It was challenging to find ways to repair a twenty-foot hole. The hole was so wide that it was difficult to see the bottom, and trying to throw a rope down and pull them up wasn't going to work. Esme started running in and out while they used what was left of the rope from the hardware store, but many were injured.

Zane wasn't exactly sure where they'd get enough dirt to cover it. If they were to put a tarp over the hole, that would just create more chaos. Before the incident, some had just been biking when someone noticed Ashley just standing there before randomly disappearing when the hole was made.

There were twenty children that fell into the hole, eleven of whom died, and the remainder were injured. Esme is now exhausted, and there are still about two more bodies to be extracted. Hooking the clip through his belt loop, Xander and Yara carefully helped him into the hole.

He gripped the rope tightly and clutched a second rope in his own hand. One child lay flat on the ground, while the other one visibly had a snapped neck, even from a distance. Either both were dead, or one was at least alive. He grabbed the one lying face down first when he reached the bottom of the hole and felt for her pulse, but there was no heartbeat.

"Dead!" he called.

Zane tied the second rope around the girl to get her to the surface. The two pulled him back to the surface, where he saw the body they brought up. When he laid the young girl down, there were no direct injuries visible.

Once they lowered him to grab the last one, he noticed that purple substance near some of the water that was in the hole. More of this unknown substance? Xander pulled him back up, setting the last body on the road.

"We have a lot to bury," Xander stated, pulling over a green wheelbarrow.

They couldn't exactly ask Uden for their cars or pile them all in the fire truck. He still wasn't exactly the best driver either, and he didn't want this turning into a hit-and-run. Yara and Xander had grabbed two wheelbarrows, bringing three bodies back and forth to Clifton Park to be buried.

Zane did this with Talia Denton, who held the opposite handle with two hands. The girl had a large scar along her cheek, dark brown eyes, and dark hair that went to her chin. From what he recalled, she was one of Ashley's friends, but she hasn't spoken to the girl since this all started.

"Eleven bodies." Talia's voice was firm, despite her age.

Xander began carrying more of the children into the graves that some others had begun digging. There were about three of them helping out by lining them all up side by side.

"How did this incident occur?" Greyson questioned them, walking over toward them.

"One of the injured said Ashley created it somehow," Zane stated.

"Someone said it came from her feet," Yara implied.

Zane didn't have any other explanation of what may have caused it other than Ashley. Maybe people have started to develop more of those supernatural powers.

"So, it melted the surface?" Greyson inquired as Zane nodded, grabbing one of the shovels that he had under his armpit.

"Whoa." Zane looked over, spotting Scarlett.

"Did you rank Ashley wrong?" Greyson snapped.

"When I ranked her, she was low. Did she cause that hole and these deaths?" Scarlett asked.

"I think that substance enhanced it," Yara implied, making the two look over at her. "I'm the one who first found Ashley after she fell. It went inside her knee like fluid, but it leaked out."

"Do you know where she went off to?" Greyson questioned.

"We don't have a clue," Xander said.

Greyson walked off while Scarlett winked at Xander with a curled smirk. It made him rub the back of his neck, making her snicker when she walked away.

Zane said nothing about how Scarlett uses boys, apparently for her seductive skills. Knowing this, he wouldn't fall into her trap.

They set the bodies into the holes, each dug a few inches apart from each other. They covered them with the dirt they had dug up, while also using leaves or anything else that was around.

"Maybe we should just close the road," Talia suggested. "Construction workers do that when they have to repair the road."

"We'd have to tell people to move, and some people live there still," Xander explained.

"We could close it, but only those that live there could stay," Zane sighed.

He knew they couldn't get that much dirt from a field and start burying the hole. They'd need trailers and people to load up dirt from the empty fields. That might not work either, due to people wanting to dig through the holes.

"We could put cinder blocks around it." Xander suggested.

Zane attempted to think of the best proposition. If they wanted cinder blocks, they would have to create their own. His father did teach him how to create some ideas with cement, since he was a construction worker.

