"I'm the one who picked the lock on your mailbox and put the stuff in there," Isaac tells me. "With the Patron giggling in my ear the entire time."

"Giggling?" I ask.

"Well, not giggling," he mutters. "But he might as well have been. He knew I was anxious about potentially running into you, even though he never has us do that stuff when we'll get caught. The Patron likes to do things like that. He's not sadistic or anything, and he'd never have sent me at that time if it meant we'd run into each other. He just… has his own form of humor. For example, he finds it funny that you and Lucas are crushing on each other, both because of your powers contrasting and because of your views regarding him contrasting. We're all getting subjected to comments about light and darkness lately because of it."

"You guys talk with the Patron often?" I ask. "I mean beyond just jobs?"

"Depends on how long we've worked for him," he shrugs. "Most guardians only last the mandatory year – I'll get to that in a minute, it's part of why I wanted to approach you – and those ones don't get to hear him talk. Those of us who've served for longer, we tend to hear a bit more. We've 'earned' it, so to speak."

"I see."

"Yeah," he goes quiet for a few moments, and I take a drink of my lemonade. "When the Patron makes the official offer after the one-month testing period – that's what you're going through right now – the potential recruit is given a few rules. One of them is that if they accept, they have to serve as a guardian for a full year. If they do, then they get to keep the token. If they don't, then they have to pay back everything they've been paid by the Guardian and return the token. It's a contract.

"At the end of the year," he says. "You'll be allowed to continue serving the Patron. You get money for each job, that's from the start, but with the time after, you're also able to request other things after the year. Each request enters into a contract for a period of time, and as long as you remain a guardian for that amount of time, you'll receive it after that period is over."

"Is that why you're still a guardian?" I ask. "Because you want stuff?"

"No," he shakes his head. "I'm a guardian because I want to be. It… I feel better, helping people this way. Using my power this way. It helps me deal. So does my girlfriend, but my doing this helps me more.

"That said," he says. "I do sometimes ask the Patron for stuff."

Chance returns and asks if we're ready to order, and Isaac tells me to order whatever I want because it's on him. He orders a sizable amount of food, and while I order a bit, it's nowhere near as much as him.

"Mind if I ask what kind of things?" I ask once Chance has left.

"The latest," he says. "Was an increase to the fertility of me and my girlfriend until we conceived. It required nine more months of service, and ended back in February. Sasha – that's my girlfriend – and I did it for the first time the night that I finished that contract as celebration. We hadn't actually planned on having sex until we were twenty, but we were in a good mood and one thing led to another… The Patron, in his infinite humor, made it so that we had a guaranteed conception…"

"So you've got a baby on the way?" I ask. "Wait, in February? That means she's close, right? This is pretty close to your birthday, too. Isn't that next week?"

"Next Thursday, yeah," he nods. "And, uh, yeah. It's pretty close. Judging by their growth, they may actually be born around my birthday instead of on their due date."

"Their?" I ask. "As in 'more than one'?"

"Twins," he nods. "Brothers. The Patron denies it, but Sasha and I both think that he caused the twins, too. After we found out about the pregnancy, the Patron told me they're going to be identical. And that they'd look cute in matching outfits."

I'd never expected the Patron to be sociable, and here I find he's making jokes and messing with the guardians. If I become a guardian and stay beyond a year, will I go through that, too?

"Is it okay for you to tell me all of this?"

"If it wasn't, you wouldn't understand any of it," he tells me. "Actually, it's part of the protocol. Fifteen days after you're given the thirty-day notice, a guardian approaches you and tells you some stuff, like about the contracts. At least, for the ones still in consideration for the position."

"So I'm still in consideration?" I ask. "Wait, fifteen days? Doesn't that mean you're two days early?"

"We don't always do it on the fifteen-day mark," he tells me. "The Patron was asking us last night who wanted to approach you. He said you've been doubting pretty heavily that you'd get accepted because of how weak your ability is and figured that it might be a good idea for this to happen a little early, as a boost. I jumped at it, because I've been wanting to approach you for awhile and knew that if I kept putting it off, it'd be too late-"

"Too late?" I ask. "Is one of us dying?"

"Um, no," his face reddens. "That, uh, came out wrong. I'll get to that later."

"Oh, okay," I let out a sign of relief. "That's good to know. Why is he interested in me when my power is so weak?"

"Remember how I said we're supposed to explain a few things?" He asks. "One of them is the reason the Patron took an interested in you, specifically. You're the only young-ish teleporter in all of Sivalshi City who isn't opposed to him. Well, unless you count a certain kid, but he's too young to be offered outside of an exceptional circumstance."

