"What motives?" Willow asked me.
Indeed, what foolish motives could I conjure up for a football team to commit a massacre in this building just to target my brother and Willow.
Well… I just prayed that this foolishness would not blow up everything I've achieved so far.
"…The first I can think of is that someone disagreed so much with James's initiative during the assembly and what happened there that they sent those football players after him."
Upon hearing that, some shock showed on her face as her head swiveled towards James again. My brother, however, remained as calm as ever while opening his mouth to explain.
"A lot of people died. I can't imagine anyone making me a priority after that mess."
"Nobody knew your opinion before it began or what direction it would go?"
"No. Anyone could attend to discuss the issue of superpower usage on campus."
"How did you spread information about the assembly?"
"Word of mouth, bulletin boards and email. Social media, well…"
"Doesn't work, [Grace of Hestia], I know. And… for those who made it out? Do you have a list of attendees with which we–"
"No, we didn't note down attendees so that they could somewhat stay anonymous. And as I said, no grudges beforehand."
I stayed silent for a moment, before continuing to ask about what I really wanted to know. But I wouldn't ask him, so I looked into Willow's eyes when she met my gaze.
"I don't really know how that assembly ended up like that and how horrible it was, but what do you think?"
She looked at James again for a moment, with a look of compassion and pity, before answering me.
"He came back to me all covered in blood and panicked. He tried to help. I… can't imagine that someone would…"
She didn't finish her sentence. And as I looked at my brother's face, I saw that his gaze had become distant. He was suppressing something, but I couldn't see if it was something real or not.
"Alright…, I'm sorry. Then that's probably not it."
Of course not, I already knew. But in addition to the information, it also plants seeds of doubt in Willow's mind.
So now… it was time to look even more ridiculous.
"But… there's another possibility. But…, um…, it's a bit…"
I let the words hang while looking alternately between James and Willow with an unsure expression. In that time they had both regained their neutral serious faces.
"What is it?" Willow asked me.
"Well… it's because that captain guy said he was specifically after the women, but…" I halted mid-sentence and looked straight at James before continuing.
"Do you know what I want to say?"
James took a moment to consider while looking seriously at me, but I saw it almost immediately click in his head before answering me, with a somewhat annoyed face.
"You can say it."
"…Are you really su–"
"Just tell us," Willow said with intrigue in her eyes.
I glanced between them one last time and then just went for it and asked my brother.
"You… um… didn't break any woman's heart and she's now out to get you and Willow, right?"
…The room went silent. Even Ken was so stunned that he stopped looking around for a potential hidden culprit nearby to focus fully back on the conversation.
But my brother was still silent after a few seconds. My eyes drifted unconsciously to Willow, but what I saw there almost cracked my facade in surprise.
She was… holding back laughter?
I didn't expect that.
Then I heard my brother speak again in a somewhat accusing tone.
"Jack…, I haven't been with anyone except her since coming here."
My expression cracked. I heard Willow quickly suppress a giggle. I must have looked incredibly stupid, even more than I had intended to.
"Oh…, that's… that's good then."
"So, if even your brother thinks about you like that, then you really must have been quite experienced. Aren't you ashamed of yourself?" Willow asked James with a devilish grin on her face.
I saw my brother briefly make a face like, 'oh no, not now', before quickly switching gears with a matching grin on his own.
"I told you I was good with women."
"You did, so when will I finally feel some of all that goodness and experience for myself at night?"
"…You're the one who's insatiable in that regard."
"Maybe you're just not up to par?"
"I'm confident you haven't had any better."
"Well, that's true. And I just heard how you got to be so good, so I'm still expecting even greater things."
"…I'll do my best. But maybe we should get back on topic. I think Jack here is still too innocent for this conversation," James said with a smile on his face that made it seem like he was putting me in the crosshairs of the devil herself.
"What? A pretty boy like him must have been with at least a girl or three, right?" She asked me while looking like she was having the time of her life.
…I managed to open my mouth, but nothing came out of it. I couldn't formulate any coherend response, so I closed it again.
What's happening here!? How!? Why!?
I tried opening my mouth a few more times, with the same result.
"Or perhaps…," Willow continued, now setting her sight in Ken.
"A boyfriend?"
I froze. I felt like I was in the seventh circle of hell. The only thing I could still do was turn my head through my stiffened neck towards Ken.
And when I looked at his face, I saw a miracle that instantly thawed my body.
