They burned a fire in the backyard of the Miller Jeff house.
Flames crackled.
Orange and gold against the cold.
Warmth against the winter night.
They sat around it.
Close.
Silent at first.
The fire spoke for them.
“So what’s been going on?
Since the last time we met?
When we fought with Tom?” Zander asked.
His voice was light, but his eyes were serious.
He was trying.
They all were.
“Nothing.
I just can’t sleep now,” Cult said.
He stared into the fire.
The flames reflected in his eyes.
Dancing.
Hypnotic.
“Yes.
Me too.
That is a problem,” Lomro said.
Quietly.
He wasn’t looking at anyone.
“I can’t sleep either.
I am afraid.
Whenever I close my eyes, I see Amili smiling,” Inose said.
Her voice trembled like a leaf in wind.
Her hands were clasped tightly in her lap.
— “Three years ago, my father taught me everything.
Cooking food.
Driving a bike.
How to be strong.
How to do everything by yourself.” Zander paused.
He swallowed hard.
The words were difficult.
“I love my father very much.
But whatever I do, he is not happy with me.
He always makes me feel bad.
He always wants me to be perfect.
And I try.
As much as I can.
But I always end up depressed.
He never understands me.
I am dying inside.
I am always afraid to tell him everything about me.
Thinking, what will he think?” Zander’s voice cracked.
He looked at the fire, but he wasn’t seeing it.
He was seeing his father’s disappointed face.
“But after all this, Amili got to know about it through my mother.
She taught me how to ignore them.
How to do what I like.
She made me free.
I miss her.
She is like my elder sister.” He paused.
A tear slid down his cheek.
It caught the firelight.
“But I still love my father more than anything.
And she taught me that too.” “Why are you saying this now?” Cult asked.
His voice was gentle.
He understood.
“I thought I had to say it now.
Because… you all are my family,” Zander said.
The words hung in the air.
Sacred.
True.
Silence.
Inose sat quietly.
Biting her nails.
Looking here and there.
Her body was tense.
Coiled like a spring.
She had been holding something in for a very long time.
“When I was twelve and lived in Japan, my mother and her boyfriend killed my father,” Inose said.
Everyone went still.
Even the fire seemed to pause.
“I told a lie.
That my father and mother are no more.” Her voice was barely a whisper.
A secret finally escaping.
“My father fought for me.
To take me with him.
But my mother said no.
Just because she wanted people to say she was right.
But the truth was, she didn’t want me.
Because her boyfriend didn’t need me.
He said he would not accept me.
I don’t know what they planned to do with me.
But… they killed my father.
With a Japanese knife.
They cut his whole body.
In front of me.” She stopped.
Her hands were shaking.
Her whole body was shaking.
“After this, they put his body in a huge plastic bag.
And left it in the bathroom.
Then they had sex.” Her voice was dead now.
Hollow.
“I ran to our neighbour.
I told them everything.
The police arrested them.
They had proof.
My father’s body.
I gave a statement in court.
My mother and her boyfriend were sent to prison.
But she told me… ‘Whenever I get released from here, I will find you and kill you.
Like your father.'” Inose’s voice died to nothing.
“Then me and my grandmother came to Monovi.” She stopped several times while speaking.
Afraid.
Reliving it.
Her eyes were wet but no tears fell.
She had cried all her tears long ago.
“I am gay,” Lomro said suddenly.
Everyone looked at Lomro.
The shift was jarring.
Unexpectedly.
“What?” Zander whispered.
Not judgment.
Just a surprise.
“I was always afraid to tell you all about this.
I thought you would leave me.
Because of this feature in me.” Guilt weighed down Lomro’s voice.
He looked at the ground.
He couldn’t meet their eyes.
“No.” Blinc’s voice was calm.
Certain.
A soft smile touched his lips — the first smile in days.
“This is not something to be afraid of.
Or to be ashamed of.
You are still our friend.” Zander smiled and nodded.
Accepted.
No judgment.
Just love.
Just family.
— “I killed my father,” Blinc said.
The fire crackled.
Sparks flew up into the night sky.
“That was not an accident.
When that vase piece got stuck in my father’s neck, he was alive.
He was asking for help.” Blinc’s voice was steady.
But his eyes glistened with unshed tears.
“But I walked away.
Because he beat me.
Burned my mother.
Assaulted her.
I couldn’t sleep.
I wanted to save her.” “We all wanted to,” Lomro said.
Soft.
Understanding.
“Cult, you don’t have any kind of secrets?” Zander asked.
A small attempt at lightness.
A lifeline back to normalcy.
“No.
I don’t have any secrets.
I am an open book to you all,” Cult said.
A faint smile.
The smallest crack of light.
Lomro threw a wooden stick into the fire.
Sparks flew upward like a thousand tiny stars.
