Mark carried some blankets into the daycare, seeing children sleeping from the dim lights. He dropped some of the thin blankets and placed them near a shoe rack. Quietly, he stepped around the broken glass that was still on the floor. He had to fix this door with Xander and Zane tomorrow, which he had no idea how to do.

He walked in the quiet plaza, with streetlights shining and the full moon glowing. Many classify the sun and the moon as illusions, especially with this bubble surrounding them. It was neutral weather that wasn't going to change anytime soon, hopefully. If it became blazing or freezing, they'd need air conditioning or heaters.

He pushed open the church door and walked downstairs into the infirmary. James and Cindy both slept on a cot, healing from their injuries. Some have been calling it a massacre, like in horror movies. Two girls died, and some were injured. They had been saved by the girl, who slept on the ground beside an empty plate.

Mark tried to figure out a way to get her up. Knowing from experience that sleeping on the floor wasn't comfortable since it's cold and oftentimes dirty, especially if there aren't any mattresses of any sort. Placing the blanket at the end of James's cot, he used both hands to slowly lift Emma up, trying not to wake her up. That didn't exactly work, as she blinked multiple times.

"Is it morning?" Emma murmured and rubbed her eye.

"No, it's 11 p.m."

Mark didn't know Emma very well; other than that, she was the healer of this place. Oftentimes, she does get physically sick from some injuries that she declines to treat, like putting a broken bone back in place.

"Why are you waking me up? Did someone break a bone?" Emma mumbled as he sat her down on the empty cot near the stairs.

"You fell asleep on the floor again," Mark stated.

"Right, Esme had been here for a while before I got tired, and then Bryce came," Emma muttered. She sat herself up on the pillow as he laid the blanket over her. "Shouldn't you be sleeping?"

"I had to do some extra duties with everything that happened," Mark implied. "Can I ask why you were on the floor?"

"Had to stop Esme with something before she left. I guess I just fell asleep from all the injuries," Emma whispered, her lips pressed together.

"Did you heal them?" Mark questioned, but Emma nodded, reaching over to grab her water bottle from the small table.

"Cindy hasn't said anything since then. Do you think that she's mad that I couldn't save Melany?" Emma asked.

He heard that since the shot was so quick, nobody had time to react to saving Melany. Either the people in the room were injured or had arrived too late.

"Probably mad at Luke," Mark said. "Who pulled the knife out of Cindy's eye?"

"Jason," she said, glancing over toward Cindy. She was wearing a piece of tied cloth over her eye, with a blindfold supporting it.

"Is the daycare okay?" Emma questioned.

Mark nodded at her, who breathed out a sigh. After the events, many were crying while those helping tried to clean up broken glass and blood stains.

"I didn't end up healing their injuries, mostly. Only healed ones when they brought them."

"Do you have a clue about the vanishing tomorrow?" Mark asked.

He knew tomorrow was Jason's birthday since they used to do their own celebration every year by going out somewhere. Now, birthdays weren't a source of celebration but dreadful to think about if you turn fifteen.

"Two boys from Uden had vanished. The first day, we saw it all in plain sight. There one second and gone the next," Emma explained.

Mark wondered if there were ways to stop it—not just the disappearing, but all of this. It wasn't his job to figure everything out. That's more to Jason's route of knowledge than his.

"Greyson might know how to stop it," Emma said, rubbing an eye.

Mark got involved with the Uden Academy people, which didn't turn out well. Emma had been at least one Uden Academy student who didn't care for herself. Scarlett had used words for Greyson's personal gains, between whatever they actually wanted, which came to an unknown situation.

Greyson definitely wanted power, while Scarlett had just manipulated others. Just some words and her actions gave that push. Now he wasn't exactly sure where he fit in.

"They vanish tomorrow," Mark said.

"Hopefully they won't vanish because I feel danger coming," Emma implied.

Emma sensed danger—worse than already? What is worse than large holes killing people or fires? Is some lava going to appear out of nowhere?

"I feel this strange feeling in my gut. It feels cold, but I don't feel cold," Emma said.

It doesn't get cold until November, normally. Is that what Emma meant? It has been a mild temperature, which is slightly cold but mainly warm.

"Do you think something is coming?" Mark questioned.

