8 hours later

I could’ve used my powers to teleport to the U.S. government base, but I decided to fly over there instead. It gave me time to think about… everything. But, about five minutes into the flight, I started re-reviewing the document I.D. listing all I needed to know about my… target.

Energetic, hates being personal, never cooks… this sounds NOTHING like me!

I’m fucked.

Hey, don’t think like that. You can do this Rowan. Sure, you’re basically putting a man into a coma and replacing his life… but you have the powers to only make that temporary. Besides, this could be your only chance with seeing Steve again without being under… worse circumstances, Pemo comforted.

I just wish there was some other way of doing this.

Yeah, I don’t like it too. But… never mind.

What is it?

It doesn’t matter. I shouldn’t say it anyways.

Say what?

That you’re more important than a simple human like Luke, Raen said abruptly.

I… yeah, that’s pretty much what I was trying no to say.

But… how can I be more important? I haven’t done anything except for lie to my crush and kill for my father.

Because… because of us. Neither of us have been able to figure out why, but we’re as powerful as we are for a reason. And… as much as I hate to say this, most regular humans don’t matter compared to us.

Then… why are you saying this? If you hate to say it?

Because… it’s sadly true. Grim Reapers have a 10-point scale for power levels of beings, and Grim Reapers are level 4, while humans are merely level 8.

Oh, cut it with the sympathetic bullshit! When have you ever cared about someone more than yourself?

…

You.

You fucking liar.

Guys, I interrupted, We’re here. I’m gonna need to focus. So please be as quiet as you can… if that’s alright.

About ten miles below me, just barely visible through the clouds, I could see a small, remote town, almost like a miniature city. It had a police station, a hospital, a school, everything you’d expect to find inside a city.

Our spies had told us that activity seemed to most often be coming out of and into the police station, so, I closed my eyes, focusing on my powers, until I turned completely invisible. Then, I flew down to the helipad stretching out of the side of the police station.

Thankfully, my magic powers allowed me to do basically anything, including make it impossible for enemy scanners to detect me.

I walked down the helipad, up to a door leading into the police station. I opened the door, and walked through, into a large twisting staircase inside a large column with walls made of mostly titanium and other metals.

I took a deep breath, and walked all the way down the stairs, until I reached a pair of double doors with a blue glowing light above the doors.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

Oh no! A scanner! Whatever will we do? Raen joked sarcastically.

I rolled my eyes, and red electricity covered them, until the scanner beeped and the doors opened as a result.

The next room was a very large lobby. To my right, there was the entrance, which had two swivel glass doors leading to the outside. To my left, there were two hallways, to the left and right respectively of a receptionist desk, with a woman sitting patiently at it with a strained smile and aching perked shoulders, like she had been trying to look “professional” for hours.

I have no idea how Steve can even stand this place, I thought.

I walked down the left hallway, which led to an elevator. Once I was around the corner, out of the receptionist’s view, I let red electricity surround my hand, and my eyes flashed red for a split second, before I could see a floating red mist going in a line towards the elevator.

I went inside the elevator, waited for the doors to close, then brought my hand up to the floor number pad. After a moment, my hand, on it’s own, pressed the button for the fifth floor.

That actually gives me a thought. Have we ever had confirmation your powers are magic, aside from Steve figuring that red electricity means magic, Pemo suggested with intrigue.

He is the smartest person in the world, right? I’m sure he knows what he’s talking about.

Inevitably, I heard a ding, and the doors opened, revealing a very long hallway with about half a dozen pairs of doors on both hallway walls. Seeing the red gas led to the second pair of doors on the left, I walked all the way down to it.

The doors were metal, and siding seem to have any handles on them, meaning they likely were automatic sliding doors. Above them was a sign that said Unit 2 Quarters.

I sighed once again, and teleported inside. There was another hallway, this time with four singular metal sliding doors on either side, adding up to eight.

This hallway wasn’t as long as the last one, allowing me to better see the signs above each door. On the left, the first three doors’ signs said, in order: Rose Myers’s Quarters, Dylan and Issac’s Quarters, and Isabelle Lindsey’s Quarters. The final room’s sign had red lights which said Unoccupied.

On the right, the door signs were labeled: Steve Berkan’s Quarters (New Addition!), Luke Tinnel’s Quarters, and the next two door signs were the same as the one at the end of the left wall.

The red gas disappeared, and I teleported inside Luke’s room. Then, I saw a large, red-haired man, sprawled out across the bed, like he was trying to twist every joint in his body. His blanket was only covering one of his legs, and his pillow was laying limp across his stomach.

I took several deep breaths, then stepped over to the man. I hesitantly raised my left hand, and my palm flowed with red electricity.

I then slowly lowered my hand to the man’s forehead, getting slower and slower the closer I got. My breathing got heavier than a continent, my heart was racing marathons, and my legs were shaking every organ in my body.

After about a minute, I yanked my hand back, and walked backwards into the wall behind me before slowly sliding my back down the wall and sitting with my knees in front of me, before burying my head in between my knees and covering it with my arms.

I can’t do this. I can’t do this. I can’t do this.

…

Look. Rowan. I know it hurts. To take control of a person’s life like this… but you have to do this. Your entire future relies on this moment.

What if… what if it doesn’t? What if their’s another way to see Steve again?! What if…

ROWAN! Pemo screamed impulsively, before staying silent for a second and saying calmly again You have to do this. I’m sorry…

I felt my shoulders instantly freeze, yet… they felt more relaxed, somehow.

Taking several deep breaths, I tried standing up, and succeeded, with my legs only wobbling a little bit at this point.

Taking one last deep breath, I tried again. Moving my electrified palm closer to Luke’s forehead, but this time, doing it a little faster.

After what felt like forever, my palm made contact with his forehead, and a bright red light shot out between my fingers, making it impossible for a human to see anything. Though, I’ll admit, it made things a little difficult to see for me as well.

Eventually the light disappeared, and Luke’s body had become transparent. It was also floating off the bed slightly.

I looked to my left, at a large mirror, and saw I looked exactly like Luke. Muscles and all.

Curious, I touched my new muscles for just a second, pulling my hand back, then gripping it, imagining I was holding Steve’s muscles…

No. This is weird. This isn’t even my body… probably.

I looked around for a bookcase, and managed to find a small one hiding behind a long cabinet, on the opposite side of the room as the bed.

I went up to the bookcase, grabbed a corner with one hand, and pulled it out, before pulling out a romance novel.

I know it was… twisted, to take over someone’s life and immediately start reading a book, even if it’s just for a few months, but I… needed to get my mind off things.

I ended up reading the entire night, not sleeping at all. Not that I needed any sleep.

Oof. That must suck. Having to do something like that… (It’s also coincidentally my worst fucking fear XD)