I sneered at the devilish creature before me, and even with my face mostly covered by clothing, it seemed to grin at my discontent. It threw the backpack at my feet, and I stepped back in surprise, at which Jay finally got to his feet and stumbled behind me. The familiar voice hissed in my mind, and Jay looked up at me worriedly, like it was muttering to him as well, "You again. I thought I might find you here. Heard you had an encounter with-" It sounded like he was going to say a name, but only a series of hisses and clicks were heard, clearly of another language.

"Word travels fast," I replied, clenching my fist. Jay clung my arm for emotional support, and I didn't think he could handle the full extent of what was happening given what happened last time we encountered a nailimp together.

"Mmm, yes, it does," it hissed. "Especially when someone murders one of our own in the light of day."

A cold chill ran down my spine as his glare shot daggers through me. It's many eyes scanned me up and down, and I shielded Jay from his frightening gaze. I could feel his shuddering breaths on my back. He was terrified, and I wondered if he'd been the same when we'd fought the bathroom nailimp and I had been severely injured. He didn't only fear for his life right now, but mine as well. He didn't want me to fight off this thing. I tried to lessen the tension, for his sake.

"You can keep the backpack, if that's what you came to talk to me about," I said, changing the subject. The nailimp looked kind of hurt and dropped the backpack, which disintegrated to dust as soon as it hit the ground.

"Do you want my help or not, kid?" it said.

"Not. Goodbye," I replied, looking up to the building, where Nancy and Roger hung their heads out of the broken windows to get a good look at the three of us below. I repositioned the bandana further up my face, and the nailimp took notice, shifting its gaze to my friends in the building.

"Are you afraid they're going to see you like this?"

I didn't say anything, but I put a hand on Jay, ready to teleport him out of there pronto. Nancy and Roger weren't at the window, which meant they were on their way down to see the action firsthand. I couldn't help but feel nervous that they would identify me as soon as they saw me with Jay. Nancy has known me forever, she'd recognize my voice if anything. I needed a solution, and fast.

"You're sure you don't want help?" it asked, like a salesman at the door who would not simply take no for an answer.

"Shut up," I warned, trying to grab Jay's attention, but he was so fixated on the nailimp he wouldn't pay attention to me. I think the last attack knocked some sense into him, and he realized the actual danger we were currently in. He gripped the back of my shirt tighter, staring at the nailimp. The nailimp seemed to notice, and before I could react, he had teleported so fast, that with a blink of an eye he moved and was back in front of me, Jay in his clutches, who was so dazed he hadn't even noticed at first.

"Let's talk," it hissed, its eyes looking between me and Jay, as one of it's malnourished arms wrapped around Jay, dragging him closer. Jay was too afraid to fight back, which was a good thing since I didn't want him to struggle and get himself hurt. If Nancy and Roger hadn't seen the monster before, they were surely seeing it now. Jay only looked at me, both in fear and in determination, his eyes pleading for help while his body remained stiff and unwavering. He was putting his trust into my hands, with his life on the line.

"Let him go," I demanded, trying to stay confident. I made an effort to remain calm, to keep both of us in a false solace. The nailimp licked the side of Jay's face with it's long, slimy tongue, which slithered out of the vertically placed mouth on its head. Jay shivered as the saliva ran down his cheeks, and the monster tightened its grip on his arm.

"Are you going to help me?" the monster growled.

"What do you want?"

"I want..." it replied, trailing off as if it hadn't thought about what it would say if it had made it this far. "I want you to stay alive. You need my help. If you die, the portal closes. So, I'm not going to kill you. However-" he looked down upon Jay, who was using his scarf to slowly wipe the saliva from his face. He didn't dare look at the monster towering above him, he only looked at me. He was handling this surprisingly well, considering I was completely panicking.

"Don't hurt him. I won't do anything you say if you lay a finger on him. Or a tongue. Or anything on you for that matter."

"You phrased that so weird," Jay whispered and I couldn't help but crack a smile.