He was looking straight at her, more annoyed than unfazed, with not even one hint of a blush!
Get her, Ken! Defend your pride! Get her for us!
"Sadly for me, he's only ever had eyes for a single girl, who's just become his girlfriend."
What!? No! What are you doing, throwing me under the bus!?
And also, I saw a hint of Willow being impressed by him, before she quickly took me and my brother in sight again.
"Oh, young and innocent love, how cute. It seems like your little brother has grown up too despite your expectations. How do you feel about that?" Willow continued with her devastation.
But James expertly managed to ignore her and instead focused entirely on me.
"You, a girlfriend? I didn't think you had it in you. So, how did you trick her?" he said to me with the smug smile of a devil's protégé.
…Trick her? Did he say… trick her!?
I felt my frozen body quickly ignite with the flame of rage. And it made my tongue move on its own.
"Well, it's only been a few hours since we started dating…"
James' eyebrows shot up. He didn't expect that comment.
"So I'm indeed still inexperienced. But since I just heard you were quite adequate, perhaps you can teach me some of your tricks?"
My brother froze. His gaze sharpened again at me. He opened his mouth, but before words came out.
"Ha… HAHAHAHAHA!!!"
Willow finally lost it.
Ken covered his face with one hand.
My brother quickly regained his composure, pretending he wasn't affected.
And I took it all in, filled with pride and a mischievous smile on my face.
We all waited a moment, mostly for Willow, until we were all back to normal again, before I continued talking with her.
Well, it didn't go like I had imagined, but… good result?
"I'm sorry, I thought I was on to something, but–"
"How would you even think something like that," she responded, still trying to suppress a grin.
"Well, since that captain said they were after women, and if that was an excuse, then I thought maybe he came up with that because a girl might have sent them."
"Pfft, what kind of reasoning is that?"
"As you can see, my brother has a bad habit of overthinking things."
"Hey, that's…"
I looked at Ken to defend me from my brother again, but to my shock, there was no compassion in his eyes.
"Well, I watched you fumble around with Elise all this time…"
"I… that's… that's true, I guess."
I heard another laugh coming from Willow, but I just looked at the ground. I couldn't bear to see what sort of face she was making at me. After she was done, she continued to talk to me with a serious tone.
"Well, thank you for thinking all that for me. But, I still believe what James said is right, that this is all just a terrible tragedy. I'll leave a clone behind like you said to be sure. It's also a good opportunity to test the range."
"…Alright. Are you… satisfied then?"
"…Satisfied? …I…"
She looked back at the hallway where her clones had dragged the bodies to, with a sad expression, before continuing.
"I still want to say goodbye to them."
I stayed silent. I didn't know how to respond. She looked at James, and he gave a nod. After excusing herself, she walked past me towards that hallway. My eyes followed her, and when I saw Ken's stiffened posture and pale face, I understood what she had meant.
They must have dumped all the bodies there. She was saying goodbye to her friends.
Once Willow disappeared into the hallway, James started to say something to me.
"While she's gone, we should prepare to head out. What's the situation outside."
"…Still dangerous, but with Ken… can you still see now that it's dark?"
"…Worse, but I'll manage. If I'm unsure, they can send a clone to scout ahead."
"Yeah, that sounds good. So if we go back the same way, we should be fine. Only…, I can't row the boat anymore, or drive."
"…Why not?" My brother asked me.
"My hand's broken."
"…Oh," he said, looking concerned for me. "Willow said she has rowed in the past, so she or I can manage, and… best for me to drive so she can work through this mess meanwhile. But shouldn't you do something about your hand? Do I need to find a first-aid kit for you?"
"We brought our own, but we left it outside before climbing to the roof. Is it still there?" I asked Ken at the end.
"It is. Do you want me to grab it?"
Instead of answering, I looked at my brother. He nodded, and immediately summoned a clone that he made fly out of the building and asked Ken meanwhile the exact location. While he was doing that. I continued.
"Also, Ken, can you check if there is still a gun in the elevator."
"Um, I already saw that there still is one, but how did you-"
"All the duplicates disappeared when that elevator crashed, so I thought that it had happened when the person who made them… died."
"Duplicates… wait… all the guns were the same! Shit… if I'd noticed, maybe you-"
"Nobody realized, don't beat yourself up over it. Nobody got hurt, so take it as a learning experience for next time."
"…Wh… what do you mean nobody got hurt! You're hand's broken, and who knows what else!"