"How many teleporters are there?" I ask.

"Four," he answers. "You, Lucas, his grandfather, and his little brother, though his brother hasn't accessed that power yet. His grandfather is too old to be offered, Lucas hates the Patron, and his little brother both lacks having awakened that ability and is too young to be offered the role outside of exceptional circumstances."

"I'm a bit young, too, aren't I?" I say. "Didn't you say that he doesn't normally offer it to anyone under twenty-one?"

"Yeah," he nods. "The Patron was going to wait until you turned twenty-one. I've known for a few years he planned on making you the offer. But then something came up. Don't ask, because I don't know. All we know is that he wanted you training your powers and developing them sooner."

"Does it have anything to do with what Sivalshi is fleeing?"

"The Patron is extremely silent on why his pet sped up and started heading north," he tells me. "Whenever we push, he just responds with 'if you're cold, go snuggle someone'. That exact wording, in a monotone voice, every single time."

"Here are some breadsticks," Chance returns unexpectedly, setting a basket of them on the table, along with two small dishes of marinara sauce and two of cheese sauce. "You get free refills on this, and your food's still preparing."

If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

"Thanks," Isaac says, then Chance leaves. "Don't worry, he couldn't understand us."

"Okay," I say. "So you said part of why you're here is to tell me why I was under consideration?"

"Yeah," he answers.

I grab a breadstick and one of the things of cheese sauce, then dip the stick into it and bite off the end, pulling the marinara over as well. Isaac does the same, then takes a sip of his tea before continuing.

"First, teleporters are pretty useful," he says. "The Patron does want you for that power because it means you can get into a few places more easily than others. I can easily get into somewhere – but it involves being pretty destructive, even if I can put things back together.

"Second," he continues. "You're a pretty good agent for stealth missions. Once you've trained enough, you'll be able to use 'shadow meld', which allows you to merge into shadows. Not travel through them like a shadow-walk, though you can move between touching shadows. Being able to teleport into areas helps with that, too."

That's the ability that Danny mentioned the Shadow Twins can use, isn't it?

"Third," he says as I finish off this breadstick and reach for another. "You're a pretty good potential agent for a certain thing I'm not authorized to tell you at the moment. It's something that only guardians who've passed the first year are let in on. So he does have that hope that you'll continue after the first year, though I can still at least tell you this much.

"Fourth," he says. "He's a big fan of how faithful you are to him, even after everything that happened. You have the potential to be one of the biggest pains in the asses we guardians ever deal with, yet you've never let what happened to you turn into anger towards him. One of the requirements is faith in him, usually proven through trials."

We snack on the breadsticks as he gives me time to digest the information he just gave me, and he doesn't speak again until after we have our lunch and are eating it.

"If you do become a guardian," Isaac says. "There's a job he has in mind for you. Not the big one that we don't know any thing about. A smaller one."

"A smaller job?" I ask.

"Yeah," he hesitates for a few moments, then starts fingering his token again. "He actually stopped me from dealing with them myself. Actually took my token away temporarily so that I wouldn't do anything."

That sounds… extreme.

"What kind of job?"

"Your parents' killers."

I stare at him, shocked. Is he saying that the reason my parents' killers have been left free… was so that I could potentially take care of them?

"Your parents were like a second set of them for me," he tells me. "Even if we were only friends for a year and a half. When I heard about their murders, I wanted to go after the killers myself. The Patron interfered. He told me that because he wanted you to join the Guardians once you were twenty-one and they hadn't been caught by the time I found out, we were forbidden from going after them. If they were caught before then without our help, that was fine. Otherwise, he wanted them saved for you. If you make it through the full year of contract, then he'll issue to you the mission, if you want it."

"So the Patron," I think over my response for a few moments. "Has left them go free, letting them torment and kill or whatever others, just so that I could deal with them?"

"I was under the impression," Isaac says. "That you didn't care that the Patron let stuff like this go, that he didn't stop people just to protect others."

"I don't," I say. "That's not what's shocking me, Isaac. It's not his job to police us. It's just… the fact that he saved them for me? That's what I'm a bit shocked by."

"Ah," he says. "Yeah, he sometimes does that if something particularly bad happens. Especially when it was vigilantes under his employ."

"Vigilantes… under his employ?" I ask. "Wait. You mean my parents were guardians?"

"No," he shakes his head. "Just vigilantes. He does actually pay some people to be vigilantes. Your parents drew strength in darkness, not realizing they had powers."

Of all the blurry things I remember from when my brothers and I had the plague, I remember my parents telling me they'd take care of some bad guys and get us the treatment. They could afford the treatment because of the Patron, couldn't they?