"Do not let that be his last joke," I told the creature. It craned it's head towards me again, his soulless eyes looking straight through me. I wondered if that's how my eyes looked like now.

"I told you, I didn't come here to fight. Agree to help me, and I'll let him go."

"Who are you?"

"Schism," it said, it had been practicing to declare his name. "Will you help me?"

"Help you with what?"

"I need a favor,"

"I need specifics-"

Again, the monster had moved faster than I could track it, leaving Jay where he stood, and instead materializing directly in front of me. We were nose to nose, if it had had a nose.

"I don't have to specify anything for you. I made you what you are and now I can use you for whatever I please. If you don't, I kill your very... very small friend. And I kill the two watching through the windows as well."

I shivered, it's cold breath spreading across my face with every word hissed into my brain. I clenched my fists, a gray mist forming around them like I'd grabbed a handful of dry ice.

"You may have made me what I am, but you don't get to boss me around, you-" I struggled to come up with an insult- I was never ever very good at those. I tried desperately to pull out the deepest, meanest, scariest insult I had.

"YOU BIG JERK!!"

The monster was less than impressed, leaning back as it fully registered what I had just said. It sighed miserably, "That's not an acceptable answer."

Jay shouted from behind, "GET HIM, MACABRE!"

Schism turned to pounce on Jay, bounding towards him at full speed. I leaped, barely grazing the nailimp's leg, and used my built up energy to teleport the both of us away from there, just before he was about to lay a finger on Jay.

As soon as I'd teleported, I smacked into the ground below, and Schism fell from my grasp, sliding across the pavement below us. I hadn't teleported far from the hotel, I'd only gotten us past the gate and out into the street. Cars swerved to avoid us, and pulled over or parked to make sure they'd seen correctly.

All I could think was, Macabre? Really? That's the name he came up with? He didn't even notify me first.

Schism lay motionless on the pavement a few feet away, but I knew he was alive. I looked at the scrapes that littered my arms as I leaped to my feet, and there wasn't any lasting damage, but instead, I noticed new black markings ran up my arms, swirling and moving like living vitiligo. The men who had left their cars stared at me, but I tried to ignore them. I needed to kill the nailimp before it hurt them, or worse. I dusted myself off and stomped over to Schism, whose raspy voice laughed in my head, "Don't step any closer, or I will kill these people. I'm asking for your help."

I faced Schism with a confidence I didn't think I had. "You think you're going to threaten me, and that kid, and get away with it?" I said, each word full of malice. I met eyes with one of the men, a stout man in a ball cap and shorts, holding his phone out to record the event. I motioned for him to get back in his car, but he ignored me. I looked back down at Schism, whose eyes bled on the pavement, and looked up at me. He wasn't hurt, I had touched him to teleport but I'd never focused on draining his life. So, why was he here now, pretending like a little scratch to his eyes was so bad?

It was a trap. He was warning me. He had me cornered, and he knew it. "I don't think I can get away with it, I know I will!"

One of its arms shot up and grabbed me by mine, and it watched me struggle in his steely grip. I seized and kicked Schism in the face, but its arm didn't budge. Dread washed over my senses as it turned to get a better look at me, and one of the spectators got back in his car and drove off down the street, while another called the police and ran to hide behind his car.

"Macabre, help me. There are nailimps I want dead, and you're just the man to do it. I made you. I could destroy you if I wanted, but I haven't. Please stop waging war and work with me," Schism begged, yanking me closer to look in his eyes. I was afraid that he might rip my arm off, and Evan would give me a not-so-warm welcome to the club. "You're killing nailimps anyway. Just help me get rid of the ones that cause issues."

I shook my head. "I won't. I'm not your plaything and I'm not yours. I am my own person, and just because you made me what I am doesn't mean you get to order me around."

The monster growled at me, gripping my arms tighter, and I kicked him in the face, again and again, repeatedly knocking him off, trying to loosen his grip- but to no avail. Schism head-butted me, and I fell to my knees with the shock, and the struggle to retain consciousness. Despite my dizziness, I sneered at him, feeling my nose start to drip blood. "You won't kill me. I'm the only thing keeping that portal open for you and your kind."

