— This is it, you’ve reached the end of the road —

He said, holding one of the children, unconscious, from the neck of his t-shirt.

Next to Him, the man, covered in injuries, was facing the pavement, while the silhouette of the other two remained seat-belted inside the now quiet truck.

There, at the edge of the road, while looking at Him I questioned my decision.

— You’ve crossed the line with this one —

I said nonetheless, standing firmly on my feet.

— Did you expect something else? —

He answered.

— To be honest, for a moment, I did —

And it was true, somehow, I hoped this stayed just between us two.

— Well boo-hoo, now come here and kneel before me —

I thought it for a second, but... no, that wouldn't solve anything. I smiled instead.

— Well, that’s sounds a little bit too m… —

— DO IT —

And I slowly started to do it anyway, step by step, as he himself advanced closing the gap. There, he raised his free hand.

— Do I have the chance to say a last word? —

— You’ve had enough —

Too obvious, but I still needed to try.

When he had dropped the child ready to drop his last blow on me, I ran quickly towards Him.

It happened in a split second, as I felt how the air distorted itself around me by the influence of his power, I tackled Him.

I tackled Him so strongly that he got ejected.

Like an elastic band getting out of its grip.

He hit the edge of the truck.

And got expelled to the other side of the road.

Not even I was able to believe it, as the strength Hex on my hand burned down, I thanked God.

There, I waited a couple of seconds, ironically enough that was the hardest hit I had landed on him the whole night.

I stepped in and tried to watch over the truck, in the direction he had gone through.

Laid over a ditch, I saw him... my... his body twisted due to the hit, one leg and both arms folded in an impossible position.

Suddenly, a spam struck his body, followed by a twitch. I had the chance to watch how his limbs unnaturally relocated themselves.

A few seconds after it, he was standing again. He turned back, searching for something with blood-stained eyes.

When our sights crossed each other, I started running again.

I ran as hard as my weakened legs let me, diving again into the woods. When I looked back and saw his silhouette running strangely fold, I knew I had to do it.

I pulled a handful of pieces of paper and threw them around, like Hanzel and Gretel scrums, making a bet on them.

One last trick I had to pull so I could make a safe escape, and maybe fight another day.

There I would activate the last command from that night.

Feeling like I could fade away, the paper crumbs started to shine as flares all over the place, a sudden spark, and the forest was covered in flames.

Trees, bushes, and everything around caught fire spreading it wild.

That same night I ran through the forest till I reached my house’s backyard.

Even knowing the dangers of it, I didn’t know what to do or where to seek help. I was afraid, sore, and in panic.

I had discovered I could fight, but even yet... I had lost.

I had left Him behind, but he still knew everything about how to hurt me.

Now that he had me in his sight, unlike before, he could use my family to hurt me. That’s why I was there, in the hope of taking them with me, to convince them, no matter what I had to do.

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Stealthy, I entered the house to find my brother sleeping inside his room, his PC still running a YouTube video. As he used to do.

My mom was out, probably covering a night shift, also what she used to do.

For a second, I felt at peace, calm, whole.

It was then that the doorbell rang.

Now, you may think that there’s a limit, for what can happen in one night, but ask yourself this question first. Search into your memory, into those relentless pieces of your story, that you know shaped your today’s self.

That time your mother came to pick you up at school, as she never did, only to spend a week sleeping at one of her friends' homes, while she and your father fought their marriage over one of the dumbest things you’d ever heard of.

Think about that time when you decided to go to a party in a place in the city you’d never known, to meet those who would become your best friends for the next couple of months, while still somehow ending up being kissed by your longtime crush.

Or that time your little brother got sick while your mother was out, and had so much fever that you and your dad had to drive him to emergencies in the middle of the life, only to end up staying the rest of the weekend in hospital.

Daily or nightly, on overheat or cold, those days seem to pile themself up event after event, and the grandiosity of the whole experience comes from the depth it took in its journey.

From being just a bit too much of an overworked, ordinary day, to becoming a canonic event.

And yet are somehow these pivoting moments those that throw your life into a new level within yourself.

How your parents don’t look the same anymore. Your newly discovered love for your noisy little brother. How you discover that the world is wider, complex, and... yeah, fun.

Standing under the doorframe of my brother’s room, I turned my eyes to the door. A long hallway that ran into the living room, scarcely lighted by the kitchen lights, seemed to whisper a foreshadow of what awaited at the other side of the front door.

Then, the doorbell rang a second time, and I could only imagine what could be on the other side.

Maybe mom had forgotten her keys and was coming back for them, or maybe she was just on extra hours, finally coming home after a long day. I rushed my way into the hallroom hoping luck smiled at me and I was able to see her after a few of the worst days I’d had.

I left and advanced through the hallway.

But when I threw a look through the window, I found nothing in the parking space where she used to leave her car.

So... maybe it was a neighbor coming to check out Mom or my brother, knowing how much she used to worry.

Or maybe a longtime friend coming to visit, or even my Aunt May, maybe even someone trying to deliver a package.

Standing in the hall, under the dim light of the wall lamps, with one foot in the darkness, and the other one in the light, I swallowed.

I was able to trick myself a couple of times into not thinking it was Him trying to catch me off guard before reaching the door, and when I did and looked through the magic eye, I stayed frozen for a moment.

— Do I know you? —

Opening the door on a quick movement, I asked without hesitation, even when I already knew the answer.

— Are you Oliver, ehm… Strange? —

She asked, with a hint of doubt.

— Yes —

I answered straightforwardly, still accelerated by the run, the fight, and everything else.

— Great! My name is Kiki, I’m from... ehm, Hollow Creek's student council —

She answered excitedly and stretched her hand awkwardly straightforwardly so I could shake it. Something I did out of pure reflex.

— Ehm… Hi—

I said, thinking how her hand was harder than I could tell by her soft appearance. Actually, her hand was way tinier than mine, as she was.

— Could we talk outside for a bit? —

She requested while clumsily removing a long sports bag from her back.

I double-thought my answer, having no time and being clearly in a hurry. But I found her pretty enough to forget my hurry at the image of the nude skin between her panty socks and her skirt. I was clearly out of my mind.

I stepped outside, and the cold of the night made me remember my appearance.

Till that moment, I hadn’t stopped to think about it. I was completely shredded, with my hoodie turned into tatters and my pants covered in a combination of mod, grass, and something that should be blood. Little could I say about my face, which had been rolled over the ground a few times already that night.

It was at that moment that I realized how strange the situation was.

— I’m… sorry, I don’t have that much time, could you be quick? —

I told her as my brain tried to warn me of something that I ignored.

— Don’t worry, it’ll be quick —

With a movement so quick that I was barely able to perceive, she smiled, very much in the style doctors do before sticking a needle in your arm.

Normally I would say, Kiki was the type of girl you wouldn’t distrust at first sight. After all, she was in appearance, just a regular high-school girl. A half-true somehow, one very similar to me being only a seventeen-year-old regular boy.

That night, I don’t know if it was because of her bright almond eyes, how her short black hair threatened to touch the skin of her neck, or something in her tiny silhouette.

But standing sailor-dressed at my front door, after the weeks of resilient self-isolation studying Sympathy in the darkest corner of my shelter-house I felt something. I felt my world crumbling down, and I knew it.

I knew that I had lost my head over that girl.

And I mean it literally.

Cause it was like that, how Kiki, with her carefully hidden sword had taken my head on one single thoughtful movement.

I didn't even know what had happened till she took my head from the floor, holding it against her chest.

— I'm so sorry for this, Oliver —

She said pressing her lips together.

— But whatever you have become, it's our fault.... and we need to fix it before hurts anyone else —