There were three kinds of key holders: the first kind were the ones that kept it responsibly, the second kind were the ones that kept it irresponsibly and the third kind were those who hid it underneath a rug outside their house —Chris was the first. He was the kind of guy to put it in the deepest trenches of his coat, so if someone wanted to open the door, then tough luck for them.

It was a house rather than an apartment, fitting of the suburbs. It wasn’t large but it had two floors, colored a warm yet light shade of yellow. The curtains were wide open and through them, Sean could see no one was in —at least on the first floor. There was a nice, brown, and fluffy doormat with the word ‘Welcome’ written on top of it.

Sean raised his hand and pointed his finger at the lock. And almost too casually, he created a Condensed Mana Ball. It was a spell he didn’t use often, and quite frankly, did not need to. It would only be useful if you were trying to break something stationary —and that was exactly what he was doing.

The Mana Ball would damage him if he held it, but having it hover away from him would have it do its magic. It whirred to life and drilled through the lock after it was created at point-blank range. The Burning Damage that the System referred to wasn’t literal. It didn’t burn but instead dug through the material as if it was a tiny ball of sharp razors.

It was significantly larger now. Instead of a baseball like it did before, it was a tad bit larger. More like a bowling ball even when compressed. That also meant it wasn’t delicate. Not being delicate meant that the entire handle was gone, lock and all.

The door swung open freely and Sean walked through, but a female voice came from behind him. Sean peered over his shoulder but only caught a glimpse of whoever it was, “Stop right there! Who the hell are you?”

“This isn’t what it looks like,” said Sean as he raised both hands up to the air slightly, as if being arrested. The knife was still in his left hand, but he doubted he could pull it out fast enough —that was his weakest link. Then slowly, he turned around, “I… actually live here. I just lost my keys so I ended up breaking the door.”

It was a pathetic excuse of a lie, but if it’d hopefully turn away whoever was poking their nose in.

“Strange. Chris lives alone,” said the woman. He finally turned around fully and looked at her. She had a steel breastplate and a short sword in her right hand on top of what seemed to be jeans and an orange shirt. The blade was pointed at him. It slightly looked like the ones gladiators used but Sean was no sword nerd. Slowly, she made her way toward him, “Who are you?”

Cold sweat dripped down his back and he swallowed his saliva.

Fighting monsters was one thing but when another human could probably kill him with a flick of her wrist, fighting didn’t seem like all that enticing a choice. And killing someone intentionally?

That’d take a lot out of him.

“Well, technically I did live here at some point in time and Chris is my relative,” said Sean, trying to reason. She was a civilized human being from Earth, right? Then she could reason and when you could reason, you didn’t have to kill, “He’s my cousin.”

“What’s his full name?” asked the woman, still wary. She slowly made her way toward Sean, the sword prowling dangerously closer to him. For every two steps she took, Sean took a single step back. Reluctantly, Sean’s mind was filled with the images of the Magic Circles, the spell simply waiting for his command to unleash itself.

“Chris Turner. His father’s name is Edmund Turner and his mother’s name was Charlie Morris before she became Mrs. Turner, my aunt. I can name his grandparents too if you want me to,” said Sean. He knew the names well.

Chris’s dad was a doctor and whenever Sean got sick, he was brought to him. His mother was Sean’s babysitter which was the reason that they grew up close in the first place. Aunt Charlie always brought Chris with her if she came to look after him. Or if he went to their place.

“Your name?” asked the woman, “If you’re close, he should have told me about you.”

“Sean. Sean Morris,” he said and her eyes narrowed slightly before she sheathed the blade —the movement was fluid, like water.

“So you’re the nerd,” she said, looking him up and down. Then her previously stoic expression was replaced with a thin smile. She extended her arm forward, “You look the part if you’re lying, I will give you that. I’m his girlfriend. Call me Liz.”

Now with the sword down, Sean finally took a closer look at her. She was just a tad bit shorter than him, maybe by about five centimeters at most. It was evident when close up but couldn’t be seen for the most part. She had straight black hair styled with a clean bob cut that reached her chin but no further. There was the slightest bit of tan on her skin, making her a tad bit yellow rather than brown.

Sean took the hand and shook it.

Her hands were calloused but were soft nonetheless. It was also warm and was quite comfortable to the touch.