"And what about these people? What's to stop me from killing them?" The nailimp hissed. "I will tear them to shreds. And then a dozen people more. And another dozen until you agree. You forget you got your teleportation from MY essence. I can be anywhere I want."

I got back to my feet and tried to focus on getting his hands off of me, but my hands couldn't reach him to drain him. Maybe he didn't need to touch my hands. Maybe he could just be touching my skin, and I could drain him. I focused, blood flowing from my nostrils, and I could feel my hands tingling with the feeling of power, and slowly drift up my arm, the markings swirling faster with the energy. Schism gasped, and drew his hands back, as they were slowly fading away. He got up and turned to kill the spectators, malicious fury in his soul that I felt to my core. I struggled not to vomit, and grabbed his arm, burning him away.

"Stop!" he pleaded, as he watched his arm burn away into nothing. I closed my eyes, and as he turned to face me, I plunged my hand into the mouth that overflowed with the guts of the creature and started draining him from the inside.

"You're going to die, Macabre...if you keep this up you will die, and you KNOW IT. So, why are you fighting me?..... Why are you killing yourself to defeat me?"

"Because, if I don't, then assholes like you will continue to kill humans. And that's not happening."

Schism screamed, but he was paralyzed. He couldn't move. But me? I was energized. The more I drained, the more lively I became, my powers were only amplified the more he faded. Schism wasted away into nothing, and I gulped down the urge to vomit up the blood that boiled up to my throat, another bit of humanity lost. I stood there and looked back at the hotel. My friends were staring, leaning up against the fence to get a good look, and the spectators started to drift closer. I panicked.

"Hi, there," I blurted, which sounded super badass after a battle with a monster. I think they couldn't believe what they saw, their eyes slowly drifting to where the monster once was, and back to me. "He's gone now, you guys are good!" I said, raising a thumbs-up, but before they could ask questions, I spun around and bolted toward the fence to see my friends. I tried to be serious, but I felt much more alert. More awake, and energized. However, I tried to keep my composure as I leaned against the fence, all of my friends staring with fear, and with excitement. Gratitude, even, which felt good. Great. Not something I felt often, even as I attempted to suppress my own vomit.

"You need to get out of here. Are you guys okay? Anyone injured?" I asked, and they nodded, which only confused me because I had no idea which question they were answering. I put up a questionable thumbs-up as a compromise, and they all returned the gesture. I waved goodbye, and Jay waved back, giving a slight grin, as I teleported back to my dirty room, where apparently no one had noticed I was gone- or they had assumed I'd left with Jay. The latter would be preferable since it would be hard to explain to Nancy and Roger why Macabre was taking their friend with him.

I ripped off the jacket and bandana Jay had forced me to wear- for very good reason given what just happened. The powers didn't seem to be fading much, but as I shifted into my human form again, I rushed into the bathroom, shut and locked the door, and vomited blood straight into the toilet. It wasn't too much, but I shook violently, my body rejecting the influence of foreign energy.

The sight of blood made me dizzy, and you'd think I wouldn't be squeamish about this anymore, but I definitely was. My shaky hands reached for a towel to wipe my mouth with as I flushed the blood down the drain. Stupid Schism.

At least he was dead now.

I tucked the towel under my arm and strode over to the sink, looking at myself in the mirror. I was super dirty, and needed a shower, especially if I was going to keep up appearances. I still felt full of energy, like I needed to run a few laps, which definitely wouldn't sit well with my mom.

I didn't like getting used to it. I didn't want it. Maybe I could ignore it. If I kept myself out of trouble, I wouldn't have to worry about it all. Sure, the powers were cool, but I didn't feel like losing my life over them. It was a miracle Nancy and Roger didn't notice that voice belonged to a dear friend of theirs, and I couldn't help but feel insulted that they didn't know it was me. Wouldn't I be able to know their voices? Maybe they'd thought it, but looked at my appearance and decided it was a stupid idea. Either way, I should really just be grateful my newfound secret identity was intact.

