Scarlett walked across downtown, where people were scattered, doing their normal work. Ilya was taking care of the daycare or even security guarding around. She still had James by her side, travelling toward the mayor's office. Learning all this information seemed interesting, but uncertain. James could tell her all the information he had learned, but he still followed her orders.

Opening the door to the mayor's office, Greyson seemed intrigued to see them. Two boys from Uden, named Red and Zack, stood in the office. There have been more people in the office asking questions about what's going to happen or why they are doing security.

"Out," Greyson ordered as they rushed past them. Scarlett smirked while James took a seat on the couch, his hands shaking. "Well?"

"Well, James has gathered information," Scarlett stated.

"They call it goddess, or Divina. Jason and a few others saw her in a form," James explained. "They saw grass in some monster's body. Ashley is considered a god. And David... he is connected."

Scarlett felt a chill run down her back, since she could've died. It was something that was a small reminder, but there was no sense in worrying.

"Which means?" Greyson asked.

"Like partly alive. Apparently, he and Vickie went charging after the goddess," James explained. "Ashley controls them to do whatever I think, and..." James wasn't making eye contact with Greyson.

"No need to worry about some grass," Scarlett remarked.

"Keep researching," Greyson spat.

James nodded, opening the door to Luke with Maverick by his side before leaving. Since Emma healed Luke's arm, he's officially one arm short, thankfully, since that would lessen the chances of him trying to injure her. Although she knew she'd never be injured with Greyson by her side.

"Everything is in the works," Luke said, grinning deviously at Greyson.

"Good work, Luke. Make sure they know what they're doing," Greyson said as both left the room. "Where was he?"

"With your brother and Esme. He doesn't know how to stop the vanishing," Scarlett stated, sitting herself on the couch.

"With Luke's sneak attack, we will be able to cause distractions," Greyson said, grinning.

"The only distraction would be his arm," Scarlett mocked.

Cindy appeared in the room, toppling over onto the ground. The girl would teleport around the places she knew, but she would lose balance everywhere.

"Devon tried robbing Burger King with Henry and Stick," Cindy said. "Henry and Stick left with some vegetables, while Devon got kicked out."

She knew that the plan would fail since Greyson had ordered it. Stick can barely look up, and Devon's a bratty kid nobody likes.

"I talked to James about the goddess business. I assume you heard," Cindy said.

Scarlett knew Greyson wanted to keep Cindy close with the fight coming up. It was a way to figure out what was going on in Simcoe from behind the scenes, since she still helped out in the infirmary.

"Anything else?" Greyson asked with a smile.

"Ashley created a house fire inside Bella's, along with setting two others on fire. Zane and Yara put it out with the help of Esme," Cindy stated.

"Did she get tired of making holes?" Scarlett mocked.

"Get those that aren't doing anything to help out with the fires," Greyson remarked; she nodded before bopping away.

Scarlett put her legs up on the couch and grabbed a magazine that had been resting on it. There was barely anything to do here because all of that was meant for technology, which rarely worked around here.

"Holes, and now fires? You definitely ranked her wrong." Scarlett sighed at his comment.

"I read what I ranked the first day. That substance didn't enter her body until later," Scarlett stated, looking over from her magazine.

"Goddess is apparently supposed to be powerful, right?" Greyson inquired.

"I don't know, maybe? Just focus on whatever is going on with your brother," Scarlett spat.

Since Greyson had been focusing on this goddess thing, he hadn't let the subject drop. There was no reason to look closely into that subject when his birthday is right around the corner. He would be able to stop the vanishing, and she wouldn't be left with having to deal with Luke.

"Did you cause harm to Bella?" Teagan demanded, marching into the office.

"Are you accusing me of something?" he barked, his eyebrows narrowing. "Scarlett, who is this?"

"Teagan Baker, who apparently is friends with Bella. She often helps out at the daycare," Scarlett implied. "None," she approached the side of Greyson's desk.

"You shouldn't point fingers at your leader," Greyson remarked.

"I'm asking for the truth," Teagan hissed.

"Devon did all that," Greyson implied.

Teagan covered a hand over her mouth with her eyes wide. It took so little to manipulate people in this small town. Just small actions that may be considered bad in terms.

"I'm pretty sure he was downtown," Greyson remarked.

Teagan just glanced at her for a moment, not saying anything. "Thanks," she said, nodding before leaving the office.

"I'm not using that dude who can't get a job done right," Greyson sighed, putting both his hands on the hardwood desk. "People may be developing powers, but he isn't worthy."

