Skye stepped back from Zac after a moment. She leaned back against one of the decorative pillars that held up the second floor of the mall.

“Thanks,” she muttered. “We really should try to find the rest. How do you do that whole sensing living people thing?”

“Well, what exactly do you think it is you're sensing, when you search for a ghost?”

“I guess... their energy? Or something. I try not to use the word soul, that makes people twitchy, but yeah. I can't imagine what else it'd be.”

“Souls,” Zac repeated. “Good. Okay. So, the energy that makes up a soul, that's present in the living too. It's just bound in flesh. Clearly, the flesh isn't a problem since you can perceive the slasher. It's a... corrupted soul, animating dead flesh. Right?”

Skye nodded.

“So, logically your mind is sorting the living souls from the dead, probably on a subconscious level. What you need to do is focus on the souls within flesh. Think of them as... future ghosts.”

“Huh.” Skye considered. “That might... the Aspect isn't objecting, so maybe that'll work. Let me try.”

She closed her eyes and hummed to herself for a moment.

“I think I have it. I can sense you, that's easy.” Skye tilted her head and then said, “Okay. The slasher isn't active at the moment, but I feel it building energy. We've got, maybe, ten minutes. We have five secured. They're all alive. I can... feel their hearts beating. It's strange.” Skye looked up at him, eyes wide. “The living are so loud!”

“They tend to be,” Zac agreed. “The rest?”

“Five more,” Skye said. “Two... there, hiding in one of the old stores. Three upstairs, scattered. We should go for the two closest, send them to the office, and then work our way upstairs. There's no way to get all of them before the slasher reactivates, so we should grab the most we can.”

“We could split up.”

“I'm not risking your life like that,” Skye said, “I know the iron in this building is stopping you from sensing much, so you can't track the slasher or its victims.”

Skye took off at a light jog towards the two men on the first floor.

“Skye, my life is not more important than anyone else here,” Zac protested, running to keep up with her.

“It is to me.” Skye paused and rested her hands on her hips. “I'm not sacrificing a good man to save a dozen evil ones.”

“They're not truly evil, Skye, only afraid and very, very stupid.”

Skye shrugged. “The scars on your back say evil to me.” She shook her head. “Anyway, there's another reason. There's something about the slasher I haven't told the rest.”

“What?”

“The reason Slashers are so indestructible... they change bodies when one is destroyed, or when they find one they prefer. They kill everyone but that victim, and try to goad the last survivor into destroying their current body. When that happens, the slasher possesses the last survivor, and makes them into a slasher.”

“I... didn't know that.”

“It's not common knowledge.” Skye sighed. “I think this one wants either you, or Alex. It's ignored you both at several points it could have killed you. Probably Alex, since it almost killed you when I arrived.”

Almost. Zac remembered that cold seeping through his veins, and the single point of warmth in the world being her hand around his.

“Anyway. So long as Alex doesn't kill it, the slasher can't possess him. I should probably warn him. I will. The men are in here.” Skye pointed to the nearest store.

Like all the rest, there was a security gate drawn down over the entrance and windows. Unlike the rest, this security gate was open, with a two foot gap between the floor and the steel mesh. The door to the store itself was so much shattered glass.

“I'll go in, grab these two, and you take them back to the rest, okay?” Skye suggested.

“I'd rather not send you alone.”

Skye pointed. “Glass.” She pointed to Zac. “Shirtless. I'm not aiming to see more shards yanked out of your hide. It hurt,” Skye blinked. “To watch. It hurt to watch.”

Zac frowned. “It really wasn't that bad. I barely felt it.” He added. “I can get through that without injuring myself, I promise you.”

“Fine. We don't have time to argue but I'm still going first!”

Zac raised his hands in mock surrender. Her protective streak was oddly adorable. He crouched by the gate, and waited as she crawled inside. He waited until he could see her stand, and slithered in after her, cautious of the glass shards. Luckily, it was tempered glass, so there were very few sharp edges and he could brush the worst of it aside without shredding his hands.

He froze, still on hands and knees, as he took in the situation. Skye stood frozen, hands slightly raised, facing two more Hunt Initiative men in their brown shirts and black pants. He recognized both of them from before; one was the man who so enjoyed using the lighter. That one cowered behind the second man, who held a gun leveled directly at Skye's chest.

“P—Paul, it's another one!” the lighter user pointed to Zac. “It's the elf!”

“Put that down,” Skye said, voice remarkably steady considering she'd told Zac her armor would not stop a bullet. “We're here to help you.”

“Yeah, right!” the gun wielder snarled. “Pull the other one!”

“Alright,” Skye said.

Her hand moved almost lazily. She reached forward, wrapped her tiny, pale hand around the top of the gun. She pulled in one sharp, harsh movement, stepping and pushing the gun to the side, so that it pointed past her shoulder. She used her free hand to punch the man, hard, in the bottom of the jaw, rocking his head back. His grip loosened, and Skye jerked the gun out of his hand.

She backed up, slipped the safety onto the gun, and handed it down to Zac.

“They try anything that stupid again,” Skye said, “shoot them. Both.”

Zac nodded, sliding to his feet and tucking the gun away after confirming both that it was loaded and that the safety was engaged. It had been a while since he'd fired a gun, but some things one doesn't forget.

The men stared at her, slack jawed and wide eyed.

“Don't kill us!” the cowering one whimpered.

“Don't give me a reason to,” Skye said, voice as cold as ever. Any sign of the lost child Zac had just hugged was gone. She was all Reaper once more. Zac hated these men, more than a little, for that.