I thought about what the monster had said. It asked me if I was ashamed of how I looked. Asked me why I hid my face. I wanted to tell myself it was Jay's superhero fantasy, that he wanted me to have a secret identity so he could have a cooler friend. I was kidding myself. I was ashamed. But why? Maybe it was because I knew I looked like one of those things. Maybe it was because I was afraid they would never look at me the same. Or maybe because I was still guilty that I was dying trying to keep up a charade like this.

I shook my head. I was so focused on the fact I might die. I wasn't going to die if I just stopped fighting nailimps. I could be a superhero like Jay wanted me to be. No, like I wanted to be. I could help people, people in my city. Not that finding crime was a walk in the park, but there had to be some, right?

Being a superhero didn't sound like such a bad idea after all.

About an hour later, I was freshly showered, rested, and I'd hid the makeshift costume away in a safe place- meaning under my bed, where no human dared to look- if they wanted to keep their sanity, that is. Not even my mother would reach a hand into that dark place.

Anyway, it was only about an hour later when my friends showed up at the door, frantically knocking. I took a deep breath and braced myself for the rush of excitement that was going to burst through the door as soon as I'd gotten comfortable in RelaxationVille. I turned the doorknob, and like a tidal wave, my friends started talking all at once, even Jay, who already knew I was there for the entire thing.

I couldn't even keep track of who was saying what when my mom stepped in.

"Everyone, please, take a breath. Weren't you all just here? Please, it's really cold and Andy still needs his rest, you know this, guys," she scolded. I waved her comments away.

"I'm fine, Mom, just tired. Nancy invited us to grab milkshakes, right?" I said, slightly nudging her to go along with it. She nodded excitedly, playing along.

"It wasn't fair if we went without him, and he can borrow my coat if it gets too cold!" she agreed.

"I don't need your coat, Nancy," I argued, and she nudged me back. "But I'll accept it if I need it, I guess."

My mom sighed and smiled at me. She cupped my face in her hands and gave me a very serious look. "Be SAFE. If anyone tries to hurt you, call me. No heroics. Got me?"

"No heroics. Got you." I repeated, and she let me go.

Roger and Nancy pulled me outside, and I quickly grabbed my shoes before we headed outside, the same sun blinding me. Roger spoke first, which was surprising since I hadn't seen him this excited in years.

"We just saw a HUGE FIGHT with a real, honest-to-god MONSTER. It was this nasty looking guy, with guts and HE TOOK JAY, but this guy came ZOOMING UP AND TELEPORTED THEM! CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT?"

"Are you guys...high?" I suggested, and Nancy slapped me upside the head.

"It's true, Dickhead, we all saw it. There's a bunch of people there now, you can ask any of them," Nancy said, and the others nodded in agreement. I rubbed the back of my head.

"I'd love to talk to them because I'm positive you're all lying to me. You realize I just got out of the hospital right? This isn't the best time to pull bullshit-"

Roger put his hand over my mouth and I nearly screamed. "I'm dead serious. This happened."

I was well aware, but the tone he had was scary as if a dragon had snorted smoke, and if I made any sudden moves, he'd burn me to a crisp. He lowered his hand, and I nodded. "Okay, but I still want to talk to those people."

When we got to the site, the street was swarmed with cops, spectators, and reporters. I should have checked to see if anyone was injured, I was so worried about exposing myself that I hadn't checked to see the people that were stopped. Except for the guy filming. Oh my god, the guy filmed it. It was out there. I hadn't intended to keep it disclosed, but at least it felt like it was a world only I knew about. As soon as that video went public, it would no longer be my secret. It should have been a good thing, people needed to know what was out there, but in the face of danger, people's fear could get the best of them- at least, that's what all the movies said.

Roger led us through the crowds of people, tugging me along by my shirt, and the others held onto each other so that we formed a line and made it to the front together, where the scene was blocked by fencing and police tape. I hadn't thought there had been a crime scene since I'd decimated Schism, but one of the nailimps left a message.