“You like shaking hands?” she asked slowly, her voice deadpan. Only then did Sean realize he’d been holding her hand for a good ten seconds and let go slowly.

“I just got lost in my thoughts,” said Sean and put the hand in his pockets. They were cold now. Sean walked up to the door and pulled it shut. It wasn’t too windy so it simply snapped shut. Unlike the ones in the apartment, these ones had to be locked manually. Then again, even if it could be locked automatically, it wouldn’t lock itself. Not after what he’d done.

“What are you doing?” asked Liz, her brows furrowed. That was when he noticed , “I’m already dating someone. I told you that literally a second ago.”

Was she one of those quiet kids in class that managed to joke with a straight face?

“We need to talk. It’ll be worth your time,” said Sean. He let out a deep sigh as he rubbed his forehead. How would he go about explaining that? She didn’t seem convinced so he added, “Promise.”

“Is Chris dead?” she asked the moment he finished his sentence, her body suddenly tense and eyes wide. Sean only shook his head. He didn’t even know where he was other than some vague directions! How would he even know if he was alive?

Stolen novel; please report.

“Ugh… I don’t know,” said Sean, and she visibly loosened up, “But this is important. Very important.”

“Go on,” said Liz, still standing at the same place.

“What if I told you that monsters exist?” asked Sean, “Before the System came. Not these overgrown mosquitos, but the ones from stories. Werewolves and ghosts and everything.”

“I’d have said you’re a madman a week ago,” she said and after a slight pause, she added, “But I happen to have murdered over a hundred child-sized green bastards in the last week. So… why and how do you know that?”

“My family hunts them and those things have a grudge on us. That’s all I know,” said Sean. They’d been standing in the corridor near the entrance, without entering it, “Let’s… sit down. I’m parched and there was no running water back at home.”

Sean decided to enter it first, otherwise, it seemed like they’d be standing there forever. The stairs were halfway through the corridor to the right and if you walked straight, you’d reach the back door. To the left there were two rooms —the first was the living room and the kitchen fused together, and the second one was the bathroom.

He walked in with his shoes on.

No one cared about cleaning anymore, he supposed.

“So like the Winchesters?” asked Liz as she walked into the kitchen, also with her shoes on, “Broody guys walking around killing monsters.”

“Who?” he asked, brows slightly furrowed. It wasn’t meant for her, simply a natural reaction. He was looking away from her, rummaging through the fridge. There was a six pack of beer in bottles. There seemed to be some other things —moldy bread, some jam, a large bottle of half-empty soda and potatoes, and the like in the lower compartment.

Some of it had rotten and it reeked of death from inside the door. Promptly, he pulled out the beers and soda, then shut the door with his hips. The table was close enough to the fridge so he could put the drinks on the table just by turning around and putting them down rather than carrying them there.

“Supernatural,” said Liz and stared at his face, “So you’re telling me that you never heard of it? Never mind.”

“I don’t watch series. They’re a waste of time,” said Sean. Then he noticed it. There were two empty bottles on the table, the narrow top of the glasses broken in half instead of the lid simply being torn off.

Sean didn’t pay it any mind.

He was close to his limit. Everything he knew about his family turned out to be a lie and then suddenly his entire world had changed. If there was one thing that hadn’t changed, it was the fact that people still slept.

Wait…

“Liz. Did you… ugh, shit for the last week?” asked Sean, scratching his head. It sounded better in his mind, “Because I haven’t. Hell, I didn’t even piss.”

She sat there quietly, looking down at the table. Then after a few seconds, she shook her head.

“Weird,” said Sean. He didn’t have the chance to care back in Veidrheim. Thank god he didn’t have to take a dump when his arms were broken for several days, “At least no one will be hoarding toilet paper now.”

“Shut up and get me that pink cup,” said Liz and pointed at the dish rack next to the sink. Sean grabbed that and another white one without anything on it —the white one was for guests. He poured the soda into both cups. It didn’t have the sound that fresh carbonated drinks had and looked a tad bit fishy.

But it was better than getting drunk.

Sean gulped it down almost in one breath and breathed out. It didn’t taste good but it didn’t taste completely horrible. There was none of the fizzling feeling and it tasted like sugary water. Better than medicine, at least.

He felt refreshed.