"Let's close the road and get cinder blocks," Zane said.

"We're going to need someone strong to help lift. I doubt the girls can." Both girls nodded at Xander's proposal.

Just the two of them creating and lifting could take days to do alone. Did anyone have supernatural powers to be able to lift heavy objects? Greyson could lift items with just his mind, but he wouldn't help them.

Burying the last body, all of them watched Talia put crafted crosses on each. They were all made from popsicle sticks that were different colours that were glued together. On the back, they'd try to write their full name in marker, but they didn't always know the person's name.

"Nobody has supernatural strength, right?" Zane questioned Xander.

"I did hear that someone in the main plaza started developing it," Xander said, running a hand through his afro.

Zane then spotted Devon Horne walking toward the graveyard. The boy held a wide grin, almost jumping every time he took a step. He noticed how his one arm seemed a lot more muscular and that there was a size difference between the two arms. Unless he had some type of illness, he had to be the one with superhuman strength.

"I'm super strong," Devon boasted as he skipped around in a circle. "I'm so much cooler than others."

"We need you to help us create cinder blocks," Zane said.

"Maybe Greyson will give you something," Yara added.

Greyson had become the mayor of The Bubble, and nobody dared dismiss him. It seemed to spark a light inside Devon. Have these been actions that students at Uden have taken? Using people for just goals rather than actual power? Even if it seemed that way, Zane wanted him to help in general.

"We're going to grab bags of gravel," Zane implied.

The two made their way toward the hardware store. It wasn't exactly certain that there would still be gravel there. Between the holes at Uden or even other ones, that may have been created somewhere else in this place.

Seeing the hardwood store, Zane had to first think of how to create cement. They didn't just sell it plain since it became its own mixture. Maybe gravel and clay could work? They often sold those types of supplies at the store.

In front of the hardwood stood Henry and Finn. Out of everyone, it had to be someone who had tried to kill Jason.

"What do you need?" Henry snapped, wearing a snarl.

"We need to make cinder blocks to cover the hole," Zane said.

Henry slightly laughed, holding a baseball bat in his right hand. "Fine," he spat, letting them through.

When they entered the store, most of the supplies had been raided. They searched the store for anything that could make it. Mainly, there were shelves of liquid paint or some boxes of screws. A lot of the shelves had been emptied of people grabbing tools to defend themselves or they were put away out of reach.

"Got some!" Devon called, effortlessly carrying two bags of gravel.

Zane ran to collect anything close to create blocks out of. Spotting some buckets, he grabbed a bunch of them. They were on a higher shelf, but once he grabbed them, he glanced over before slowly walking out of the dim hardware store. Devon walked behind him, carrying three thick bags.

People still crowded the streets, trying to go around them. It wasn't exactly the easiest process, since many still didn't know what to do. Nobody knew how their lives would end up in this place. From observation, that substance and Greyson's leadership meant a lot of chaos would be endured.

It wasn't the wounds that hurt Stick, but the flashback of hitting Vickie over and over was played on repeat. Wasn't he supposed to be playing soccer in America next year? Right, he'd been scouted by some coaches in Michigan. When he'd be running down the field, his brain focused on scoring that goal or looking for the best opening based on how each goalie stood.

Stick the golden boy, who has been friends with Henry for years. The main things they had in common were partying and liking soccer. It didn't often happen, but he always bonded with him.

Now, lying in this dark change room that smelled of sweat, which he didn't feel any motivation to move. It became likely that Luke would come back and beat him senseless.

Slowly, he sat up with his head lowered. Stick the murderer felt tattooed on his skin. Lifting an arm slightly, deep cuts ran up and down his arms that were no longer bleeding. His soccer shirt was ripped off, revealing bloody bruises all over his chest between his abdomen and even one on his shoulder.

Standing, he groaned, dropping back onto his knees. There were cuts on his legs and knees, while nobody seemed to notice he had disappeared. Stick, who could have gotten any girl he pleased with just a smile.