Clawed into the ground, read:

Macabre Beware

The investigative teams were measuring out the words, and taking photos of each letter. I started to sweat, and I looked around, trying to spot the nailimps that were responsible. They were long gone by now and must have known Schism. Anyone that allied with Schism was no friend of mine, but I wasn't going to hunt them down. Fighting was bad for my health.

Jay tugged on my sleeve, and I leaned down so I could hear him whisper, "This is wild!"

I nodded in agreement. After we'd had our exchange, we were shoved back into the middle of the crowd, unable to see the warning carved out just for me. I made my way outside of the crowd and Nancy said, "This is crazy, right?"

"Crazy is one word for it," I replied, absentmindedly swinging my shoes back and forth since I had still neglected to put them on.

"Macabre was the name of the guy that rescued us. You should've seen the monster, this guy must have some real baddies on his tail," Roger explained. He seemed very talkative, I'd never seen him this way. He was scared- not excited- I could see it. I felt guilty, reveling in the secret attention and flattery- like an episode of Undercover Boss. I'd put this guy through some nerve-wracking situations in the past few days. I pat his back and said, "I believe you. It's just wild. I mean, real monsters? Why here?"

"No clue. I wonder if the Macabre kid is luring them here," Nancy said, which she wasn't too far off. I was the living sacrifice keeping the gates open.

"Why don't we discuss this over milkshakes?" I suggested, trying to lighten the mood. The others nodded, and we started moseying in the direction of our favorite spot, Blythe's Burgers. Blythe's was a place we went often, but for some inexplicable reason, we never got burgers while we were there-we got pizza and milkshakes. It's our designated spot to meet up if something is wrong, or if we just want to hang out and eat pizza. Today was a day where both reasons brought us to that place.

The way the discussion was headed, I wanted to tell them I was Macabre. It didn't seem right to keep it from them, but I'd already kept things from them for a long time. This just seemed bigger. Too big. I could see Jay wanting to like it so much, but he'd had a near death experience. If I had been just one second too late, he would've been torn to shreds by Schism.

As soon as we'd weaved our way through the other crowds, one of the crew members started bounding up to us. I couldn't see her features until she got closer, but it was my sister. Of course. She held a notepad in hand and a recorder in the other, with a big grin on her face.

"Andy! You'll never believe what people are saying happened here. They all saw a monster! Two of them! Fighting in the street!" she exclaimed, nearly out of breath.

"So I heard," I said dully, tucking a hand in my pocket, whilst the other gripped onto the shoes.

"We saw it firsthand," Jay said, grim seriousness lacing his voice- which was weird coming from him. "It tried to attack me, and then Macabre showed up."

I could tell he was reveling in the fact that he'd chosen a name for me, the way he emphasized it made him the giddiest kid on the block. Sure, it saved me from having to explain 'Andy Beware' being carved into the sidewalk, but I wanted to smack him upside the head for being so smug.

Scarlet's eyes lit up with joy, which is the opposite of how you should feel when a child says he was attacked by a very real monster. I grabbed Jay by the shirt and started walking in the other direction, towards Blythe's once more. My sister yanked me back by my shoulder, stopping me in my tracks.

"You can't just leave! I need your friend to give me his testimony," Scarlet reasoned. "He can't drop something like that and leave!"

"What proof is there that there was a monster attack anyway? These people could all be lying, Jay included," I argued. Jay looked offended and was about to argue, but he shut his mouth before he could try. "What do you need his testimony for? Go get your parental permission slips and then come back."

Scarlet pulled out her phone and pulled up a video she'd received, shoving it in my hands to view. It was the video the guy had taken of the attack. The creature looked like it was fading in and out of existence as it lay on the ground, like an old video in a VCR that wouldn't play correctly, and the video itself was muddled, although everything else except for the nailimp was perfectly clear on screen. I saw myself fighting it, which looked weird from another point of view, yet still the same. I was there, but watching it on camera felt so surreal. My sister put the video away matter-of-factly. I crossed my arms and let go of Jay, but Jay knew my thoughts. He knew I wasn't the biggest fan of my sister, but he felt guilty. He was a little too soft, but that's always been Jay. Instead of telling her no, he said, "Maybe later, I want to go get milkshakes with your brother."