"I think if Greyson and Jason vanish tomorrow, we won't be able to stand up to that thing," Emma remarked.

It wasn't about leadership, but about those supernatural powers that they had. It's like how Emma can heal with the touch of a hand.

"Ashley?" Mark inquired.

"Maybe," Emma said, shrugging her shoulders and yawning.

Mark cast a glance over at Cindy and James, who were sleeping in the infirmary. They were shot and stabbed in different parts of the body. Both of them had been freaks, and Luke still managed to hurt them. Even with these strange powers you'd see in science fiction movies, they could still be injured. Nobody has been safe with Luke around here.

"Can I ask you a weird question?" Emma said shyly.

"Yuh," Mark said, sitting down at the edge of her cot.

"Have you kissed someone before?" Emma asked.

That was the last question he assumed Emma would ask him. It's not something you ask someone unless it's those romance shows he'd see the odd time on television.

"Back in Ohio, I had a girlfriend. Why?" Mark questioned. "Have you?" She shook her head in a tired state.

"Esme did something, and it took me by surprise. One of those shocking moments where you spit out your drink," Emma said.

"Jason ended up spitting milk out when I joked I was moving back to Ohio," Mark said.

They had been sitting at his house playing video games when he told Jason that he had to move back to Ohio since his math grades had been dropping. The milk ended up everywhere on the floor that his fat cat Whiskers licked up.

"I can't say who, but she did kiss someone, and it startled me. Seeing someone younger than you just kiss someone willingly is just shocking," Emma said, pressing her lips into a thin line. "Well, I don't know if this counts, but I had someone kiss my forehead."

"Was it a friend?" Mark asked.

"But he held my cheek when he did it. I've done a project with him, but I'm confused," Emma said.

Mark knew one thing about forehead kisses from dating someone: it's not done randomly. He wasn't a romance specialist since he ended the relationship with his ex-girlfriend named Aurora due to long distance, but he guessed that person liked Emma.

"You need sleep," Mark said.

Emma slowly nodded her head and curled up in the soft blanket. She flopped to one side and fell asleep quickly. He shut off the small light and grabbed the plate that had been on the floor.

After dumping the leftovers into the garbage, he placed the plate on one of the joint chairs. Mark knew he had to sleep himself since it was already late and he didn't have a duty for the evening. Climbing up the stairs, he opened the church door and looked around.

The entire plaza was empty and quiet. There were some weapons from today still on the ground, like broken pipes or sticks scattered all over the place. Some of them had pushed to the side near the streetlights, but food wrappers were still around.

Suddenly, he felt someone grab his forearm; he tensed and spotted Divina. Her eyes were wide, and her expression was livid.

"Do you feel it?" Divina panicked.

"Feel what?" Mark asked.

"That cold sensation," Divina grated, gritting her teeth.

Emma's intuition had been right that the cold might be related to something with Divina. He didn't feel it, but it knew something. He knew this wasn't a good thing and that something else was coming.

"God did something," Divina spat, letting go of his forearm and her face red. "If it did something, it's screwing with me. I go tomorrow, and those twins shouldn't, because after the vanishing, the real danger begins."

Danger could be a lot of things. Ashley might start cutting off the electricity, or she could create some other monster that could come to eat them.

"Will Ashley fight us?" Mark asked.

"If you thought fires and holes had been tough, the next can't even compare. Do you see how the weather doesn't change?" Divina remarked.

Mark nodded his head, knowing that it hadn't changed when it should be rainy or even cloudy.

"Take that as an example," she hissed, putting both hands on her hips.

"There's a storm coming?" Mark asked, his eyes wide.

"I believe that's the term you use. You have four months before it comes," Divina said.

They had four months until some deadly storm came rolling through this place. Thunderstorms would have a lot of wind, and if rain kept pouring, electricity would kick out, and it could become a hurricane.

"It's something that you all might die from unless someone gains my powers," Divina growled.

Mark still didn't fully understand how that information worked. He knew Divina had powers none of them had, but nobody could magically gain someone else's.

"Yes, someone could acquire them," Divina said deviously. "I can stop storms, and with me vanishing tomorrow, you'll have four months of peace."

Mark wasn't sure if they'd have complete peace. It's the bubble, and everything seems to change each day. There's always something happening at Uden Academy, which peace wouldn't exist from some of the people there.

