Things didn’t exactly settle down after the…incident. Sadid ended up going to the Sofias’ room with a few others but Birgit and I didn’t follow.

No, instead we were confined to my room, with an awkward silence floating between us. I was messing with the seams of my gloves, and she was clearly barely holding back a major freakout if the constant changing of the temperature was anything to go by.

I was supposed to start. I knew that. But I also didn’t know what to say, or how to say it. Especially with those images still in my mind. And with the discovery that Paragon was actually real.

“I don’t really know how to explain this.” My voice was still rough, but it was better than the damn silence. “I’ve had-I’ve been having nightmares. For the past few months.”

“Nightmares?” she asked, disbelief evident in her face.

“Remember when the bus villain attacked? When I-” I took a deep breath before continuing, “-when I died.”

“You didn’t die!” she said indignantly. “Your heart just-please don’t say that you died! It was-”

“I know. But that’s when it started,” I finished for her. I looked down at my hands, clenching them into fists. “It was all so…horrible.” My hands. I could feel my voice threatening to break with every word. “I kept seeing myself dying. And then-and then I started seeing other things. Weird things-I-I was the one killing people.”

“They’re nightmares, idiot,” Birgit said matter-of-factly. “You probably read about Paragon and were subconsciously–and rightly–scared of him.”

I remembered going back to school after what had happened to Birgit. Nobody wanted to talk to me. They avoided me like I was a monster. After it became clear I wouldn’t attack them, they started goading me, doing-doing all sorts of things.

Iraklis was the only friend I ever had. In the back of my head I thought about how it’d been days since we last talked. Really talked. I looked back at Birgit. At her icy eyes. She had been understanding, or at least sympathetic so far. And she would continue to be. I didn’t know what I’d do if she didn’t.

“I had written a letter to myself,” I began, even if I didn’t know how to explain it all. “I don’t know when, I don’t remember doing it. I had written about a nightmare where I-where I killed everyone. I had that same nightmare last night, only Paragon was there too. And he choked me to death.”

Birgit gasped. “The choke marks,” she said, like she had pieced it all together. “That’s why you ran. You thought-”

“I was disoriented,” I cut her off. Now that I had started, it was like I couldn’t stop. “I’d forgotten what had happened. I saw you leave, but you were there when I woke up. And even before that, I saw you-I heard you telling me,” I froze. I couldn’t say it. Not directly to her face.

“What?”

“I can’t say it,” I responded.

“You finally decided to tell me the truth and you’ll stop?” she snapped at me.

“I can’t!” I was yelling now. The temperature of the room dropped, and I started shivering.

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“For helvede! Don’t be an idiot,” she was yelling now too.

“You told me I was nothing!” I said without thinking. The temperature got even lower. “In-in a previous nightmare, we were older. I was a villain, a murderer. You were cheating on me. We argued and you-you said that. And earlier today, I saw that happen again. Except it wasn’t in a nightmare. I thought-I thought I was going insane.”

She was hugging me now. It took a while for me to register what was happening, but I hugged her back. We looked at each other as we separated.

“This is a lot,” she said quietly.

“Trust me, I know,” I said with a small chuckle.

“Tomorrow, at six,” she said, stretching her limbs. “We’ll do a bit of training at the Atlantis gym near mansion eighteen, and then talk. Call a few of your dorm mates, I’ll call some of mine. It’ll be fun.”

“You cannot fool me, Birgit Stine Paulsen,” I said with grandiose. “You just want to measure your competition.”

“Perhaps.”

“And here I thought Azam had stolen you away from me,” I said lightly, although the thought did make my stomach churn. She giggled at that and we kissed goodbye.

Soon after, Sadid came back inside, asking me what had happened. I told him that I had accidentally run into Paragon when I went to the bathroom, hence the choking marks and my weird behavior.

Surprisingly enough, I managed to sleep through the rest of the night. In the morning, Professor Mystic gathered us all in a room on the left side of the mansion, one that was suspiciously like a classroom with a door for the teacher’s office on the left wall, explaining how Paragon was an escaped criminal from a Saharan prison.

“No need to worry though,” he said sagely. “We have it on good authority that he is no longer on the island. Even so we have increased patrol from both security and hero forces. If you see anything, don’t hesitate to dial the number zero three times on your phone. Assistance will come immediately.”

All the while, I felt eyes on the back of my head. Multiple pairs, like back in school. I clenched my fists and barely held back a sigh. They didn’t know anything, but it looked like some things transcended country or race. At least this time I didn’t feel the same hatred and fear like I had back then.

I didn’t like the pity either, but at least it was less maddening.

I talked to Ivan and Sadid afterwards, telling them about training with Birgit. They seemed excited and agreed to it, even if they didn’t like the idea of going so far out. Laziness was a powerful force, but at least they agreed to go and bring a few people as well.

It was eleven forty five, and I remembered my appointment with Ahmed. He told me to meet him at twelve o clock, but he hadn’t said where. I was in the living room by now, sitting in an armchair and looking at a WPW match on my phone, while six or so other students were in the room with me.

Suddenly, my phone rang. It was Ahmed.

“Hello?” I said as I picked up.

“Come outside,” said Ahmed, hanging up. I sighed. He was always very curt and to the point, similar to Jensen in a lot of situations.

Outside of the mansion was something I couldn’t say I expected. A guy slightly shorter than me with blue eyes, short black hair with a few red streaks, was standing there–Wait a second. He was Birgit’s brother. What was he doing there? A relatively short, bulky guy in a tank top was on his left, and a girl with two robotic arms, orange glowing lines going through them. Ahmed was standing in front of them, looking at me.

“You’re late,” he said curtly.

“You didn’t exactly give me a location,” I said distractedly. I was still trying to figure out what was going on.

Birgit’s brother signed something. “How do you know him, Will?” said the guy on his left, signing at the same time. ‘Will’ signed again. The guy laughed, and then he turned to me. “So you’re the little sister’s boyfriend? I’ve got to admit, you’re different from the other ones.”

“You’re from Greece?” I asked him in Greek.. His accent and look gave him away, so I figured I’d give it a shot.

“Από πάππου σε πάππου,” he said with a grin. “Manos is the name.”

“What is this place?” I asked, now speaking in English.

“Alexander.” Surprisingly enough, it was Birgit’s brother who answered. His voice was somewhat monotone, and my name slightly mispronounced, but I was able to understand him. “Welcome to our Atlantean Secret Society.”