Nancy mouthed an apology to Scarlet and grabbed me by the scruff of my shirt, dragging me along as I had been doing to Jay, and I was instantly reminded how much I hated it when she did that. I'd learned it from her, but she was taller than me then, and I was tiny and easy to drag around. Now, I was taller than her and felt like she was going to break my spine. I struggled free once we got a few yards away from my sister who was waving goodbye.

"Why are you dragging me? I was just leaving with you," I argued.

"You were going to lash out, I know you like the back of my hand, Hutchison," Nancy said, and Roger agreed. I grumbled and followed along as we left the scene of the battle and fled to the nearest Blythe's.

________

"And then BAM!! Macabre came flying in like a rocket and teleported the monster out into the street!!" Nancy finished, half a bite of pizza and strawberry milkshake still in her mouth. It was like talking to a human vacuum when she got excited. She was inhaling her own words, which made it very misunderstandable, but we tried our hardest to decipher it all.

I couldn't help it if I was a bit cocky. The way they talked about Macabre made me feel giddy and full of pride, and I tried not to show it- even if Jay saw right through me. He stuck his tongue out at me whenever he noticed me starting to crack- which actually helped my case and reminded me not to reveal anything. I desperately wanted to. I mean what was the harm? They thought I was awesome, which definitely improved my esteem over the past few days.

"Yeah, but what are those monsters?" Roger interrupted, and I nearly jumped. He was quite chatty today. I hadn't seen him become this chatty since he told me he'd gotten his first girlfriend in the eighth grade. Even so, the comment itself made me uneasy. I mean, I knew stuff about them, but what was I supposed to say?

"They look like spirits...maybe evil spirits..." Jay said, and I kicked him under the table. He took a big bite of pizza to keep himself from crying out, his scarf threatening to take a dip in his milkshake as it glided across the table. Nancy tapped her fingers against the wood as she gazed outside, watching people walking along the busy city sidewalks. She was lost in thought, but I knew she was going to say something, and we all awaited her profoundly intellectual response to the question.

"That thing wasn't a ghost- I think it can make itself invisible," she said, and my confidence in her skills increased, but immediately decreased again when I remembered she hadn't figured out Macabre and I were the same person. They were all dumbasses, but that was okay because it helped a lot in my case.

Nancy cleared her throat and continued, "However cool Macabre seemed to be, how do we know he- or it- is on our side? Macabre isn't human, that's for damn sure. But then what is he? And why is it only our city plagued with these monsters fighting each other and nowhere else?"

"Maybe there was a disturbance in the force here," I joked, and drank more of my milkshake to seem nonchalant. Nancy blinked, my joke resonating with her. I could practically see the wheels in her head turning with some new realization.

"The monster- Schism, I think was the name- it wanted Macabre's help. It was asking for him to help, and he refused," she mused.

"Would you want to help that thing? I know I wouldn't," Jay stated.

"True, but what would he need help with? Is there something coming? And is Macabre really on our side if Schism was asking for his help?" Nancy debated with herself.

"Macabre asked us if we were okay. He saved me. Do you really think he'd be on any other side than ours?" Jay argued. I took a sip of my milkshake watching the debate unfold.

"That's a good point. What does it all mean, though? I'm still freaking out," Nancy said, and they all nodded.

"Maybe," I replied. "Our city has its own little superhero."

"It's about damn time, you know how many are in California?" Roger agreed. "Finally someone can stop all of the bad here."

Nancy laughed, "Aside from invisible monsters we cannot see, what even happens in this city? At least in California there is crime on the daily. Here, there's no one worth looking into."

"Yet," Jay smirked. Nancy nudged him playfully.