"Oh… Well it doesn't hurt much, and with William… now that I think about it, maybe this time I do need a hospital. I think a broken hand has more of a chance to heal misaligned. And… well… better to be checked for internal bleeding too."
"That's… yeah, I think that's right. …You're lucky Elise isn't here right now, she wouldn't let what you just said slide by so easily."
"…I think you're right," I said with a wry smile on my face. "Maybe we should get William's opinion first, can you check if our phones work again, and what time it is?"
Ken looked confused for a moment, before grabbing his phone out of his pocket. After fiddling with it for a moment, I saw that he was surprised.
"It works again… and it's a quarter past five."
Don't look at James.
"I see. Then it was probably one of those guys' powers that kept it jammed."
"That makes sense… should I call Elise?"
*Bzzzt*
The hidden phone vibrated in my pocket, heard and felt by only me. I ignored Elise's text like I told her I would and continued to answer.
"No. Text her that we're all fine…, and about my wounds…, but please don't worry her too much, you how she is. Also tell her that we're soon on our way home and that I'll call her once we're driving again to arrange with William about going to a hospital."
"Why don't you…"
"My hand is broken."
"Oh… Alright, I'll text her for you then."
"Okay, thanks. And regarding that gun…" I continued looking back at James, whose expression hadn't changed at all since before I started talking to Ken.
"You want to grab it," He finished for me.
"Yes, the more armed we are, the better. And I was wondering… if you could duplicate them too?"
He stiffened for a moment, looking straight at me. I kept my expression unassuming. After a moment, James spoke again.
"I don't know. I can try."
"Alright, can you force open the elevator then?"
"Yes. Ken, you help my brother with his hand," he said the moment his clone flew back inside and towards us with the first-aid kit in hand.
Ken agreed, and the clone handed the kit to him and then went and flew back up the flight of stairs, the reason being to grab his and Willow's stuff that they had packed beforehand to leave the city.
We three all walked into the elevator afterwards. James began by forcing the elevator open with his brute strength after first testing that the button didn't work. Meanwhile, Ken quickly texted Elise before going to work on me with the first aid kit, following instructions on his phone, starting with me palming a rolled-up ball of gauze to keep my hand in a natural curve, then placing a splint to keep it immobilized, and lastly placing a sling around my arm to keep my hand above my heart.
Just as Ken was done, James had only managed to pry the elevator door open a little bit. He said he thought that it was broken and stuck somehow, and that he could try getting to it from above by flying down from another floor. However, Ken asked to let him try something, and after using his power on the door, James tried forcing it open again, this time frighteningly being able to bend the metal literally out of the way, since Ken had made it more flexible.
And once the way inside was open, I saw the corpses, in all their detail. The people who were dead because of me.
One's head was caved in from the front. Another's head was lying in a pile of blood that had come out of the side of his head.
The worst one had bled profusely from his leg, his dead expression still haunting. No wonder, since I saw his leg bones sticking out.
His expression… I had done that. The ten left in this building, all dead because of me.
I could recall everyone's appearance. And it made me feel…
Sick? Sad? Guilty?
I didn't know. I didn't want to know now, so I just stared blankly at them, with some glances at the other two in between. Ken was grimacing a little, but it didn't affect him much. And James…, he didn't care at all. He had immediately gone inside and pried the gun from the back of the guy who's head was mush.
Once he had removed it, he stepped outside again and squatted in front of us. He went to work by first removing the magazine to check the ammo left, put it back in, and then, while holding the gun in his left hand to the side and spreading his right arm out with open hand, I saw him concentrate.
A new gun, the exact same, had suddenly appeared in his therefore empty hand.
He put the new one down, and repeated it all.
Three, four, five.
One gun had turned to five. After James was done, he slung the original around his own back and kept holding the duplicate now with both hands and standing back up.
He had managed, at this moment, to understand how that power worked and copied it.
…Or worse.
"Can you duplicate other objects too?" I asked James.
He looked deep into my eyes while considering.
"No. Only weapons, I feel like."
Worse it is. Goddamnit. He likely already knew exactly how this power worked.
"Why five?" Ken asked him, interrupting my thoughts.
"The ammo gets duplicated too. That's why the real one was still slung around his back. I noticed that there were no shell casings, and… they shot a lot," My brother ended with an expression full of hidden depth.
"I see…" Ken muttered,
"Well…, you should each grab a gun."
"Actuallly, with one hand I'm not comfortable with that. I'll manage with the pistol."
