I took a deep breath. For the moment being, I stored the Maria situation away. Compartmentalising, they called it. I didn’t know if I was good at it or what, but for now, I couldn’t deal with both of these things.

I tried calling Birgit, but she didn’t answer.

Moros, he’d called me. What did that mean? Who was he? I ran back to the mansion, not caring about tiredness. I would get to the bottom of this, and I would do it now. I called her again.

I felt a pang in my stomach but I didn’t stop running. When I reached my room, I saw Sofie coming out of her room, shocked to see me knocking at my door.

“Still don’t have a way in, huh?” she asked with a smirk. “Sadid is out with a guy I hope is a regular friend, but I saw them touching too much for that to be the case.”

Dammit. The one time he had to be useful and he straight up left. If I had him in front of me I would-I would-the conversation I had with Maria flashed through my head. I took a deep breath.

“I don’t have a lot of time, sorry,” I said as I turned around to leave.

“Maybe I can help you,” she said, following me. “You know I’d be glad to. I’m not my sister, but I could probably help you even if it’s something to do with heroes.”

“It’s not anything like that,” I snapped at her. “I’m sorry, it’s just–it’s a lot.” I remembered back to my nightmare, and Paragon’s words. He was a villain, that was for sure, but what about Moros? What about me? Was I Moros? At least in the nightmares. Did I somehow peek into his life?

She looked at me for a few moments, and I could see something like pity in her eyes, before speaking. “Was it that villain that attacked during our first day? Paragon?”

“Yeah,” I said quietly. Dammit, I didn’t want any of this getting out. “I have to check something in the first mansion. I hear they’ve got a library there.”

She widened her eyes. “The fifth of December.” She’d said it so quietly that I almost didn’t hear it.

Almost.

I took a step back, taking off a glove on instinct. A part of me hated the fact that this had even become an instinct of mine, but I couldn’t worry about it now. I raised my hand just enough for her to become aware of the threat.

“Come on now, Jacob,” she said, and I could feel the desperation she radiated. “Paragon. Charles. Even Jensen. You can’t tell me you don’t remember.”

“I-I-”

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“That you don’t remember me.” She was coming closer to me. “Our friends.” She sounded like she was running out of breath. Closer and closer. “Our mission.” She wasn’t even two metres away from me, but it felt like she was walking for hours and I, without even realising it, lowered my arm, putting my glove back on.

“You’ve always looked so weak. So vulnerable.” What? I didn’t say that. It came out of my mouth, I knew that much. But I couldn’t stop myself. “But I know better.” I wanted to scream. To run. To fight. To know what was happening. Just for once. I wanted to know.

“And yet you still loved me.” She was whispering, but I could tell she was smug. And tender. She touched my cheek and a deep, dark, almost imperceptible part of myself found it comforting. It felt like home.

I closed my eyes. Birgit’s face flashed through my mind for a moment, but it was as if someone else had pushed it down.

“Paragon’s escaped, hasn’t he?” Whoever controlled my body asked. They knew about him then. If nothing else, I could at least find out about whoever that bastard was. “There’s work to be done.”

“Not yet,” said Sofie. She was-she was actually tearing up. “Not yet.” It felt like she was trying to convince herself rather than me–or whatever γρόθος was controlling me. “You must go back to sleep. If the Houses find you out, then we’re done.”

Houses? The only thing I could think of was the Houses of Doom, but they were less than an urban legend. Or at least that’s what I thought. More and more it felt like I didn’t really know anything.

I was finally there. At Atlantis. I thought I could have a new beginning. Finally stop being the monster I was in school. Be a hero. But the nightmares, Maria, this, everything.

It was-It was just a lot. I kept waiting for that moment. The moment I would wake up or I’d realise I’d hallucinated the whole thing. But it didn’t come. Instead, Sofie led me to her room where we spent the next couple of hours.

We talked, laughed, cried, kissed and just sat together. I had to watch myself act like I loved her, and her act like she loved me.

It was real I could tell that much, but I-I didn’t want any part in it. I had no control over my body. I tried to think of Birgit. Of what we’d lived through together, but it was getting harder and harder.

As Sofie talked about names and friends from what seemed like a lifetime ago. The more I heard their names, the more I found myself, the more I found Alexander Adamos to disappear. Mom, Dad, Iralkis, Birgit, Ivan, Ahmed. I kept repeating their names in my head.

Mom, Dad, Iraklis Birgit, Ivan, Ahmed. I thought about the memories I had with them, even if I hadn’t known Ivan and Ahmed for as long as the other two.

I even thought about Maria. Junior High. High School. And for a brief, horrifying moment, I found myself wondering if it would really be all that bad if Alexander Adamos was no more.

Birgit and Iraklis would probably get over it. They’d probably be better off in the long run. But my parents, I couldn’t abandon them.

I thought about Alpha Surge. Everyone has good in them. A hero is someone that uses every talent in their arsenal, be it brains or brawn, to save, inspire and reassure others.

He’d said he believed in me. But he didn’t really know me, did he?

I felt myself slipping once again. Maybe I wouldn’t fight it this time. It almost felt right.

Mom, Dad, Iraklis Birgit, Ivan, Ahmed. Maria and my old classmates.

We laid down on the bed, hugging one another. I felt myself being sleepy, and Sofie looked all but ready to fall asleep too. We would sleep soon. I could feel it.

I didn’t want to. I knew-I knew that I’d still remember this when I woke up. Some part of me still hoped that this wasn’t real, that the moment where I snapped back to reality was coming.

But even when I woke up, I was in Sofie’s room. And I was all alone.