"And that caused an awakening of our bloodline in me," I say. "And maybe my brothers, though as far as I know, they didn't awaken any powers before they died."

"Yeah, I couldn't tell you," he shrugs. "The Patron might, you become a guardian and stay one long enough. While he's not all-knowing, he's probably aware of if your brothers had awakened any abilities or not."

"It doesn't really matter, does it?" I ask. "I mean, they've been dead for nine years now."

"Yeah, they have," he says. "I wish I'd gotten to know them… and I'm sorry for not talking to you after the incident. I just… it was hard for me to face anyone, much less you. The only reason I jumped at this was because it'd be too late to talk with you if something didn't kick my ass in gear."

"You mentioned that earlier," I say. "What do you mean by that?"

"You were there to celebrate my tenth and eleventh birthday," he says. "I was… wanting to invite you to celebrate my nineteenth, too. Well, I kind of wanted to invite you to my parties the last few years, but I never worked up the courage to talk to you. If something didn't prompt me coming, I probably wouldn't have approached you before then."

I'll probably feel out of place at his party. Not only have I not been to a party in years, but Isaac and I were friends seven years ago and haven't seen each other since. Wouldn't this be weird? At the same time, though…

"Sure," I say. "Where and when?"

"Thursday of next week," he points at the window, indicate the building across the street. "At that building. Twenty-seventh floor, Room Two-Seven-Three. And us sitting where I can point like this is coincidental. I do like the restaurants in this building, though. Sasha and I come to them a lot."

"I'll get to meet her, I assume?" I ask.

"Yeah," he answers. "I've kind of wanted to introduce you to her for awhile."

It sounds like he really had a hard time letting go of me. Was I really that good of a friend back then? Or was it mostly out of guilt?

"You can come after you finish your training," he tells me. "No one will steal your bag, so you don't have to worry about that."

"Alright," I say. "I'll be there, Isaac. I look forward to meeting her. It's a shame I don't have anyone to introduce, though."

As much as I'd like to, and this reminds me of the struggle I'm facing right now.

"Everything alright?" He asks.

"Yeah," I answer. "It's just… I like two guys, Isaac. I mean, I probably fell for them a bit too fast, but whatever. One of them's Zane, a pretty hot guy I met Saturday before this past one. He's into me, too, just… he's wanting to deal with some stuff before trying to give a proper relationship a try. Then there's Lucas… and you already know his issue. I don't think something could last between us if he's like that."

"Ah," he takes a sip from his tea. "Well, if you really want, I could introduce you to a guy I know who's looking and bi. He's got his stuff together, supports the Patron, and is pretty handsome from what I can tell."

"Much as I appreciate that offer, Isaac," I snort. "I don't think I'd have it that easy. We probably wouldn't get along."

"You never know," he shrugs. "If you can't get with one guy you're interested in and the other has some serious mental problems, try giving another guy a try, see if it goes somewhere. If it does, great, if not, maybe one of the two you're more interested in has figured things out by that point. Just something to think on."

He takes another sip of his drink. I suppose he's right. Unless Zane gets his stuff together or Lucas stops being an idiot soon, I could probably end up waiting a long time for them. Do I really want to do that?

"Well, I'll think on it," I tell him. "Thanks, Isaac."

"No problem," he says. "He'll be at my birthday party, anyway. We've been friends for awhile."

"How old is he?" I ask.

"Turned nineteen this past summer," he answers. "We met… five years ago, I think? At a park. I liked to go to them for awhile, the first few years after. It reminded me of my first friend. I didn't expect to make my second one at a park."

He snorts, then we start catching up on stuff that's happened. Isaac seems to know quite a lot about me, and I realize that even now, he's probably feeling lonely, just like me. Though he has friends, what happened when his powers awakened still hurts him.

After we finish eating and he pays, Isaac walks me down to the center. When I get him talking about Sasha on the walk, his eyes light up, even if his tone doesn't change much. It's a sign of how much he loves her, I'm certain of it.

"Thanks," I tell him once we reach the center. "It was nice finally getting to talk with you again, Isaac. And remember, I don't blame you for what happened. I understand it was an accident."

"Thanks," he tells me. "Have a good day, Kieran. And enjoy your training."

"Thanks, and bye," I say.

Isaac leaves, and as he does, Zane approaches me.

"Who was that?" I ask.

"Someone from my past," I answer as I look at him. "I ran into him after my shift today, and we've spent the last couple of hours catching up."

"Ah, nice," he says. "Do you want to warm up together?"

"Sure," I answer. "Nothing too harsh, though. Lucas pushes me pretty hard during martial arts training."

"I can work with that," he chuckles.