Scarlett knew James had the power of enhanced strength, which was something that Greyson didn't know. She was keeping it secret until he didn't do something right, which she would expose the truth to Greyson.

"I still need that substance they hid," Greyson implied, looking directly at Scarlett. "Get Henry and Stick."

"They barely finished the last task. Wouldn't it be smarter using others?" Scarlett suggested.

Henry and Stick were two people who were barely minions to Greyson. She didn't have to seduce them to do any of the dirty work because they agreed with everything without hesitation. Although things have been different since Stick has been going through this depressive episode.

"No, Henry and Stick will do it. Have them bring Preston," Greyson said.

Preston's name made her sigh. He had the power of invisibility but used it for his own benefit, sneaking into girls dorms or spying around town. She disliked him being around, but it was a way to figure out the plans.

"I have to drop by their party?"' Scarlett groaned.

"Bring the substance so James can research it," Greyson stated, nodding his head.

Scarlett walked over to face him in front of his desk. "I don't even know where they are. Why not just get some losers to get them?" she inquired.

"We can worry about them later. We need Luke and Preston," Greyson said, narrowing his eyes.

"What's the big deal with having so many people come?" she challenged.

"Jason probably has security in the cafeteria. Plus if we find anything else," he said. "Time to go."

He headed for the door, opening it. Outside, there was a dark cloud of smoke flying through the air. It was near a neighbourhood where she could see that there was a tree on fire. There were others looking towards where the smoke was coming from, with a few running in that direction.

"What the hell? I thought they put out the fires." Greyson hissed.

"Maybe next it will be killer snow," Scarlett mocked.

Tumbles came running over, tripping on the ground. The young girl looked up with dried blood, and scrapes covered her face. At least Emma healed some of her face to make it look less disgusting.

"Fires!" Tumbles exclaimed, waving her hands from the ground.

"I've noticed," Greyson said. "Nobody has created fires except for that child early on. I'll deal with them later. Where's Preston?"

"With Luke at the school," Tumbles said.

Scarlett smirked, seeing the cold smile on Greyson's face. Tumbles tried to stand but ended up falling over in the process. The school in Simcoe wasn't far from downtown, but Luke wasn't supposed to be there. He was supposed to be making sure everyone was doing their assigned job.

"This will be quite a sight," Scarlett said.

They used one of the parked CRVs to drive to the empty school parking lot. There were bikes near the open school door, where they saw Maverick and Oscar standing at the door. Greyson used an invisible hand to pick both boys up and hold them high in the air.

"Where is Luke?" he demanded.

"Gym," Oscar admitted.

They walked down the empty halls until they saw two brown double doors open. The gym had some people scattered inside with weapons beside them. Luke had a ruler in his hand, wearing a sadistic grin and waving it at them.

"Luke!" Greyson roared.

Maverick and Oscar were dropped from the air onto the gym floor. Greyson didn't even stick out his hand, but Luke went flying into the green wall with an invisible fist.

"I didn't say come to Simcoe's school," Greyson spat.

Luke getting in trouble for disobeying Greyson twice made Scarlett snicker. For once, she wasn't the one messing with him.

"I was getting Simcoe people!" Luke hissed on the ground.

Scarlett knew Luke couldn't be trusted with getting people. Everything ended up circling back to his psychopathic tendencies, where someone would end up fighting someone else. Better yet, this meant her own plans were nothing but a distraction.

"Preston, come," Greyson ordered. "All of you go to Uden."

Preston turned visible from against the wall with wide eyes, quickly walking over to Greyson.

"Luke said—" Greyson turned to a boy, who started talking.

"You follow my orders, so go to Uden Academy," Greyson said.

All the bodies of around thirty kids piled out of the gym. Maverick and Oscar stayed behind, watching the scene.

"You said I was leading the ambush!" Luke freaked.

"Scarlett, go with Preston and Maverick into the cafeteria to find that substance," Greyson started, glaring down at Luke. "I'll finish him up."

Scarlett sighed as she walked out of the gym. In general, she didn't know this school at all. Most of what she had seen would be in the gym, but she assumed it would be around.

"What are we doing?" Preston asked without looking back at Greyson.

"Getting something. Stay invisible," Scarlett said, opening a large, closed door.

The cafeteria was empty when they entered. The lights were off, but the long grey tables were still lined up, with some chairs scattered against the wall. She noticed that there were some soda cans sitting out near a long counter stacked with green trays.

"This way," Preston mumbled.