"Let's not jinx it, Jay," I said through my teeth. He knocked twice on the wooden table, which was good enough for me.

"I'm going to find that Macabre dude again," Nancy said, staring out the window once more. "I'm going to ask him what's going on."

"Assuming he knows," I snickered.

The table went quiet. This would be a hard thing to cover up for a while, but I just wasn't ready to give up my secret. I met eyes with Jay, who knew that Macabre had no intention to dissemble or wreak havoc, and whose cheerful disposition seemed rather suspicious considering the situation.

"Just because that kid- or whatever Macabre is- was nice to us this time," Nancy began. "Doesn't mean he is out for the good of our city, nor the people who live in it. I'm not putting my trust in his hands just because he has fancy powers. If those monsters have been here a long time, maybe we've been handling it just fine on our own. Macabre may just be stirring up trouble."

Everyone at the table agreed, though Jay did so reluctantly. He wanted to argue, but if he didn't know the truth, he would have agreed, as well as I.

"Nancy is right," Roger said, though rather softly. "I don't believe one rescue warrants a ticket to heroism. I will be grateful for the lives he saved, including our own, but that doesn't mean he is a hero."

Jay and I nodded in understanding, with a hint of disappointment, and Nancy took note of our silence. That wasn't good.

"Anything to add?" she urged.

"Yeah, actually," Jay said, matter-of-factly. "He saved my life when I was extremely close to death. The monster attacked me out of nowhere and Macabre showed. He did his best to get the monster away from me. That's all I need to call someone a hero. Macabre was my hero today."

Nancy and Roger contemplated, looked at each other, back to Jay, and then down at the table. "We didn't mean to offend you," Nancy said regretfully.

"I'm not offended. I'm just adding on," Jay replied smugly and finished off his milkshake. Damn, that was fast.

"How about you, Andy? Do you agree?" Nancy pried. I shook my head.

"I can't agree or disagree. I wasn't there, so I won't hold anything against him," I lied. "But if he really did save your lives, then I am grateful for him." Saying those words felt comforting as if I was grateful I had gotten these powers. I would usually say I wasn't grateful, but today, these powers saved my best friends' lives. Nancy was right, I wasn't the city's hero, but at least I was Jay's hero. That felt right.

When we finished up, we walked home. Roger and Jay went in the direction of their neighborhoods, and Nancy and I walked toward ours. She was obviously lost in thought, which didn't surprise me. She felt the need to break everything down, to understand. In her eyes, everything could be explained, even if the theory was a long shot, it was still a theory. Nancy was so inattentive, she tripped over a hole in the sidewalk, stumbling to catch herself. I laughed at her, and she scowled, threatening to throttle me if I brought it up to the others.

We continued walking in silence, until I asked, "You guys aren't going to go back to the hotel right? Ever?"

Nancy flashed me a puzzled look. "I'm not afraid of those monsters if that's what you're warning me about."

"You should be," I replied. "From the sound of it, you were all in real danger today. What if... that guy hadn't been there? You would have been hurt or killed. What were you even doing there anyway?"

"First of all," she started. "I shouldn't be banned from places just because monsters are there. I should be free to go wherever I please despite coexisting with things that want to kill me. Secondly, we were there to help you."

I started to sweat. Help me? Had she known I was Macabre this whole time? My voice must have given it away. Either that or my hair- even if it was another color.

"What do you mean?" I inquired. She stopped in front of me, staring at me as if I should have pieced it together by now.

"I wanted to find the person who hurt you. The guy with the ax. The abandoned hotel is one of the shadiest places in this city, and I figured that we could find evidence to help both you and Evan. I wasn't expecting a monster attack, Andy," Nancy explained, hesitance lacing her voice. "Though, I'm starting to believe that it wasn't a man in the bathroom. I think you've seen these monsters before."

I shook my head, exhaling deeply. "It was a man. Both Evan and I have confirmed that there was a man there, and he attacked us. I wasn't attacked by some monster."