"…Can you shoot with only your left hand, not to mention it's hurt too?" James asked me with a dubious expression.
"My powers make me precise too."
He still looked at me unconvinced.
"Left edge on the doorframe," I said with an annoyed tone while turning towards the broken entrance.
I drew the gun and aimed precisely where I said I would. After a quick look back at my brother's face to see he was surprised, I holstered the firearm again and turned back to him.
After his surprise had quickly disappeared again, he spoke.
"Just take heed of the recoil. Don't drop it."
"…I'll take it into account."
James nodded and then looked down at one of the guns on the ground, whereupon it immediately disappeared.
Afterwards, Ken grabbed a gun and asked us how to use it. But instead of explaining, I said something else to them.
"James, can you teach him. I want to… check up on Willow."
Upon hearing me, he looked at me… unsurely?
"I think you should give her some space."
"…It's not only about her. I… need to see for myself too."
James looked me in the eyes for moment, before responding.
"Fine. I'll come with you then."
"Alright… Ken?"
"I already saw, and definitely don't want to see it up close."
"Oh, alright. …But, I don't really want to leave you alone, if you can't protect yourself."
"Um…, I'll be fine for a moment."
"No, I'd rather not."
"Well, I'd rather not go with you and end up puking too when I see that mess up close!"
"…Um."
I looked back at an annoyed James, with a pleading expression.
"…Fine, I'll stay with him then."
"Thank you. I'll hurry."
"You better."
I gave him one last nod, turned around and walked towards that hallway while thinking to myself with a deep internal sigh.
These were the best circumstances, although James coming with me or not wouldn't really make a difference. I could adapt. But well, luckily Ken didn't want to come along, although I sort of suspected it.
…I'm sure my father had been watching us the entire time. I wasn't comfortable with leaving Ken alone to be potential prey for him, so I was therefore glad my brother stayed with him anyway.
…James. I can be reasonably assured he wouldn't harm Ken and anger me. I took down those two guys and demonstrated my power multiple times to him. He knows he won't overpower me easily if he would make a move. And also, he wouldn't have offered me that automatic rifle if he intended to do harm now, even though he could make it vanish instantly like what happened when that guy in the elevator died.
But despite all that… how much was my brother involved with my father's machinations? I didn't know if he knew about my father's shadow, or how much he had been in contact with him since the Whiteout. I could only speculate that it was only at the beginning,
The riot here, as a result of what happened during James' assembly, they must have organized it together.
I don't know the exact details of what happened during, but the police presence could most likely have been arranged by my father, and coerced to shoot, escalating everything. And James could have received orders as to how to handle and arrange everything, and also perhaps for what had happened in this building.
As to further contact… I couldn't know. His phone was jammed too when I called him, and the shadow… Willow would have likely noticed its fear inducing presence if materialized to communicate. Although…, James' phone having really been jammed is now also up in the air, since Elise had managed to text me back with that timing…
…So many possibilities and maybe's. I needed more time first to get more certainty. Luckily… me being wounded and needing a hospital is a boon now. It prevents me from immediately returning to Washington like he demanded.
I always was going to ignore that demand now that James was in reach to really threaten him with, but me being wounded and reasonably claiming to not be fit enough to safely travel would cause less friction. Maybe cooperate with William to fake internal damage, that he can't heal through a procedure, to buy even more time?
But I could figure out those details later, the important part was that I needed more time to get Willow, and hopefully James too, on my side, and find ways to prepare for the confrontation with my father.
When I called Jane, she said it was busy and father was ordering a lot of people around. He had many enemies, so he needed even more bodyguards. Next to only the servants, he would recruit people from his other connections too, likely his police connection, maybe even military. So many people with powers to deal with before being able to reach him for the kill, if even possible.
Otherwise, another way. Luring the shadow in a trap like I initially intended to do was out of the question for me after it had trounced me twice now. However, using my mother's stalker, likely also under my father's thumb, as a political sacrifice to get the Red Party involved. It looked like the safest option to me, so I would like to explore it.
But that also comes later. My priorities are Willow and James now. And regarding that, it's really fortunate, me now showing up alone for Willow.
Their relationship looked unexpectedly solid to me, so I didn't think James not coming with me would affect it significantly, but still, I'd take anything. And Willow becoming to trust me is more important in the beginning anyway. I thought it was already going well, and now was the ideal time to further work on that.
