David went pale. He tried to find words or the right questions to ask, but he was overwhelmed by shock.

“The executives have been tracking Kevin, tracking your family. They were going to send someone else, but I intervened and volunteered my services. I knew I had to warn you.” 

"But why?” David asked, full of frustration. “That doesn’t make sense. You told them his powers were gone. I've been monitoring him since that night. There's no sign that his powers are emerging. None."

"I told them that,” Reynolds said, voice calm. “But new evidence surfaced."

“That’s not possible.” David protested “I’ve talked to my son…I would know if something was happening. When you moved us here, you trusted me to keep him under close watch, and that’s exactly what I’ve done. What if I give you my recent notes? That should be proof enough."

Reynolds studied his friend—the nervous sweat, the stammering. Could he be hiding the truth? Or did he truly not know what was going on? David had always been so hard to read.

"Come on, David,” he said. “Do you honestly think that will steer them away?"

David rubbed his forehead, but his mind drew a blank. This was absurd.

Reynolds continued. "Remember who we're up against. These are the executives. They won't stop until they get what they want."

"But what do you expect me to do? Take my family and leave without an explanation?” David asks. “The Advent Guard is everywhere now. We can’t uproot our lives again if they’re just going to keep finding us."

"Maybe you should see if the boy’s powers are dormant," Reynolds offered, his expression calm. “Find a way for him to awaken them.”

“What?!” David shot to his feet, furious.

"Just hear me out,” Reynolds said, raising his hands in a calm gesture. “If your son’s powers are gone, you have nothing to worry about. Unless they are awakened, I'll keep him hidden from the executives, change his identity, and they’ll never even suspect-"

"Peter, what you're asking for is impossible.” David was raising his voice now. “I’m telling you, Kevin’s powers are gone for good."

"David, we're ready." Alexcia’s voice came from upstairs, rupturing the intense conversation.

Both men turned toward the sound. Alexcia descended the stairs, Brandon following close behind her. She wore a white floral sundress that extended to her knees, with matching shoes and soft gold jewelry. The tension of the room evaporated, thanks to Alexcia’s loveliness.

"Lexi, you look stunning," Reynolds said gently.

Alexcia blushed a bit, though she tried to hide it. “Why, thank you, Peter. But we should get going. It was good to see you.”

David stepped forward and squeezed her shoulder. "You and Brandon head to the car. Peter and I are just wrapping things up.”

“Alright.” She turned toward the garage and nudged Brandon, who was just playing video games on his phone in far-too-casual clothes. “Brandon, we’re leaving.”

Brandon hardly even looked up from his phone, but he nodded.

"Brandon, this is an old friend of your father’s,” Alexcia said, gesturing. “His name is Peter.”

"Hey there, kid," Reynolds said, though he was distracted. He had to finish talking to David.

"Hey," Brandon replied. Without looking up, he headed toward the door to the garage.

"Kids these days," Alexcia said, offering an apologetic look to Reynolds. She waved goodbye to the men and followed her son.

Once they were gone, David began to lead Reynolds to the front door. Before he opened it, he turned back to his friend.

"Tell the executives, there’s nothing I can do that will bring my son’s powers back. I gave them all that I have, and that agreement still stands,” David said.

Reynolds nodded and reached forward to open the front door himself. He stepped outside. "I hope you’ll consider my offer. A time will come where not even our friendship can protect him."

With that, he walked off. David locked the front door. They had to get to the graduation. He couldn’t be late.

Reynolds put his hat back on and made his way to his car, as David walked to his own vehicle. Reynolds could tell, even from this distance, that David was nervous after their conversation. No surprise there. Reynolds had always known David to wear his emotions on his sleeve.

He started his car and watched David pull out of his driveway. Once they were on their way to the auditorium for the graduation ceremony, Reynolds made a call to Section 18.

The lead scientist, Dr. Milan, answered. He didn’t even say hello. “Well?”

“The direct approach failed,” Reynolds said. “I thought David would be on our side, but something feels off.”

Dr. Milan was silent for a moment, considering. “What do you want us to do?”

“Start up the machine,” Reynolds ordered. “We’ll go forward as we originally planned.”

The doctor’s voice was smooth when he replied. “As you wish.”