Before the bubble, it didn't matter between school and partying. He could get whatever he wanted by being captain on the soccer team or being assistant captain on the hockey team, since Nelson was the captain. With partying, it often happened on weekends, which drinking sounded like a fun idea to drink all the pain away.

Grabbing onto the wall, he slowly stood. Using his hand, he limped his way toward the changing room sinks. There were three small sinks, all with bacteria growing and stained blood. When he looked down at one of them there was a tooth, which made him want to throw up.

Next, he went to see if the door opened. He hobbled his way up the stairs, using the wooden railing to try and drag himself up. With limbs aching and arms stinging, it wasn't exactly the easiest thing for him. When he reached the top of the steps, he lightly pulled the door open.

Stick bit his lip and closed his eyes, whipping the door open with hard force. Throwing himself out of the stairs, he groaned on the floor. A bright light shone out of one window, with a wall in front of him.

Slowly, he placed a hand on the wall, pushing his body up. Leaning against the cold wall, he breathed heavily. There had to be something around here that could ease the pain. Walking in small steps, he wobbled his way down the halls. Classroom after classroom, from a science lab to a detention classroom, but there was no treatment room in sight.

Hobbling into another classroom, he spotted a couch. Automatically, he wobbled over and collapsed on his back. Pain ran through his body while he groaned.

Had this been a game room? It was comfortable but still painful, even just lying down on one couch. Henry may yell at him for being such a coward for taking all these injuries for killing Vickie and letting Esme go, but he couldn't fight back.

"Is that roadkill?" He heard a voice, and he opened his eyes.

"Looks like a cat scratcher," another voice heard.

One girl with short hair hovered over his face; her face scrunched up. Stick wasn't used to girls giving him the look of disgust, but he got the fawning from the girls.

"It's a guy!" another girl exclaimed, peering over at him and screaming in horror.

"Just leave him!" they yelled, running out of the room.

Looking for help didn't seem like an option anymore. He needed to clear his mind, which drinking alcohol seemed to be the only option he could think of. He knew drugs took too long, and he was a lightweight, which helped. Once he gets drunk, people may forgive him for his crimes.

While lost in his thoughts, Stick felt someone pulling him across the floor. He didn't even have the energy to open his eyes. Opening his eyes, he spotted Andrew Carters, making him widen his eyes. Fear was visible when he helped him through the halls.

"We need to get you out," he said, checking left and right.

Stick's impression of Uden Academy would be that it's a jail. They were forced to do whatever they ordered while being able to get away with anything. Pushing open a back door, his leg wounds seemed to open along the cement.

Andrew opened the door of a car parked out back, causing his heart to race. Car, road, and death. Vickie's dead body is somewhere in a ditch being decomposed. It made him tremble when he was pulled into the backseat. Andrew started the car that zigzagged down the highway to Simcoe.

"Where do you live?" Andrew called.

"76 Park Ave." Stick murmured.

After a few minutes, he felt the car stop and the door open while he was lying limp on the ground. Andrew pulled him out by his foot. Lying on the grass, he just stared up at the large oak tree in front of his house. Since he didn't know the kid, he had to consider the consequences if he stayed there. It made him slowly stand, grabbing the railing on the stone steps.

Opening the door, Andrew helped him toward the living room. Inside, a small couch and a recliner were in were places along with a TV and two coffee tables. He hobbled to the old recliner, and pulled down the handle to relax his body. It still stung all over when he grabbed some leftover popcorn from the bowl next to him. He started to eat the popcorn, despite how expired it may have been.

"I'll be leaving, and I'll tell Henry you're back," Andrew said.

Stick grabbed a half-empty beer bottle from beside a bowl and chugged it. When it was empty, he hobbled his way up, slowly going toward the basement door. Downstairs, they kept most of the liquor for parties or even just drinking in general. They often had sports celebrations during playoffs or hosted parties for New Years.