…But still. Next to that… I needed to see it. Maybe I would never have another chance like this.
To understand why what had happened in that sparring ring was still haunting me.
I entered the hallway, and the first thing I saw were the two bodies that Willow had dragged here.
The one I had interrogated and the one I had taken hostage.
…The two that I would have argued with everyone for to be let go, despite everything.
I looked at them as I walked by. Their faces, wounds, bodies, clothes, blood… I saw it all.
Exactly the same, like those other 8, who I could also recall too clearly.
I continued walking, to where Willow was. I hadn't asked Ken, but I didn't need to. It was a short, straight hallway, with a male and female bathroom at the end on opposing sides.
I didn't need to guess which one she was. I had already smelled it.
The men's one to the right.
The one that was filled with the overwhelming stench of blood.
I loudened my footsteps to announce my arrival, and then entered.
A sea of broken puppets lined the far wall, dyed in red.
And in front of them, one living person, having turned around to look after hearing me come in.
She had been crying, but dried her tears when hearing me approach.
Because… she had dragged a puppet out of the bunch, who was now lying at her feet.
The most broken one.
And when she looked at me, she first looked in shock at my now visible wound.
"Your hand, what happened?"
"During the fight."
"…Why didn't you say anything?"
"It doesn't hurt that bad."
…She nodded, looking slightly guilty.
She then glanced behind me once more, but after she saw that I was really the only one here, her expression saddened for a bit before speaking.
"Did I take too long?"
"…No. It's just… I… needed to see for myself… if we did the right thing here."
Willow looked surprised, but my gaze was past her now, looking at the bodies. After she saw that, she turned to look back briefly too.
And the moment I saw the puppets again, I think I realized the difference. Why those that I killed still looked human compared to them.
Because the puppets were innocent victims. My mind could protect itself from the carnage.
And those other ten… who were dead because of me… I felt guilt… that's why…
But that girl in the sparring ring… she was a victim too. So why can't I recall her. I should be able to. Should be, because… there was nothing but guilt.
"We did the right thing here," Willow said, turning my thoughts back to her.
I looked into her eyes. They were unwavering.
They snapped me back to the present. My own stuff comes later. I needed to focus on her at this moment.
"I don't know. I just… I hope Elise sees it that way too."
Willow's eyes went wide at my comment, but once she understood, she smiled softly.
"I'm sure she will. And if not, I promise I'll convince her myself."
…That surprised me, and somehow unwantedly elicited a smile from me. …I kinda wanted to see Willow tease Elise. I was sure her reactions would be very cute.
"Thanks, that makes me feel a bit better. …Do you need some more time?"
"I… no, we should leave. Just… give me a moment."
She turned around and knelt in front of the puppet she had dragged out, and started going through its pockets.
While she was doing that, I noticed more details. The puppet was an adult male, very tall, muscular, and wearing a suit.
Willow eventually found a wallet, and after quickly looking at its contents, she pocketed it.
She stood up, turned back around and walked towards me.
Her expression was both weak and determined.
We left the room behind, and walked back to the other two.
"You're not going to ask?" I heard her say softly next to me.
"You want me to?"
"…No."
"Then I won't."
She didn't respond, but after a few more steps, she grabbed my arm.
I stopped and turned to face her.
For the first time since I had met her, she had shown me a face that didn't pretend to be strong.
"Jack, thank you… for everything."
My gaze involuntarily shifted towards her pocket. To that wallet, the real reason she couldn't have just left this place.
Once I caught myself, I looked back into her eyes.
I just nodded, with my mother's smile on my face.
***
Once Willow and I arrived back at the lobby, James had already grabbed their stuff upstairs, two large backpacks. All of them armed with the duplicated guns, we left the building while Willow left a clone behind who waved us off.
Back towards the riot, which we were still hearing around us.
We went through it exactly the same way as we arrived here, with the caveat that Ken's scouting ability was worse in the dark, but sending James' flying clone in that case provided the additional reassurance.
We made it back to the boat unscathed. Willow was the one who rowed, claiming with pride that she was a medalist.
I could see that she was very skilled. We were going smoothly, avoiding all debris and going fast too despite her using no powers like I did. Ken and James kept scouting meanwhile, but we were once again lucky that there was no threat. Even that firefight on that bridge before had either finished or moved somewhere else.
So, once we crossed the river, we uneventfully made it back to my car, which I was grateful for. I've had enough excitement for today. I felt dead tired somehow. Maybe I'd take a nap?