They went to the small entrance into the kitchen, where there was a fridge beside two stoves. Scarlett waited by the door while Preston went to get it. The yellow fridge opened quietly, the test tube in sight, before handing it to her.

Scarlett examined it for a moment before handing it to Preston. It was a purple liquid that was now slightly black on the bottom. It made her smirk when they made their way back toward the gym. On the way, some children lay on the ground. Both were looking up at the ceiling, sighing.

"We can't go on TikTok," one boy complained.

"Move!" Maverick snapped.

They rolled to the side of the wall. One sat up in the process, staring at her. Scarlett leaned down and grabbed the boy's wrist, feeling the low rank. There was no discovery or awareness of his power. Grabbing the girl's hand, there was none out of the power rank.

Walking back into the gym, Luke sat with a furious expression against the wall. Greyson glanced back with a glare before he grinned. Preston became visible, handing the light purple mixture to Greyson.

"We need James," Greyson remarked, looking directly at Maverick and Preston.

Scarlett walked close to the substance that Greyson held. Even from science class that she remembered, they never made a purple substance. They never allowed experiments in her science class because someone would end up making something explode. She purposely did that once because her teacher was a bitch.

"Wouldn't Melany or Cindy know?" Scarlett asked.

"James may know, which gives us a way to stop this thing," Greyson said.

Scarlett didn't believe it could be true. James may be a computer geek, but he's still in the sixth grade. All she knew was that it probably burned through something.

Stick couldn't think straight. Even after smoking a joint, his mind wouldn't turn off Vickie's death. Did this mean he'd go to hell? Slumped against the living room wall, he held a beer bottle in one hand.

"Stick, you need to chill," Henry started, sitting in an armchair near him. "Why not play some darts?"

There was a knock on the door, making him tense and freeze. What if it had been Vickie again? Henry stood, opening the door and revealing Teagan.

Stick wasn't exactly sure if that had been her name. Bella and Teagan always had drama going on, especially getting into grade nine. Did she come to yell at him about Vickie?

"Who are you?" Henry snapped.

"Did you hurt Bella?" Teagan asked.

Stick tried to process her words in his head. That had been in the beginning, when it all first started. Before he hit Vickie, everything seemed normal, but it wasn't anymore. He was a criminal who would be put in jail for murder.

"Yeah," Henry said. Stick heard the sound of a loud slap. Using a hand, he tried to stand but couldn't. How could he bring himself to stand?

Stick the golden boy to the murderer. Tears welled at the edges of his eyes as he ran a hand through his golden hair. Looking up, he met Teagan's eyes, which seemed to soften as her mouth fell into a frown. They had both been in the same class before all of this started. Stick expected a slap on the cheek, but got a flick on the forehead.

"Why are you defending her suddenly? Didn't you two have beef?" Henry asked, walking toward her with his eyes narrowed.

"It doesn't matter," Teagan spat.

"You're lucky Scarlett let them go," Henry stated.

"Why would you kill someone?" Teagan freaked.

Stick felt tears running down his cheeks since Vickie's death played in his mind on a loop. It would keep him up at night, tossing and turning with guilt, eating at him. She haunted him at the hospital when he saw her with that bloody body.

"We wanted to do our own thing," Henry growled.

"There's already enough drama going on here," Teagan said.

"Between freaks and normals? Romance bullshit, or even about Ashley? Which are you referring to?" Henry challenged.

"I've heard drama from Nevaeh," she spat, pushing her hair behind her shoulders.

"Then don't come ranting about this. Talk to Jason or someone else," Henry snarled.

Standing from her chair, she glanced back at them. "Greyson isn't a good person," Teagan said.

"At least he's good at leadership," Henry stated. Teagan narrowed her eyebrows before shutting the door behind her.

Stick reached to grab his beer bottle, knocking it over in the process. Watching the liquor slowly flow out of the bottle made him stare. He picked up the bottle that had been empty. Lying down on his back, he looked up at the low ceiling; the living room almost made him hit his head.

"Stick," Henry said, looking over at him. "You need to lay off the alcohol at least. You aren't going to be a stick, but soon a snow globe like me."

"It's what I deserve," he whispered.

The two of them were literally opposites in body shape and size. People would expect him just to be friends with all those who were involved in sports, which was true. Henry made him forget about sports and realize that it's not just school and sports that are the top priorities.

"Here, let's go downstairs," Henry started, trying to lift him, but it didn't exactly work.

Stick slowly stood with his help, stumbling on the way down the staircase. Seeing the empty beer bottles around him made him want to drink more. It became the only solution to forgetting about Vickie.