It was less about drinking the soda but more about drinking anything at all. It wasn’t hot enough to be uncomfortable outside but it was enough to make him thirsty easily.

She was staring off at the distance, toward the apartment complex he’d come from.

“Did you live there?” asked Sean. He pulled off his backpack and slammed it on the table. He’d have to carry the bottles in case they got thirsty wherever they’d be going.

“No. I just knew someone who did,” said Liz. She was quiet for a while and Sean didn’t bother her. It would be rude. They had time. It was probably not even twelve o’clock. He stared up at the clock but it was digital, now gone.

What exactly happened?

Was it something like an EMP or did everything just break apart because there was no electricity now?

Rather, why wouldn’t there be electricity?

Surely, some people would have thought of restarting the power plants by now.

“Where’s your family, by the way?” asked Sean. It was easy to forget the struggles of being worried about your family. In Sean’s case, it was more akin to him being worried that his family was worried about him rather than the other way around. He needed to get the answers.

“They’re in the haven,” said Liz, “I came back from the Calibration yesterday evening and saw everyone hiding, managed to make my way home. Then my neighbors said that my family went to the haven earlier yesterday and that they were packing up to leave for it today.”

“St. Lucas’ is on the way to where my family is. It might be a good idea to take your parents and get there. It should be safer there,” said Sean. He didn’t even know how well they fought and how many of them were in the city when the System came, “And walking all the way there doesn’t sound cool.”

“We can ride. There are two bikes in the garage. Bicycles,” said Liz, “The car doesn’t work but anything mechanical should work. The pink one is mine.”

Sean noticed a trend.

Her cup was pink and her bike was pink as well.

Was she actually girly?

It didn’t seem like that, with her stoic attitude and poker face. She only slightly smiled when she figured out that Sean was the so-called ‘nerd’ and ever since she hadn’t even shown any emotions. Even when she was supposedly lonely or whatever she felt was, she was simply quiet.

“So you trust me?” asked Sean. She accepted it far too easily —something so surreal that he couldn’t come to terms with without cringing.

“Those ghosts aren’t monsters spawned by the System, so they obviously existed before. There are all these mangled bodies found in the woods every other night as if a bear or something lives there. The most haunted house is practically right in our backyard and there are all these creepy urban legends that are far too close to life around these parts. It’s not surprising. It just adds up better now,” said Liz with her poker face, sounding far too reasonable, “I’m almost surprised you think it’s difficult to believe.”

“Huh… That’s a fair point,” said Sean. There was an abundance of creepy happenings all around the city. Urban legends about fairies, vampires, and ghosts were almost everywhere —except they struck too close to reality in Broica, “Actually, that’s a really good point.”

“You’re unbelievable,” she said, shaking her head. Then she let out a sigh, “Let’s go. We’re wasting time.”

They both stood up at once and Sean grabbed the pack of beer. He then gently placed them within the bag. It was technically heavy for the former Sean with everything he stacked into it, but Sean was beyond a human now —at least strong enough to carry the bag without issues.

Meanwhile, Liz walked over to the garage. It was a door below the stairs. When they were little, it was Chris’s favorite hiding spot. He’d always hide in the area between the garage and the house because Sean was too scared to go there.

Sean pulled the bag over his shoulder and followed —the garage wasn’t locked from the inside and there was no need for keys.

It wasn’t quite as Sean remembered it to be. It used to have the various tools that Chris’s dad used to build small trinkets with. Once he even built Sean a wooden car with remote control. Even as a child, Sean knew that it wasn’t something that doctors did. At least medical ones.

It almost seemed barren now, the table empty. The car was taken apart and the ground was littered, but with the walls and the table now empty, it seemed like it was a lot cleaner despite not being so. Leaning on the walls were two bicycles. They were both the same size and had a similar design, both of them with fire stickers —one pink and the other dark blue clearly meant for couples.

“They’re there,” said Liz and pointed at them, despite him not needing to be pointed at it, “We should be able to get to St. Lucas’ in an hour and a half on a bike.”

“We have to visit a place first. It’s on the way,” said Sean, scratching the back of his head.

“Forgot something at home?” she asked, not even bothering to turn around at him.

“No. I just want to check up on someone important,” said Sean, then added, “Well, if she’s home anyways.”

“So you’re dating?” asked Liz noticeably quieter.

Sean shook his head and shrugged.