I could since James decided he would be driving. It suited me fine, only he seemed to have some reluctance driving my cheap and damaged SUV.
I briefly considered snapping back that I bought that one with my own effort, compared to those sports cars that the silver-spoon-fed boy took for spins back then once he earned his licence, but I decided I had no energy for it.
Once James started driving back towards my town using navigation, Ken in the passenger's seat to scout ahead with the binoculars, me behind James and Willow next to me on the back seat, I immediately did the one last thing I needed and wanted to do.
I put the phone to my ear after dialing her number, and almost immediately heard her rejuvenating voice.
"Jack?"
"Hey," I said lovingly to Elise.
"Are you alright?"
"I'm fine. We all are. We're driving back towards you now. I… I'm glad to hear your voice again."
"M… Me too. I'm so glad you're all alright. But… Ken texted that you're hurt."
"…I am. So–"
"THEN YOU'RE NOT FINE! DON'T PRETEND OTHERWISE!"
Ah! My ear!
I recoiled the phone from my ear. Shit, the whole car heard that!
I quickly saw that James had flinched, Ken pretended out of fear to not be there, and Willow…
Looked both surprised and intensely amused?
I put the phone back to my ear, at a safe distance, before continuing in a harder voice to compensate.
"I'm sorry. You're right."
"You always! You… you always end up hurting yourself…"
"I'm safe now. I… thank you for looking out for me."
"…"
She fell silent. I wanted to continue the conversation, but suddenly…
"Hey, put her on speaker."
My eyes snapped back wide at Willow, who had a smile on her face after saying that.
I considered for a moment, and decided to ask on the phone.
"Hey, Willow asked me to put you on speaker. Do you mind?"
"Wh… what? Um… sure?"
I shifted in my seat and lowered the phone between Willow and me, and pushed the button.
"You're on speaker now."
"Hey, Jack's girlfriend of a few hours! I'm Willow!"
"H… huh! Um, I… Hello, my name is Elise."
"Your boyfriend really saved us! He's a hero! You really made a good catch!"
"I… I know."
"You must be so proud of him."
"I am, but–"
"I'll bet he wants you to take care of him, now that his hand's broken."
"T-take care of him!?"
Willow then gave me a knowing, very amused look and comically wide smile.
I was suddenly so impressed with her. She looked like a bona fide Elise matador. I should take mental notes.
But the ball was in my court again, so I responded to Elise.
"Let's first see if your dad can heal it before I need your help."
*Uugh…*
I heard Ken suddenly let out a disappointed sigh. I then saw Willow looking confused at me, and James was… disappointed too?
"Um, yeah, my… my dad's here. …Oh, you've been on speaker too by the way."
"…Jack, can you describe your injuries to me?" The doctor then asked over the phone, with a… slight tone of relief?
I couldn't think of why, so I just continued with describing all my wounds and how I had sustained them.
William and I spoke matter-of-factly, with him asking a lot of clarifying questions and me answering them to the best of my abilities.
The only ones giving noticeable reactions were Elise, with her letting out a lot of shocks and gasps, and Willow, who started looking at me astonished.
Ken had already seen it all, and James wasn't seemingly affected. Our childhood got us used to stuff.
After the doctor was done, his verdict came.
"You're right about it being best to get your hand X-rayed and to be checked for internal injuries. I don't hear anything immediately critical now, but your head and stomach sound worrisome."
"Yeah, I figured. Which hospital, York?"
"Yes, but…"
'Shouldn't you be heading immediately to Washington, like your father demanded?' I heard him consider saying it.
"I'll explain. We'll see how long I need. He'll understand."
"…Alright. I'll be heading over there then with Elise to arrange stuff for you. They might make me return the favor, but we'll see."
"Thanks, and sorry."
"Don't be. My daughter's boyfriend of a few hours takes priority."
"D-Dad!"
I could practically envision how William's smirk looked.
"Anyway. Do you two want to keep–"
*Guh!*
William's sudden gasp broke his sentence, and all was silent over the phone.
…Huh? What? My… my heart's racing?
S… something's wrong?
I heard Elise whimper.
"J… Ja-"
*Crk*
I heard the familiar sound of bones breaking.
"AAAARRRGGG!"
"Dad! Dad!"
"AAAAAAHHHHH"
"Elise! ELISE!"
NO! NO! NO!
WHY! THAT CAN'T! PLEASE!
The shadow was attacking them.