kill me? Are you crazy?" Jason panicked, facing his hands toward him.

"Most say yes. I just want to kill you before your disappearance happens," Luke implied.

"It had just been an accident!"

Luke shook his head, slamming the hammer into the side of a booth. It smashed a hole into it as he yanked it out, the plastic pieces crumbling to the ground.

"Accident or not, I'd come to kill you anyway," Luke snarled, holding the hammer up and looking between the two in front. "Who wants to go first? I'm in the mood to play golf."

"Bella, run with Esme and get out of here!" Jason exclaimed.

"That wasn't what I wanted to do," Luke said, sidestepping Bella's exit.

He swung the hammer at a chair, knocking it to the ground. Staring at the chair for a moment, he grabbed the grey chair with one hand.

"Chair or hammer?" Luke asked, pointing toward Bella first. "Actually, I'm enjoying trashing this place." He slammed the hammer into another booth that had been set up in the store.

"Stop!" Jason exclaimed.

Luke glanced over, seeing Esme slowly dragging herself across the floor. Speeding over, he stepped on her back, causing her to slam flat on the floor.

"Think you can hide from me a second time?" Luke spoke, holding the long hammer at the side of her skull. "Maybe we can play field hockey instead?"

He grinned, kicking her side before stepping off her back. Esme cried out in pain, making Luke laugh in pleasure. It was always an enjoyable sight to see people in pain.

"You're sick!" Bella exclaimed, making him look back at the girl.

"I despise girls," he spat. "They're annoying and judgmental about everything."

Luke approached Bella, but before that, blue energy beams came shooting out of Jason's hands. It sliced the hammer in half on the handle and fell to the floor.

"Field hockey would get pretty boring," Luke sighed, grabbing the gun hidden under his waistband. "I enjoy shooting games a lot better," he shot bullets in different directions around the dining room.

In that split second of intense firing, Esme threw her shoe toward the gun, sending it flying into the kitchen area. In the mix of all that, one bullet ended up hitting a girl in the chest. Luke glared at Esme, who was wobbling to get onto her feet again.

"You have bloody feet and are trying to stop me?" Luke taunted, grabbing one half of the hammer and slamming it against her thigh. It made her scream, with tears forming in her eyes, trembling. "Just like the doctor's office," he grinned, glancing back over at Jason. "I'm sure this isn't the only fight we'll have."

Luke laughed, picking up the bike with one hand. He left the store and spotted some of his stupid security running toward him. Half of these people didn't understand that using a weapon for defence was better than using stupid words to make everything fine.

"Did you hear what happened to Maverick?" One fair-skinned boy with a nose piercing asked.

"Don't worry, I've taken care of business," Luke snarled.

Nevaeh walked behind, her lips pressed into a thin line. One of those Simcoe freaks who could hear dark secrets. It allowed her to find information that didn't need to be found.

"Ashley created more holes," Nevaeh stated.

"So? Big deal," Luke dismissed, leaning on the black bike handles.

"Killing a whole bunch of kids," Nevaeh implied.

"Well, I guess I found someone else I want to kill."

It was then that he felt a hard kick to the back, sending him flying to the ground. He glared back, expecting it to be Esme or Jason, but he saw the person he hated more than anyone.

"Coming to preach about my work?" he growled.

Her dark eyes were calloused, wearing a hard glare. Scarlett wasn't the only girl he wanted to see suffer the consequences of her actions; it was the girl in front of him.

"Of course not, but if you start getting on my nerves, my violence will come out again. And last I checked, I beat you."

Greyson slowly set the broken cement blocks into the large hole in the wall. Isaac and Oscar had made extra cement blocks, but they weren't turning out well. They kept crumbling to the ground, or they weren't strong enough to lift them, so he had to use his own power.

"Don't you want to keep that hole? It looks pretty flashy," Scarlett remarked, hands on her hips and wearing her famous smirk.

"I'm getting better at this," Greyson implied, slowly placing another cement block in.

"Fantastic." Her voice dripped with sarcasm.

"I'll be the next one to vanish in a couple of days," he stated.

"And we figured out a way to stop it," Scarlett spat. "Plus, don't you want to confront your brother about this war? The one you want to issue?"

Greyson glanced over at her while she frowned. "Well, Stick has been doing some work lately," he implied.

"The guy looked like a wild rabbit. I don't think he'll end up killing them," Scarlett remarked.

Greyson looked over at the cement blocks that weren't completely broken or busted. Oscar and Isaac had attempted to make it, but that hadn't been successful. Looking up at the hole that had been half filled, he twisted his mouth.

"He will," Greyson snapped.

Stick could carry out the task he had given him. If he has already killed some girl by hitting her with a car and then throwing her body in a ditch, he'd be committing the same actions.

"And you have a plan out of all this?" Scarlett mimicked.

"When don't I have a plan?" Greyson inquired.

Time was ticking until his birthday arrived, when he'd turn fifteen. Apparently that would be the age at which he would disappear, but that wouldn't happen now that they knew how to stop the vanishing from occurring. All he had to do was decline whatever offer he was given.

Scarlett walked inside the school when he spotted Preston and Maverick appear. "Well?" he started while the two just glanced at each other.