"Danger will begin after that time," Divina said proudly, staring up at the dark sky with a grin.

"Jason and Greyson can't vanish. Their power can stand up to part of the storm." Divina sneered, glancing at him now. "They won't vanish."

Cindy woke up early in the morning. She spotted James and Emma, both asleep. Standing, she wobbled and headed for the bathroom. Looking in the small mirror, she lifted the patch over her head. It left a scar horizontally over her eye. When she even tried to cry, only the left eye could produce tears.

She walked out to her cot and sat at the edge of it. Staring down at her fuzzy slippers that she was given, she closed her eyes. She remembered how Melany protected her from dying when she should have died. It made her body tremble with her teeth gritted. She had never wished death on anyone, but she wanted Luke to die.

She should have pushed Melany out of the way instead of letting her protect her like always. She could've if Luke hadn't thrown a knife into her eye that she could see clearly with. Letting out a small sigh, she opened the church door to meet a face freckled with amber eyes.

"That looks badass," Esme stated. "If it makes you happy, I tied Luke up in the hospital and gave him a makeover. We still have time before they vanish! Let's go see, Cindy."

Cindy closed her eyes and grabbed Esme's wrist. They bopped into the hospital's main entrance. Looking around, Esme forcefully grabbed her wrist and dragged her into the elevator.

When they got to the surgical floor, Cindy started to realize why Emma seemed traumatized every time Esme went speeding with her. The speed felt like being on a continuous roller coaster where you could barely see anything.

Stopping in front of a room, Cindy sat on her knees as Esme screamed. "He's gone!"

Cindy staggered to the empty surgery table with ropes tied around it. There was just an empty room with some surgical equipment on a small table and some blood on the floor.

"We should go looking for him," Esme suggested, dropping her jaw with wide eyes. Sometimes Cindy assumed her mind worked at the same speed as her zooming.

"Do you even have a weapon to stop him?" Cindy asked, and Esme pulled up her shirt to see a pistol taped on her stomach.

"I got barbed wire," Esme said, holding up a roll of it.

"And how do you intend to use that?" Cindy asked, wearing a frown.

Esme flashed a grin and held up the wire. "I hold it and speed around to wrap Luke. That should be able to cut his body into small pieces," she said.

"Well, we have to find the psychopath first." Cindy's voice was dull.

Cindy didn't realize she called him a psychopath. She wasn't one to call people names or feel resentment inside. It wasn't just the resentment of Luke but what they did to Emma.

Scarlett and Greyson were using Emma by having him fake date her to keep her on their side. Cindy will tell her at one point. She thought that after the vanishing it would be smart, because she wanted to focus on Esme's idea. Regardless of how insanely created it was, it seemed like one solution that may work.

"I'll help you," Cindy said.

"Can you bop around and find him? I have to save my feet for Greyson and Jason's fight," Esme beamed.

"Do you have a clue where he'd be?" Cindy asked.

"Well, if he walked to Uden, he wouldn't be there," Esme stated.

Cindy couldn't focus on where to locate but on the anger behind finding Luke. The single thought of what he did made her blood boil. He shouldn't be the one wandering this place alive after everything he did.

"Probably somewhere on the highway," Esme said.

Cindy tried to think of places on the highway. There were many fields on the outskirts or even at Paradise Hotel. She held Esme's wrist, and they teleported in the middle of the highway to the hospital.

"I'm just guessing near here," she said, as both looked around the empty highway.

There had been long grass near a private lot of sand. It had been close to the hospital and Paradise Hotel. They walked along the highway, looking around. It was like they were expecting Luke to jump out and surprise them.

"Are we killing him?" Cindy questioned.

"Yes, we will," Esme said, nodding repeatedly.

She went from caring for lives to wanting to take one. Greyson sent Luke, but he had changed his route into a bloodbath. If Luke went back to Uden, she hoped he would get punished.

"Good," Cindy spat acidly. There was resentment bottled up inside, along with sadness over Melany's death. They had spent some sleepless nights with injuries and had done much together.

Staring at the bracelet on her wrist, it made tears form at the edges of her eyes. Nobody else wears the charm bracelet now that Melany has died. Going from wanting to stop fights to being in a fight.

"Why were you in the infirmary?" Cindy questioned.

