"Who's he?" asked a boy sitting on the far edge of the couch.

Rowan looked around the room as Peter wandered further into the room. The boy, who had been standing up, had only one arm. His forearm was missing. This was the reason why his hoodie sleeve was tied. He looked directly at Rowan as his eyes widened.

"Wait, I think I know you," he uttered. All eyes were focused on the boy with one arm. The boy walked over to Rowan, looking up and down, getting closer to his face. As the situation made both Rowan and Peter uncomfortable, Peter stepped in between Rowan and the boy.

"Who is he?" said the boy on the couch again, this time getting up but maintaining the same tone. "Should I know him?"

"Man, everyone's memory must've been fucked up after the incident. I can't quite get your name, but it starts with an R, right?" he asked.

He had a smile, as if he were meeting his best friend. Rowan didn't know who this man was. Peter was just as confused. He turned around, moving his arms to row up the crowd.

Penelope wasn't listening, nor did she want to be there. Another girl seated next to her was staring at the ceiling. She wore a black hoodie, black leggings, and black shoes. Her right hand was covered in bandages. She didn't make eye contact with Rowan or Peter, as her eyes were pointed straight up. The girl's actions made Rowan curious, causing him to look up too. As he looked back down, she was staring right at him. It was as if he had done something bad.

"I got it!" shouted the boy standing in front of Rowan. "Rodrick?"

"Dude," Peter sighed. "It's Rowan."

No one looked surprised or shocked. The emotion in the room was the same. The boy standing in front of him apologized profusely.

"Just to show my apologetic way, I'll introduce myself and everyone else," he said. "My name is Braxton. I promise I won't get your name wrong, so you can introduce yourself after I finish speaking. That way, it keeps everything in order. Now, standing behind me is Titus; he's pretty chill and cool. He's very easy to talk to, too. The man sitting closest to us on the couch is Linus, and then there's Penelope. I don't know why she hates you; maybe she likes you."

"Shut up," Penelope whined.

"Anyways," Braxton continued. "Sitting next to her is Meghan. She may look like someone who is very stern. But trust me, she isn't. Well, not to us. She can't talk that much. So most of the time, she'll use her expressions or sign language to communicate. She can hear you, though, so you can't say anything to her. Sometimes she'll also use echolalia to speak to us, which is just her mimicking the words. But most of the time, she'll just use facial expressions or sign language. The guy sitting next to Penelope is Malcolm. He's also very cool. He always listens to music. You'll understand why he listens to a lot of music if you ever have a normal conversation with him."

Rowan already knew who some of them were, thanks to Mrs. Munster's therapy sessions. He gave a brief nod and introduced himself.

"As Peter stated before," he said. "My name is Rowan. I know almost everyone here, and that's because we all went to the same middle school. We all met on the staircase during the incident. I do not fully understand everything that happened after that. I know you have abilities, and judging how some of you look beat up, it's quite evident."

"Really?" asked Linus. He propped himself up on the couch. He looked exactly the same as he did a few years ago. Linus got up from the couch and took a few steps until he was in front of Rowan. As this was happening, the door opened up. Mrs. Munster walked into the room with notebooks in her hand. She walked over, sat in her designated chair, and glanced at Rowan and Linus.

"Have I interrupted a friendly meet-and-greet?" she asked.

Rowan chuckled as Linus looked pissed off.

"Mrs. Munster?" Linus asked. "My dearest. May I have permission to kill this man in front of me?"

Peter looked mortified. He backed up a bit closer to Rowan as Rowan stood there, looking into Linus's eyes. He gave a cheap smirk.

"I have nothing to lose," he stated. "You're getting upset with me because I'm stating the obvious."

"Hey man," Braxton pouted. "I lost an amazing left arm. Unexpectedly, it was all because we came face-to-face with a Knight of the Eleven Swordsmen. Those guys, along with the Eleven Swordsmen, are like Sekiro bosses. You wouldn't understand!"