Henry seemed to stop on the stairs, looking around. Beer bottles were scattered in the large room. One was broken on the floor; he forgot that he had accidentally knocked it over the other day.

Stick gripped the railing and descended the stairs slowly. "This isn't a normal party, Stick," Henry said, looking down at him from the top of the carpeted stairs.

Scuffling his feet, he grabbed a broom and attempted to sweep it. Couldn't he just pick up the pieces instead? Grabbing a piece in his hand, he felt something sting in the palm of his hand.

He opened his hand and saw blood dripping down a large cut on his palm. "I'll grab some band-aids," Henry muttered, going upstairs.

Stick watched the blood trickle down his wrist. Looking down at the floor, he spotted small droplets of blood. Has this been what his life has come to? Trying to avoid the blood that would flow down his left hand? Henry came downstairs holding paper towels and band-aids.

"You don't have much," he huffed, handing him two regular band-aids. Henry went down to try and clean the blood off the floor, but it wasn't working. If anything, he seemed to be spreading the blood.

Stick slowly sat on the ground, but he hadn't put the bandage on yet. This place had sucked them away from humanity. No social media, posting pictures, or even snapping people. Straight, regular talking to people without cellphones to take pictures or record videos. One boy in this bubble has been able to use his computer for his work using hacking software.

Henry snatched the band-aids from his hand and peeled them back. "You need to get your head out of the gutter," he said. "Want to play soccer? You still have the ball in the shed, right?"

Stick played soccer, which would have gotten him onto the national team in Canada. He had been to tournaments in America, but he would have played for a junior league.

"Sure." His voice was faint, and his mind was still spinning.

Perhaps it was the combination of weed and alcohol. Looking down at his palm, he flipped his hand back and forth. It ached, but he could barely feel it. Slapping a hand onto his forehead, he blinked multiple times. Henry is right about having to clear his mind of what happened, but convincing himself didn't seem like a good option.

Emma held a hand on Luke's head as his teeth gritted. "I'm so pissed," he growled.

Oscar had explained everything that happened and why Luke appeared battered. His arm was gone; since she couldn't grow body parts people lose. There was a bit of blood on the back of his head and some on his forehead, but the rest of him was unharmed.

"Maybe you should have listened," Emma whispered, making him glare at her. It made her heart miss a beat and her hands shake.

"Are you siding that this was right?" Luke barked, glaring at her.

"I mean, you wouldn't have gotten hurt," Emma elaborated, her body trembling.

The last thing she wanted was to make Luke angry. She has seen the punishment people received because they didn't follow orders, but she made no objections. If she intervened, she could be someone who ends up with a broken nose or a concussion.

"And you still listen to him," Luke snarled.

Before she came here, Tumbles had told her to go to Simcoe's school. All she saw when she got there was Luke sitting with wounds, along with Maverick and Oscar.

"You have all these healing powers and even broke it off with him," Luke said, as she noticed the smirk on his lips.

Luke jumped onto his feet with ease, despite having one arm. Emma knew Luke wouldn't want the help, even after seeing him cry yesterday.

Luke shot her a devious grin with one of the wires of his brace loose. "I'll just cut it off," he spat, grabbing the pistol from his pocket.

The only reason guns have been found is because of campus security. Some did have the odd in houses, even when they had been considered illegal.

"Don't you need—" She stopped her sentence, seeing the sadistic grin on his face.

Emma didn't even want to think about what he could do. You can't cut wire with scissors, right? It wasn't that she knew what being an orthodontist had been like. Being the resident healer, Luke's line crossed her mind, making her stare at the stage. There were green curtains hanging, with some extra desks lined together.

It seemed strange to see a regular school and not one for the rich or misbehaving. Walking out of the empty gym, she found Esme skidding across the floor. Dust flew up as she lay flat on the ground. She groaned and turned before jumping up, seeing her.

"Emma!" Esme exclaimed. "Have you seen Jade?"

"No," Emma mumbled. "Have you checked if that substance is still here?"

"No, I don't come here," Esme said.

Emma felt her wrist grabbed and screamed when she felt herself flying down the hallway. It was like being in a race car in overdrive, where one wrong move would send her flying. They hit a closed door, skidding into the cafeteria.

She felt her entire mind spinning in a circle while watching Esme stand. She had no idea how Esme was able to handle going at such speed daily by running around like crazy.

"It's gone!" Esme exclaimed as she grabbed the bottle of vinegar from the fridge.