"Wanting to drag Emma around," Esme breezed.

"Emma's a healer. It'd be smarter to bring Jason or James," Cindy stated.

"I wasn't sure how James's leg had been. Jade said she was going to make sure to spy out at the plaza," Esme informed.

Cindy started seeing some people, knowing they were near town. Everyone knew about the fight that would be at 10 a.m.

"There," Esme said, and sped off before Cindy could bop.

Luke was lying flat on the ground with barbed wire around him. "You like my new arm?" he gloated.

Esme seemed proud of her work, but Cindy felt herself slashed with a hand like a whip. It was quick enough that it made her cry out in pain.

"If you move your body, I'll slice you up like melons," Luke snarled.

There wasn't supposed to be an arm because it had been burned off by Jason, then later cut off. It was one that looks normal but moves inhumanly at different speeds.

"I got this nice-looking arm." Luke stated.

Emma had been sleeping before she left, and she had no idea if she was awake. The boy came up to hit Esme, but she sped away before it hit her. That inhuman hand took off the barbed wire with blood dripping down.

"Just made a deal," Luke spat, trying to hit them, but both had been quick enough to move.

"Okay, guess it's plan B," Esme said, holding out her gun and shooting at Luke's arm in a blur.

The arm twitched, and blood fell, but it wasn't human. It looked like it was created out of wax because it was barely taking any damage but just the blood and dodging the bullets quickly.

Cindy felt the need to do something. She bopped behind Luke, kicked him, and bopped away beside a tree. Esme sped toward her, still holding the gun. Cindy gritted her teeth, still feeling the pain from when his arm had whipped her.

Luke lay on his knees, amusement directed at Esme. "You think your gun will destroy this?" he snarled, wearing a sadistic smile.

Cindy wasn't sure what that had been. It could be a dummy arm he got from the daycare. Maybe a mannequin from some display or even painted clay.

"Ashley gave me this," Luke said, whipping Esme again on the arm. It made her scream in pain, with blood dripping down her arm.

Opening one eye, she spotted that Luke's shot arm wasn't functioning properly. It had been having spasms repeatedly and twitching at the fingers.

"This can be enough to kill Jason," Luke muttered, rushing off.

Esme hobbled over, holding a hand on her large gash marks with gritted teeth. These wounds could have tore off her arm if Luke had kept whipping her to death.

"I'll go to the infirmary and see if Emma is up. Stop him," Cindy said, bopping away into the church infirmary.

James sat up on his bed, eating some cereal, while Emma sat in a chair, chewing her lip. When she spotted her, she panicked. Without even asking a question, she put her hand on her bloodied arm. It ached to move, just like her chest. Cindy closed her eyes and felt tears slide down her cheeks.

It had been the day, and Zane didn't know the outcome. Two brothers fought each other in the plaza before they vanished. That has not been the only problem they have had to deal with. Dying, leaving, or vanishing meant Ashley's problems came back to hurt them. The fires and holes to try and end up killing one of them.

Standing outside the firehouse, Zane watched Yara and Colby clean the fire truck. Talia came walking over, wearing fire equipment that was two times her size.

"All this equipment, I can barely carry it," Talia sighed, holding up an arm.

She wore a helmet, a beige coat, and suspenders with reflective tape. She was wearing a clear face mask and gloves that dangled from her fingers. It reminded Zane of someone playing dress-up.

"Why do you have all that on? We don't need that!" Yara called over the power washer that Zane knew how to work.

"Well, we're firefighters now," Talia implied, shrugging her shoulders and pulling the mask up. "Plus, there's that fight today."

Zane didn't go by to check on Jason this morning. There wasn't much more to discuss other than whether he vanished or not.

"Who do you think will win? I think Greyson might actually win," Colby implied, drying the outside of the truck with a cloth.

"I think Jason will. He's got that beam power," Talia said, her palms facing out.

Zane wasn't even going to pick between the two outcomes because this is obviously about Greyson's own pride, but the vanishing wasn't. This was something everyone would see if they would both disappear or stay back.

"I'm so glad there haven't been house fires," Yara remarked as she continued spraying with the power washer.

"Ashley is such a wacko," Talia muttered.

"Weren't you guys friends?" Yara asked.

"I'm not friends with an insane girl!" Talia stiffly moved toward the green grass.