One of the first things he noticed was the bloody bandages that were around Maverick's fingers. No, they weren't even fingers, but nubs like he cut off his fingers. The last time he checked, he was guarding around the main plaza, since that was where the shooting had occurred.

"Luke went to kill Jason," Preston implied.

"He didn't end up killing him, but he killed a girl," Maverick grumbled.

"Bella?" Greyson asked.

"Her name was Becky, I think," Preston said.

It was better than him ending up killing Bella, but Luke would still get punished for disobeying. People weren't supposed to be getting killed, especially if he wanted to succeed at everything.

"Jason did this," Maverick said, holding up his hand.

Now that he has a closer look, Maverick's right hand has lost all of his fingers except his thumb. None of his bones on his fingers were present, which meant Emma must've healed them.

Greyson heard the door open and heard Scarlett's sardonic laugh. "You get those caught in the fridge?"

"Jason burned them off," Maverick growled. "This blue stuff came out of his hands. It reminded me of slime."

Jason is using his powers to injure people. It wouldn't be best to send himself yet, but there could be another alternative.

"You two, make sure Henry's group takes them. I'll talk to Luke when he gets back," Greyson explained.

Both of them rushed off, while Greyson wore a cynical smile at Scarlett. All she had was an eyebrow raised at the boy.

"Do they even know what girl it is?" Her voice was dull.

"Of course they do," Greyson spat.

"There's no goddess here," she plainly said.

She passed him a piece of paper. It has been written about all the freaks inside Simcoe who have developed supernatural abilities. Between not even knowing what their actual ability is and their rank.

"James has reviewed all of the data that has been reported," Scarlett implied.

"Keep checking," Greyson said.

"Greyson, this is what we have," Scarlett spat.

Turning, she walked away from him. Whoever this goddess is, they are a threat. If god or whoever they are were afraid, then somewhere that person would have greater powers.

How could it be possible that someone had a rank higher than high? That wasn't possible here. Only two people had high ranks: Jason and himself.

Since those wounded Simcoe people would be fetching Bella, it'd give him an opportunity to get everything sorted. He's been at Simcoe most of the time, and he's left a couple of people in charge.

The door opened this time to Bryce Cross, his entire body pale. He wobbled over and fell to the ground, with the door supporting him on his side. "Trevor has been refusing to feed the freaks," he rasped. "Locked us in the cafeteria."

The cafeteria has barely been used since everything has been raided. Trevor was supposed to be one of those working on who distributes food, but that seemed to have changed when he left for Wasaga Beach.

Greyson walked past Bryce, and he went toward the dining hall, where they all ate. Everyone had their own spot and couldn't move away from it. Walking into the long dining hall with a small area to get food, he spotted some of the freaks being surrounded in the corner. Half the student body froze, especially those with food.

Trevor laughed with fries while Greyson picked him up with his mind, bringing him toward him. Using his other hand, he threw those surrounded by the food into the wall. Chairs toppled over to the ground while those who were guarding the freaks got thrown to the opposite side of the room.

"Bryce told me you're apparently starving freaks." Greyson jabbed.

Greyson plastered a cold smile, picking up the whole table with food and placing it toward the freaks. Some of them slowly stood and rushed over, eating some of the snacks and fries that had been on the table.

"All those involved in this incident aren't getting food in here," Greyson ordered, still keeping Trevor in the air.

"That's not fair! Just because you have powers, you'll get treated differently," Andrew Zimmer exclaimed.

"Are you testing me?" Greyson hissed as the kid who spoke stood. Using his opposite hand, he carried him in the air upside down. "If I catch you sneaking food, I'll have Luke punish you."

Everyone has been doing their ideals wrong lately. Some have been listening, which they're smart about. Seeing Scarlett leaning against the wall near the gym, she raised her eyebrows.

"Trevor Wilton and Andrew Zimmer," Scarlett rolled on her tongue. "What will they get the honour to do?"

Greyson walked into the gym while she followed behind. Since they didn't murder or neglect the actions they were told, it had to be a different approach to this situation. He could always ask Maverick or Eden to use their powers against them since they weren't involved in those who had gotten starved.

"Strip," Scarlett said, making Greyson just glance at her.

"No way!" Andrew gawked while Scarlett walked close to him, setting a hand on his cheek.

"What's the matter? Scared because I'm here?" Scarlett purred.

"I'm not stripping," Andrew gulped with sweat on his forehead.

Greyson lifted him higher, toward where the fans were. The sharp blades got closer to Andrew's black hair, with his green eyes growing wide.

"Fine! Just put me down!" Andrew gave in.

Trevor began to scream when he started lifting him in the air. "Let me down!" he exclaimed, trying to move around, but that wouldn't happen.

The fan blade came close to his shoulder before he gave in. Greyson let him go from above, making Scarlett step away from where the boy would land. Trevor landed standing, hearing the cracking of his ankles. He cried out in agony while Scarlett guided the skinny boy out of the gym and toward one of the SUVs. Public humiliation has always been the last resort to punishment.

"You're coming with me," Greyson ordered, going toward the same SUV. He threw him in the back while Scarlett sat in the back seat, crossing her legs.

"Don't worry, boys," Scarlett said.

Greyson started it and sped back, opening the sunroof in the process. The wind blew inside while they reached Simcoe in a short amount of time.

Greyson looked back at the two. "This is what happens when you go against my orders," he growled.

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-Lexi