Walking down the stairs to the white-carpeted room, he wandered toward the polished bar. Boxes of beer bottles were stacked on the ground. Inside the mini fridge were some coolers, which he grabbed. Placing them all inside a box, he lifted it but stumbled while carrying it. His mind forgot that he had been beaten to the brim with blood and wounds.

Slowly, he used his ankles to slide them across the floor. In the process, he sat down on a comfy brown sofa. There were books lined up along a shelf, along with a television seated in between two shelves.

Grabbing a bottle, he popped the tab and drank it. The memory of Vickie haunted his mind while he drank continuously, until he couldn't even feel his own wounds.

Staring over the large hole in the middle of the street, Jason wasn't sure how to make sense of the situation. Placing cinder blocks and closing the road did help, but some people just stayed in their homes without moving. Even Devon, who could carry a large amount of weight with his left arm only, didn't cover the whole area.

Stepping closer toward the hole, he noticed how large it appeared. It wasn't just some pothole that made a bump in the middle of the road; this hole was huge and had killed more people than injured them.

"Ashley did this?" Bella asked.

It was like the one created at Uden in the wall. He wondered if destroying a certain space had become her power. There was no other explanation for the power. Even if Scarlett did rank her then, she had changed from who she was at the start.

"With her feet, apparently," Yara implied, standing off to the side to help with precautions.

First this grower, now creating holes anywhere through anything? Doesn't exactly give them the answers he has been retrieving. Plus, vanishing in a few days isn't exactly something he'd come to terms with.

It wasn't just wanting to stay to help out; it was staying with Bella. It made his neck feel hot, thinking that he had kissed her. Neither of them had spoken a word about the kiss that happened yesterday.

"Do you think I should try and find Ashley?" Jason questioned.

Zane looked at him before slowly stirring around the mix of cement. He knew he shouldn't go alone, but they needed more of these blocks and information.

"I think if I go alone, I can try and get answers," Jason said.

"Where would she be located?" Zane asked.

"I'm not sure. Is Esme feeling better?" Jason asked.

Bella nodded her head as Esme came speeding toward them. She was wearing new running shoes that had already been torn up. She had new clothes on, but this time in sports shorts and a t-shirt.

"Bang bang!" she exclaimed, holding up a large water gun in her hands. Breathing heavily, she drew some of her own concoction from her pocket and poured it into the water gun. Closing the cap, she sprayed around the substance. "Rubbing alcohol and food colouring. If this doesn't work, Jason has that high-ranking power."

"Try to find something about why people vanished," Jason implied.

The two of them went off to grab a golf cart in the middle of the street, the keys still resting in the cupholder. Before Jason sat in the driver's seat, Esme pushed him out of the seat.

"I'm driving," she beamed, holding up her water gun.

Jason slowly walked to the opposite seat, looking down at his hands. When she started the cart, they rode on the outskirts of Simcoe. They searched back and forth for any traces relevant to Ashley or that purple substance. Throughout the highway, there was grass on the sides and cars in the ditches. There were transports flipped or even children walking around on the highway.

Esme pulled over to the side of the road, near the incline of the numerous ditches. At any moment, Jason felt this cart would tip over and kill them.

"Purple stuff!" she exclaimed, turning a hard left and sped down the highway. She stopped quickly near the left side, where a large number of fields were located.

They slowly stepped out of the cart, seeing the purple substance everywhere. It spilled through not just the ditch but onto the road. It was a thick-looking liquid that looked similar to calamine lotion all over the place. The part of the liquid that was on the grass was no longer green, but black.

"Why does it look like grape yogurt?" Esme asked, leaning over the substance without touching it.

Sidestepping from the substance, he watched Esme shoot her water gun at the substance. It reacted by swirling all together on the highway, slowly trailing back toward the one in the grassy ditch.

"God didn't like that." Both of them jumped, spotting Vickie.

Esme screamed at the sight of Vickie. Her eyes were light purple, like the substance, and there were visible head wounds that had become dried blood. Her thin hair was a complete mess, her arms were scraped without flesh, and one of her legs was bent in the opposite direction.