Ashley hasn't touched this end of town with fires or holes. Even if the fire station had been just before you got onto the highway, it would appear unnoticed. Settled on a side road beside grass and a field of growing corn.

Zane enjoyed running the fire station, not just having to put out fires but staying away from the drama. He did still hear the drama when Nevaeh would come see him to ramble the latest information.

"She's insane," Colby remarked.

"I know, right! Who creates holes to kill people?" Talia exclaimed, almost tripping over her boots.

"If she wants to create holes, why not use a shovel?" Colby and Talia laughed at Yara's remark.

Zane smiled but still kept a serious expression. They may not have had fires or saved kids from holes for three days, but he knew the worst would be coming.

With Divina's knowledge and explanation, Zane wasn't sure what could come next. Soon enough, they would be down to cans and even try to grow something for food.

People probably had gardening seeds and maybe some of those freaky powers. From what they had, corn wouldn't be harvested until September or October. Hopefully, they had enough food for them.

"Something wrong?" Talia asked, looking at him with a questionable expression.

"Just thinking," Zane said. She nodded and proceeded to take off the large coat she wore.

"I hope we get out of this place soon. Maybe the vanishing is like a game level, and once you defeat it, we get out," Talia sighed.

Maybe that could be how it worked, but Zane felt it wouldn't work. That thing named Ashley isn't just going to let them free; if anything she's been trying to kill them all.

"I don't miss my parents. They were going to send me to Uden Academy," Yara spat bitterly.

"Uden at least has an indoor pool," Colby explained.

"And a lot of bullies," Talia said, tossing the coat onto the ground and attempting to take off her suspenders. It didn't work because she ended up tripping over her boots and smacking her chin on the grass. "My brother was sent to Uden Academy. We were throwing snowballs, and a piece of glass was in it, and our parents assumed it had been intentional."

"Who is your brother?" Yara asked, turning off the loud power washer.

"Maverick," Talia said.

"The one who had his fingers burned off?" Yara asked, but Talia nodded, seeming unconcerned with the mention of that.

Zane was aware that Jason had been the one who burned off Maverick's fingers, but he could also create illusions using your greatest fears. He had shown himself a large group of bees that were attacking his face and stinging him everywhere.

"That happened when I was in the first grade," she said, shrugging. Sitting and taking off her boots, Zane noticed something from her hand.

"What's that?" Colby asked. She raised her hand and almost seemed panicked, seeing a vine on her palm.

"Woah, let me see!" Yara and Colby both exclaimed, rushing over to her.

Zane walked toward them as Talia stared at her hand in horror. It was a small curly green vine that was barely a centimetre long. She set her hand on the ground, and they watched the cut grass grow long.

"You can grow stuff!" Yara exclaimed.

"Probably plants," Colby implied.

"Maybe I'll be able to grow food," Talia gasped, seeming surprised by her own words. She looked back and forth at her hands as she stood back on her feet.

"My brother's power is apparently scary. Maybe mine will be as well," Talia said.

"Have you seen your brother since this started?" Yara asked.

"We moved here after Maverick got sent. I had no clue he actually stayed at Uden until I heard about a boy that sounded like him. It's kind of like how Greyson and Jason found out they were twins," Talia explained, as she pulled at the vine with two of her fingers.

"It's a sibling reunion," Yara laughed.

"Eventually I'll see him," Talia stated, shrugging.

Zane looked at his battery-powered watch. "We have to get going. The fight will start soon," he sighed.

He climbed into the fire truck and stared directly at the field across, growing corn. It could be possible that Talia could help with the growing process. Yara sat in the front seat, playing with some of the long grass Talia had grown. Even looking at it, seemed like something you'd pick out of a ditch. The other two climbed in, with Talia showing him the vine.

"If you can tie people up, you'd be a police officer around here," Yara remarked.

Zane started the fire truck with the loud engine roaring. They still had enough gas for a while, but he wasn't sure how much longer gas would provide them.

"I'll stick with being a firefighter. At least I still have my fingers," Talia said.

Zane began to head down with the fire truck to the fight that many had come to watch. It wasn't just between two brothers; for the real vanishing, everyone would see whether they actually stayed or if they vanished completely.

Don't forget to comment and vote!
-Lexi