— ✧ —

At the auditorium, the graduation ceremony was underway when the Riley family arrived. They snuck in, heads low so as not to block any other families’ photos. Soon after their arrival, the reading of the names began, and students approached the stage to collect their diplomas.

“Kevin Riley,” the principal announced after what seemed like years.

Kevin’s parents stood right on cue and erupted into cheers. Brandon even looked engaged, recording the moment on his phone. Kevin couldn’t keep himself from smiling as he approached the stage, waved at his family, and shook hands with the principal. Despite the intense events of the week, it did feel good to receive his diploma.

The ceremony concluded with the traditional hat toss, after which families gathered outside to take photos and mingle. The Riley family found a place to wait within view of the graduates’ exit, and once Kevin, Johnny, and Sara emerged, they erupted into another round of cheers, just to embarrass them.

Photos were taken, some posed and proper and some very silly. Johnny even volunteered to take photos of Kevin and his family, which his parents were very grateful for.

Sara was not as patient as Johnny. After the fifth or sixth posed family portrait, she had enough. “Hello! We gotta get going.”

Kevin nodded and, in one motion, slipped off his cap and gown, revealing slacks, a dress shirt, and a tie underneath. He handed the regalia to his parents in a messy bundle.

“Sara’s right,” Kevin said to his parents, his voice rushed. “But I’ll see ya at the race tracks, okay?”

“We’re so proud of you, son,” his mother whispered, squeezing his upper arm. His dad seemed to have tears in his eyes, though Kevin figured he was imagining that.

He didn’t exactly know how to respond, so he just waved goodbye and bolted to his motorcycle.

Johnny and Sara were already waiting on their bikes, with Sara holding Kevin’s backpack with a grin of excitement. Kevin grabs it and throws it over his shoulder. “We’ll get there faster if we take the highway. Johnny suggested.

Kevin strapped on his helmet, and straddled the bike. “Alright, let’s do this.”

They started their engines. Within seconds, they were roaring off toward the highway.

To access the highway, they took a path that wove close to Johnny’s house. On their way, they passed a large wooded area that both boys were very familiar with. The woods had been their old stomping ground, a place they’d played in as kids. They’d imagine stories together and act out their childhood adventures in those woods until the sun went down. It was a special place. Kevin remembered thinking, as a kid, that those woods existed just for him and Johnny, no one else.

A bulldozer had partially cleared the area, and a sign nearby displayed plans for a future apartment complex. It felt odd to see it, especially while they were moving so quickly on their bikes. Kevin hardly knew what to think.

“Damn, what a shame,” he said to himself, then focused back on the road.

While the gang rode by on their bikes, the foreman was giving instructions to the workers at the construction site. They were getting a late start, a fact the foreman wasn’t particularly happy about.

“Alright, people!” he called on his bullhorn. “We need this land cleared today, and I mean that! No slacking off. We’ll split into two teams.” He pointed to the group on his left. “You’ll clear the far east side of the woods. The rest of you, stay here with me. We’ll handle this area.”

Understanding the directives, the two teams dispersed. They’d all worked with this particular foreman before, and they knew he wasn’t joking about the deadline. There was no time to waste. Within seconds, chainsaws roared to life, and bulldozers and cranes began rolling over the dirt paths cleared the day before.

Among the trees marked with red X’s stood one particularly large oak with a hollow opening. Inside the tree was an old, rusted metal box left ajar, emanating a faint glow.

“I’ll cut this area,” one particular worker called out, approaching the tree. “You get the trees over there.”

They split up and began to cut. As the worker turned on his chainsaw and brought it closer to trunk, the tree began to shake from the machine’s vibrations. Within seconds of this shaking, the metallic box flipped open. Inside, a white gemstone shone.

The gemstone reacted to the disturbance as if threatened. It emitted an intense electromagnetic frequency. The men nearby had no idea what was happening, but their chainsaws sputtered and died. Nearby bulldozers and cranes ground to a halt from dead batteries.

“What the…” An operator in the closest bulldozer attempted to restart his vehicle with no success.

Those with electric chainsaws grew frustrated.

The closest worker set his chainsaw on the ground and examined it closely. “I don’t get it,” he said to himself. “This thing was working a second ago.”