The conversation ended when Mrs. Munster slapped the notebooks that were on her lap. She asked all of them to face her and to only face her. Each notebook had notes from every person, except for Titus and Peter. It noted their traumas, how to control their abilities, and how they got them. It also tested their understanding of their abilities. She opened a green notebook, flipping through pages until she landed on one. Clearing her throat, she spoke.

"This man, in white light armor and a white Oni mask stained with blood, dawned over us," Mrs. Munster read. "This man was the reason Cassey and Kenichi died. He was one of the few knights who were part of the Eleven Swordsmen. Why was he there? We never knew, but he looked right at us. His facial expression was only conveyed through his eyes. He stared at us as we approached him. At his side was a sharp, jagged naginata. It was glowing and very scary. The naginata emitted electricity. Braxton also stated that the situation they were in looked like something out of a video game."

Meghan clapped her hands out of frustration, but Mrs. Munster gave her a death stare and put her index finger to her lips.

"To me, I felt very scared," she continued. "The knight didn't speak to us; his skin was tanned, and his eyes darted from left to right. He then jumped up into the air. The sight of him flying up into the sky was majestic to me. It was sunny, and he blocked the view of the sun as he jumped. Coming down from the sky, he swayed the electrified naginata, causing everyone to brace for the worst. In the end, Braxton lost his arm. My hand became dark as it fried due to the electricity."

Mrs. Munster put down the notebook and opened up a red notebook. She looked toward Linus, who had sat back down.

"I remember the incident very well, although some names do not ring a bell," she read. "But I do remember the horrors and screams in the hallway. I remember the words 'Eleven Swordsmen' ringing through my ears. I remember a SESD officer taunting a swordsman before getting completely wiped away by a slash of a greatsword. It was the longest sword I've ever seen. Yet the swordsman was wielding it with one hand. The sword was so long that 60% of it dragged on the ground. I remember the color of the sword, which was blue, and I remember when part of it slashed Meghan in the neck. But after that, another slash happened, and as soon as I knew it, I was lying in a hospital bed, waking up from a one-month coma."

She then put that notebook down too. Lastly, she held two notebooks in her hand. One was black, and the other was gray. She opened up the gray one and started reading.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Oh, those Safety Division bastards," she continued. "They'll fuck you over, you know. I got into a fight with one, and he was as weak as you'd expect. I didn't want to argue with that safety bastard, but I was stopped unethically. I asked him who he really was, and he answered that he was an intern for the Execution Brigade. I got annoyed. Then, a few seconds later, a blond boy appeared next to him."

"Hold up!" Rowan interrupted. "Blond boy? Did you get his name?"

"It says here that he introduced himself as Field Agent Bosco," Mrs. Munster read. "Why does this concern you?"

"Because I think I just found out who tagged me," Rowan stated.

Everyone in the room, except for Malcolm, jumped up. They were shocked, confused, and annoyed.

"You were tagged?" asked Linus. "Who? What? When did this happen?"

"Want me to do the stuff, Mrs. Munster?" asked Malcolm.

"No, let him explain first," she said.

"I don't remember how, but as I was walking home from therapy, I ran into Peter," Rowan stated. "He told me I was tagged because he saw the symbol on a sticky note on my back. I spoke to an executioner named Bosco at school. He was creepy, and even his partner was weirded out by him."

"Mr. Kasper," Malcolm uttered.

"How do you know that?" Rowan asked in confusion. "How do you know who that is?"

"Ah, K man!" Braxton laughed. "Mr. Kasper being a fugitive kind of brought us all together. Our little group and all."

Rowan's jaw dropped. They all looked at one another, nodding their heads as they spoke more about how Mr. Kasper helped them in many ways. The same teacher that Rowan thought was just an ordinary man was actually a savior. As that was happening, Mrs. Munster nodded her head toward Malcolm.