"God? I'm an atheist," Esme said, spraying her gun at Vickie, making her disappear. "Rubbing alcohol and water seem to mix well."

"Esme, why did Vickie have purple eyes?" Jason asked.

They looked at the puddle of substance on the ground. It was one big puddle of purple liquid, slightly moving back and forth slowly in a circular motion. That substance didn't cause Vickie to disappear, but it made her melt back into that purple liquid.

"If this substance is getting us to eat yogurt, I'd have to decline," Esme admitted, spraying at the puddle.

"Who's God though?" Jason questioned.

The only God he knew was from the Bible or those TV shows that have someone they call a god as their ruler. If this substance had been a god, did that mean Ashley is that god? No, that wouldn't make sense. This substance has only changed Ashley's behaviour, but then again, she's not acting her age anymore.

"Ashley is god, so we help it before the goddess attacks," Vickie spat, appearing back in front of them.

Jason knew that Ashley definitely wasn't herself anymore. The purple substance had to be some monster and not some drug that Melany had told Cindy about. That still didn't make any sense because a random substance can't just randomly make someone a different person.

"What goddess?" Jason questioned.

"We don't know when that goddess will appear," Vickie said. "Or who it is."

Esme shot Vickie again, but Jason could feel his own heart race. God and goddess? Were they considered people here? Are they something completely different than they expected?

"Maybe it's someone who hasn't awakened their powers?" she questioned.

Jason shook his head at the girl because it couldn't be just powers; someone was coming from somewhere. Adults had to be out of the question because the electric shock from the bubble would leave anyone with major injuries.

"What if they break into the bubble?" Esme widened her eyes at his remark.

That could be one explanation. Maybe the goddess would be responsible for breaking them out? Is that the clue they've been missing all along?

"Ashley is scared of the goddess," Vickie appeared a third time.

Esme shot her multiple times, turning her into a puddle. "Scared?" she asked.

Scared of what? If Ashley wasn't scared of Greyson or himself, then someone would bring either help or danger into this place.

"If the goddess isn't here yet, does that mean Ashley is after us?" Esme questioned, swinging the green and yellow water gun in her hand.

"Maybe that's what the vanishing is for," Jason gasped.

"But why have people vanished?" Esme asked, walking back inside the cart and sitting in the driver's seat.

"Maybe something made them," Jason said, rubbing his chin and contemplating the possibility.

Did they give them the offer of getting out of this fearful place? It made him narrow his eyes, looking directly toward the fields, leading to the bubble keeping them inside.

"Maybe we should try and get this goddess to arrive," Esme said, chewing on a peanut butter cookie from her pocket. "Although, how do we summon people? This isn't some cult sacrifice. It could be someone at Uden. James has a list of those who have developed abilities."

She broke off a small piece and handed it toward him. While eating it, he tried to think about the outcome that would work to discover those who don't have powers. Maybe even ones that get enhanced abilities to scare Ashley, who isn't Ashley anymore.

Did that mean, at the moment, that none of them could beat Ashley alone? Was it some monster or creation that influences people who feel lonely? Vickie wasn't lonely, but she seemed injured. Why didn't she receive help from Cindy or Melany?

Jason slowly walked back toward his side of the cart, staring at the mess on the highway. It seemed Vickie could create illusions of herself. If Ashley is this thing, she may be the one people have to avoid. How do you avoid someone like her?

Wasaga Beach came into view before they reached the end of the tunnel, which nobody could leave. Glancing over at the hospital, he knew she wouldn't be there. Hiding in some areas may be the solution, but would Ashley agree anymore?

She barely gave words to Bella and had those purple eyes Vickie wore. The purple eyes that don't even show the pupil and outer ring weren't real. Most were supposed to be white, and then one colour of the same.

Knowing that this may be the result of some monster who rests inside, which could mean many of them may die, especially since nobody knows when this goddess will arrive.

Do you think Ashley can be defeated by their own powers?
-Lexi