Eryi walked down the street and couldn’t help but touch his piercings constantly. He felt as though he was going to throw up. Andri was sure to be furious, but it was too late. He had already doomed himself. He felt his hair raise on his neck and he turned around, but nothing was there. He could have sworn something was staring at him. A horrible feeling welled in his heart. Something was wrong. Eryi stopped heading toward the garage and walked into a clothing store. Someone came to his side instantly and with enthusiasm they asked, “Would you like to sign up for rewards?”

They shoved their tablet into his face and Eryi’s eyes drifted to the words, “address.” There was a star next to the word, indicating it was required. Eryi backed away swiftly and the person followed him with a confused gaze. Eryi felt sirens blare in his head. Something was not right at all! Why were the people around him begging for his information? There was only one possible explanation.

Eryi thought, “The Snow Military figured out we live around here. They’ve infiltrated all the shops!”

Eryi sprinted out of the shop with much haste and then he realised something strange. There was no one in sight. Not even a car to be seen. It was as though he was locked in a cage with a bloodthirsty monster. Eryi walked farther and farther away from the garage, until his bones became frostbitten and he had to sit in a library to warm up. He covered his head with his hood and faced his feet. His face was all over the news, everyone was looking for him, and when they found him it would be all over. If he was found, Andri would never forgive him. He sat in a far corner and picked up a random book off the shelf. It was a children’s novel about the life of a cat, and he pretended to read it as his mind raced. All he could think about was how much he failed Andri, but then something struck him. He had to tell Andri that the Snow Military were coming for them! He had to tell them to hide! But how was he going to tell them when he couldn’t get back there?

“You really are a failure, huh.”

Eryi looked up swiftly to see Andri looking down at him. The book slipped out of Eryi’s hands and dropped to the floor.

“Huh?”

“To think that I can’t even trust you to go out on your own, what kind of man are you? Even dogs can follow commands better than you.”

Eryi tried to speak, but Andri asked, “What if I die because of you?”

Eryi’s mind went blank.

“What if the government kills me, what will you do? You’re the whole reason they know where we are. They saw you leaving your crimes, with your bloody footprints. Or, is it that you want me dead?”

“No! It’s not that! I don’t want you dead! I don’t want it! Please, I know it’s my fault, but you have to forgive me!”

“Forgive you?”

A scene painted itself before Eryi’s eyes. Andri was laying on his back with blood pooling out of his mouth. Through his empty eyes he called for him, but Eryi couldn’t move. He was bound by his own self, a person he couldn’t recognize. Andri called again, and again, each time he was shot in the heart. The bang ricocheted through the air, each time sending knives piercing through Eryi’s soul.

“No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!”

Eryi stumbled back, knocking books off the shelves. A man approached him, and through sheer chance Eryi noticed the shine of a badge hidden under the man’s jacket, and instantaneously Eryi grabbed a book and slammed the spine into the side of the man’s head. Eryi knocked the man down and continued slamming it hard into his skull, and the man couldn’t find a way to pry this boy off of him.

Eryi continued to scream, “No, no!”

Through his bloodied eyes, the man could see the madness in Eryi’s dull gaze. The only light that shone in his eyes was stolen by something he could never have. Other soldiers in disguise as librarians rushed over and pulled their guns out.

One screamed, “Stop, or we will shoot!”

Eryi stopped, but it was too late. The man under him had already been beaten to death.

“Lay on the ground with your hands on your head!”

Eryi stood up and the soldier’s got ready to shoot, but they wavered. They weren’t used to shooting real people, let alone a teenage boy. It wasn’t just that either, this boy didn’t feel like a boy at all. Even with his back facing them, they could feel something wrong, but when he turned around they knew instantly why they felt this chill. His eyes, hidden behind a curtain of black were cruel and null. There was no humanity in that gaze, there was nothing at all.

“Shoot me,” Eryi said darkly.

The soldier commanded, “I said get on the ground!”

The other soldiers looked toward their captain and noticed their gun was shaking.

“I said shoot.”

As soon as he finished his sentence the captain took her shot, sending a bullet whizzing toward him, but it was off mark and only scraped his shoulder.

“Ah, that wouldn’t do,” Eryi said.

Eryi pointed to his heart and his head. “Shooting here would work better.”

“He’s crazy,” a soldier commented out of sheer shock.

Eryi spread his arms out from his sides and said, “Try again.”

The captain pointed again, this time with far more determination. She had to rid this world of this terrifying monster as soon as possible. The window behind the soldiers shattered and the glass flew through the air as though they were in slow motion. Eryi’s eyes widened as he saw Andri jumping through the window, and the world went quiet as Andri ripped the head off of the captain with his own hands. The other soldiers took their shots but Andri simply grabbed their bullets and threw them back at them, hitting them square in the heads. Eryi dropped to the ground and with pure disbelief he asked, “Are you real?”

Andri asked with a raised brow, “What do you mean? Of course I’m real. Now tell me what the hell is happening here.”

Andri wiped the blood from his face, but it only smeared. His face contorted with rage and he yelled, “Tell me that I didn’t just see you surrendering to cops!”

Eryi’s face instantly turned pale and his heart felt as though it stopped beating. He cried out, “No! You have to leave, Andri! They’re not cops! It’s the military!”

It was too late. Before Andri nor Eryi could blink, a horde of soldiers had surrounded the building. Standing before all of them was Freya, and she pressed a button on her ring. A sharp sound came from the piercings on Eryi’s lips, and all of his muscles clenched up and his eyes instantly shut tight. He fell to the ground with a loud thump, hitting his head hard on the wooden floor.

Andri asked, “Eryi?”

He turned around sharply, but a large man with a dozen medals adorned on his chest greeted him with a smile.

The lieutenant general whispered, “It’s been a long time, Andri.”

Andri’s eyes widened, and a huge fist came swinging to his side. He caught it, but the other fist came way too fast, and it hit him sharply on the side. Andri couldn’t find any time to breathe before the lieutenant general both slammed his head down and punched him hard in the gut. And then, everything became silent.