Emma went over and checked in the fridge, and she saw only a bottle of grape juice. There should have been a test tube of the purple substance the group had located in the ditch outside Simcoe. Esme screamed, making Emma scream.

"We need to find it because it's like acid," Esme said. "Remember how at Uden, Bryce Cross burned a hole in the counter with an experiment from your science class?"

Emma would always remember that. It happened a couple months ago when he poured a burning mixture from science class on the desk, melting a hole. It set the fire alarm off, but instead of panicking like she had, he was just laughing.

"Basically, it can kill us," Esme stated, but she knitted her eyebrows. "Yes, I believe."

Esme looked down at her purple running shoes, noticing they weren't destroyed. It was quite surprising, considering they were normally destroyed when she ran around.

"Do you know your way around here?" Esme questioned, making Emma shake her head. It caused her to throw her hands up and look around the small room. "Who else is here?"

"I only saw Luke, Maverick, and Oscar," Emma said.

"The crippled were here?" Esme laughed, looking back with an amused grin on her face. She bounced on her toes and seemed ready to fight them at any moment.

"Are you crazy fighting against those two?" Emma panicked.

"Now that Luke is one-armed, he has a less chance of getting me," Esme said.

Luke wasn't someone you wanted on your bad side. Actually, both Greyson and Luke. Luke would punish, or even kill, without hesitation.

Greyson, on the other hand, would give punishment of any sort. It was between Luke doing whatever he pleased or Greyson using his mind by being hit with an invisible force. It was like someone getting hit by a gust of wind, pinning them onto the siding.

Esme grabbed her hand again as they went speeding out. Emma screamed when they rushed down an empty hallway. Flying into a classroom, some kids sat in a corner. Both of them stared at each other, saying nothing.

"Odd combination together." Emma jumped as both looked in the doorway, spotting Nevaeh with a smile on her face.

"You know where Jade is?" Esme asked. "Black hair, grey eyes, and tall."

"I do not," Nevaeh said. "Sorry about the news."

"It's okay," Emma whispered.

"Did someone die?" Esme freaked, waving her hands around.

Emma grabbed her wrist, pulling both of them into the white hallway. Looping around another hallway with rows of dark green lockers.

"Cindy caught Greyson and Scarlett kissing," Emma said.

"Gross," Esme irked.

"I was surprised it happened in public. Greyson doesn't seem one to expose romance," Nevaeh said.

It still left an unsettling feeling inside Emma, especially since it had been done quickly. Not even a week after she broke it off, someone caught them kissing.

"Did you see anyone carrying anything strange?" Esme asked, snapping Emma from her thoughts.

"Some kids mixed Sunny D and milk together in a bottle," Nevaeh said.

"Do you know any other information?" Emma asked.

"Why are you looking for something? Or do you want more gossip about people? I heard one girl at Uden is some huge stoner," Nevaeh breezed.

"We lost something that could kill us," Esme said.

"What does it look like?" Nevaeh asked, Emma looked at Esme. The girl probably knew more answers about the situation than she could.

"It's purple and in a test tube," Emma said.

"Is it that Ashley freak stuff?" Nevaeh asked. "I have to spread the word about Ashley wanting to kill people."

Emma leaned on the locker door, but it crashed as she yelped. She landed inside a small metal area where a coat hung above her. Some books saved her fall, as both girls helped her onto her feet.

"Did you really go to this school?" Esme asked Nevaeh.

"Unfortunately, but Uden Academy sounds entertaining," Nevaeh implied.

There was nothing entertaining about Uden Academy. She enjoyed being with her friends, but classes could get chaotic and disruptive at times, but you got used to it.

"Really? You'd want to learn about the Catholic system, and..." Esme busted into laughter before she could say the last part.

"Jesus Christ Superstar," Emma said.

Jesus Christ Superstar was a play they put on during Christmas every single year. It was always a cast of students that were interested in acting for their future careers, which gained them experience. With that tradition, people would just be bored the entire time.

"Your gossip sounds much more interesting than here. Most you'd get would be cheating," Nevaeh sighed.

Emma placed a hand on her own arm, noticing she had a scrape against the side; it disappeared when she touched it. That was how all scrapes would normally go away if someone fell down.

"Well, we should continue our search. If you find anything, let Jason or Zane know," Esme exclaimed, grabbing Emma's hand. She closed her eyes, waiting for the rush of speed, like on a roller coaster.

"If you need gossip, I'll be around," Nevaeh said, smirking. Esme sped off, causing Emma to scream again.

Don't forget to comment and vote!
-Lexi