A piece of burning wood landed on Blinc’s hand.
He moved it away.
Instinctive.
Casual.
Suddenly, a blue spark appeared between his fingers.
Blinc looked at his hand.
Shocked.
His heart stopped for a second.
The spark danced between his fingertips.
Alive.
Waiting.
“What the hell is happening?” Zander said.
His eyes were wide.
His body had tensed.
“I… I don’t know,” Blinc said.
His voice was barely a whisper.
He stared at his hand like it belonged to someone else.
“Last time, it happened in that tower, right?” Lomro asked.
His voice was careful.
Measured.
“Yes,” Blinc said.
Blinc stood up.
Everyone watched him.
He closed his eyes.
He thought about the moment he transformed the last time in the tower.
Every detail.
Every feeling.
The warmth.
The strength.
The fear.
The control.
“I remember that moment.
While I was transforming, my breath was normal.
My body was relaxed.
My fingers were loose.
And my eyes were open,” Blinc said.
He opened his eyes.
Everyone stood up.
Shocked.
Gasps filled the air.
He had transformed.
Glowing thunder around him.
Blue light filling the cracks in his skin.
Eyes burning like twin suns.
Hair floating in an invisible wind.
In control.
Then he turned back to normal.
The light faded.
The thunder died.
He was just Blinc again.
“What the fuck,” Cult said slowly.
His mouth hung open.
His eyes were dinner plates.
“It means…” Zander said.
He turned his face toward the Miller Jeff house.
The old, dark structure loomed against the night sky.
“This world is still active.” “But how do we go there now?” Lomro said.
The practical question.
The impossible question.
“With that book,” Inose said.
Her voice was certain.
She had been thinking.
She had figured something out.
— Inose’s House.
“Hi, folks!
Welcome!
Do you want some cookies and tea?” Inose’s grandmother asked.
Her voice was warm.
Unaware.
She had no idea what her granddaughter had been through.
What any of them had been through.
“No, Grandma,” Inose said.
She went straight to her room.
The others followed.
A trail of broken teenagers.
She took out the book.
Old.
Worn.
The leather was cracked.
The pages were yellow with age.
It smelled of dust and secrets.
“I don’t know why, but this book is in Japanese,” Inose said, opening it.
Confusion in her voice.
She flipped through the pages.
“What?
This is in English,” Blinc said.
He leaned closer.
His brow furrowed.
“What is wrong with you?
This is in Japanese,” Inose said.
She held the book out.
“No.
This is in Spanish,” Cult said.
Certain.
He pointed at the words.
“Oh.” Zander’s eyes lit up.
Understanding dawned.
“Now I understand.
Whoever is a master of which language, they see this book in that language.
Like Cult is a master of Spanish, so he sees it in Spanish.
Just like that, Inose sees it in Japanese.
And you, me, and Lomro see it in English.” “Okay.
So look here.
The last page.
Blinc, read it loudly,” Inose said.
She handed him the book.
Blinc took the book.
His hands were steady.
He began to read.
His voice filled the room: “The place can take you from one world to another world.
It is a bridge between time and space.
If both worlds’ bridge is closed suddenly, without any sound or light or air, it means that world was destroyed.
But when air, sound, light, and darkness come together, it means the bridge was broken.
And it is more dangerous for both worlds.
If one world wants to exist, the other world must be destroyed.
There is a way to open it.
From the thing by which the gate was opened.” “You must connect that thing to your world again.
And remember, that thing must be close to the place where the gate was opened.” “Causes of bridge made and broken.” Blinc stopped reading.
He looked up.
The room was silent.
“Where is the next page?” Blinc asked.
His voice was urgent.
“It is the end of the book,” Inose said.
Disappointment.
Frustration.
“And in the back, there is only stuff about Karbu.
Clouds.
The lake water.
Things that are not useful,” Inose said.
She had already searched.
Already hoped.
Already been disappointed.
“Okay.
What do we do now?” Lomro asked.
The question hung in the air.
Blinc thought.
His mind was racing.
The gears were turning.
He walked to the window and looked out at the snow-covered street.
The world was quiet.
Peaceful.
But somewhere — somewhere far away and impossibly close — Amili was not.
He turned back to them.
His eyes burned with something new.
Something fierce.
Not fear.
Not sadness.
Not guilt.
Hope.
Determination.
Fire.
“We steal the C.D.
from the base once again,” Blinc said.
The words fell like a thunderclap.
Confidence.
Pure and solid.
Unbreakable.
— To be continued…
— Author’s Note Dear Reader, This chapter is the quiet after the storm.
The confessions by the fire.
The acceptance of who they are and what they’ve done.
But the quiet never lasts.
The C.D.
is out there .
The gate is waiting.
And Blinc has just discovered that he can control the power inside him.
The question is — what will it cost him?
Thank you for reading.