"Then where did the man go? The school released details to your mom. When I visited her she filled me in on the details of the current investigation. No one entered the bathroom. No one left. It was you and those other boys. So, tell me, was it really a man? Or did a monster attack you?"

"Just because a man knows tricks, doesn't mean he never did it."

"And why would a random guy sneak into a school bathroom to kill you?"

"Why would a random monster sneak into a bathroom to kill us?" I pointed out.

She tried to come up with a better point, but couldn't find anything to say. We started walking again.

"I know you, Nancy. You want to connect the dots. New information has been delivered to your very doorstep and now you are trying to add the information to your unsolved issues, but you can't jump to conclusions. Bad humans still exist. A bad human showed up and did bad things to both Evan and I. Trust me, we've both dealt with our fair share of bad humans. So, don't go nuts on me just because of this monster ordeal."

Nancy nodded and cracked a small smile. "That's the smartest thing I think I've ever heard you say," she teased.

"So," I said, changing the subject. "Did you get to reschedule your date?"

"Unfortunately for you, yes," Nancy grinned. She had a little skip in her step mentioning it. "Since your accident, I had to cancel, so I didn't... if you died and I went on a date with him, instead of being there in some way... you know..."

I nodded grimly.

"The date is scheduled for this weekend." she continued. "Don't ditch me. Make it believable that I am there. I don't want to get in trouble again-"

"My mom knows the drill. Plus, we have Scarlet, who can attempt to mimic your voice if necessary," I replied.

"About that, you still haven't told me about your sister. You said you would tell me today," she pointed out. I sighed in frustration.

"My sister's name is Scarlet. She lives in LA as a journalist. She has a husband and a kid, both of which I have never met, and she keeps butting her head into my life when she is least wanted. There. That's all you need to know," I replied, tucking my hands in my pockets. Nancy mulled over the new information she was given.

"How come we haven't seen her before?" she asked.

"She barely visits. Maybe once every three years, if that."

"Do you hate her because she doesn't make an attempt to see you?"

"Partly. Another part of it is that she does make an attempt to see me, only to grovel in her own apologies and expect forgiveness, as if forgiving her is easy," I elaborated.

Nancy pat my shoulder. "I understand. Yet, if you hold a grudge in your heart for very long, you're only bringing yourself down."

"Then I'm taking her down with me," I retorted. Nancy bit her lip in disagreement. She was right, but after so many years, it just felt easier to hate her. I hated her more than the actual person that had hurt me in the first place. I hated her for leaving me to die.

"Sorry. I get really heated when it comes to the subject of my sister," I apologized. I spotted my mailbox a few houses up ahead from where we walked. "I'm just reminded of bad things whenever I see her."

"I'm sorry you have to deal with that," she offered as a consolation.

"Just wish things could be different."

"Then make them different," Nancy encouraged, her dark brown eyes looking hopefully up to me. "It's you who can change things. Don't wait for others to make the change for you."

"Have I ever told you you're the wisest person I know?"

"No, but I already knew," Nancy teased, shoving me up my driveway.

"Ah, so very wise," I said dramatically, pretending to curtsy. Nancy laughed and waved goodbye, and I watched as she walked down the sidewalk, making her way to her house a few blocks away.

Once she was out of sight, I turned and entered my house. My dad sat at the kitchen table, my mom beside him discussing a serious topic I decided to tune out. Scarlet was sprawled across the couch, looking at her notes from the day's events. I sighed and walked into the living room, gazing over her notes that were scattered on the coffee table. Scarlet had a laptop in her lap, typing rapidly, and didn't even notice me until I sat on the couch next to her. She looked at me confusedly as if I shouldn't be there, then went back to what she was doing. I leaned back into the couch, letting it absorb me as I started to watch whatever was on the TV.

The news was on. On loop was footage of Macabre fighting Schism. They already had it in the news. Macabre would be known throughout our city, and I was scared of what was to come. What if they found me out? Wouldn't it be easy to find me with all this new technology we had? I didn't know. All I could do was see what was to come.

Word of the nailimps was out, and there was nothing I could do about it.