"Rowan, take a seat in my chair," Mrs. Munster asked. She put the notebooks on a table and ushered him to her chair. Malcolm also got up from the couch and towered over Mrs. Munster. Malcolm had a beanie on, but his hair was brown. He had blue eyes and was very tall.

As Rowan sat down, Peter waited next to the door. Malcolm stood in front of him, stretching his hand out.

"Grab my hand," Malcolm asked.

Rowan was skeptical of what was to come. Mrs. Munster looked calm and even nodded for him to continue. After all, Rowan was most loyal to Mrs. Munster since she has been helping him free of charge. Once holding each other's hand in a handshake-like hold, Rowan began to bleed from the eyes, ears, and nose. Peter became mortified, but Mrs. Munster assured him this was to see if her speculations were true. Rowan began fighting Malcolm, trying to free his hand. His mouth started to bleed, and as this happened, his phone started ringing.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Peter asked.

"Don't worry," Titus said. "This is a very interesting sighting."

Malcolm let go of Rowan's hand as blood dripped from everywhere. As the seconds ticked on, the blood disappeared. Rowan's phone rang again and again. It didn't stop at all. Malcolm went over to Peter, who insisted on not being involved with this experiment. Peter raised his hands like a boxer as Malcolm approached.

"Stop," Rowan muttered. "Fuck was that for? That really hurt. I'm leaving here, fuck you."

Mrs. Munster picked Rowan up. She told him that she wanted to see if it was truly him. But the wording didn't quite stick in Rowan's head. He brushed her off as he wobbled toward the door.

"Fuck you for trying to kill me!" he screamed. "After I needed help, after I was brought here by your request."

Peter opened the door as they both walked out. As the door slammed behind them, everyone that was left had a brief conversation.

"Yikes," Malcolm whispered. His right eye started bleeding a little. "Sorry."

"Don't be," Mrs. Munster said. "It's interesting, to say the least. Thank you for using a lot of energy. I know you hate using that ability."

"So he was tagged," Titus interrupted. "What do we do now?"

"Kill him?" Penelope suggested.

Meghan signed the words, "Stop being an asshole."

"I want to follow him," Linus said. "He knew Mr. Kasper, and he knew Mrs. Munster. He seemed curiosity-driven, even though he was about to pick a fight with us."

Meghan raised her hand, asking Mrs. Munster if she could tag along. They both walked out of the room after Mrs. Munster passed them a paper with his address. The rest remained together as they prepared for something big. After all, their stories have not fully been told.

[Who am I?]

"Sit down," Peter huffed. "Let me get you some water. Where are the cups?"

"Far ri-right cabinet," murmured Rowan.

Peter strolled into the kitchen. He looked for a nice, small glass but couldn't find anything.

"Are you sure?" he asked. "Ah, wait, I found one."

He grabbed the cup and poured water into it. It was nice and cold. He also rummaged through the kitchen without permission. As he looked, he found bread rolls, which would help if Rowan was hungry. Rowan sat on the couch, head in hand. Without warning, he got up and walked to the bathroom. Peter had a piece of bread and a cup of water in his hand as Rowan shut the door in the bathroom. His bathroom was small, and he felt like it was shrinking ever since he entered it. He ran to the sink, turning it on and splashing his face with freezing cold water.

"You alright in there?" asked Peter. "Need some ibuprofen?"

As Rowan looked up, facing the mirror, a figure behind him appeared. The figure, posing as what Rowan thought was a ghost, frightened him. He couldn't speak out of fear, but this ghost whispered in his ear.

"You've lost too much blood."

Rowan started vomiting instantly. It was as if he was poisoned. He had no idea what was happening, but as he swayed and fell in front of the toilet, he started vomiting again. Peter heard all the commotion and tried to break down the door, fearing his friend was in imminent danger. Once the door had burst open, there was vomit all over the place, from the sink to the toilet. There was even vomit on the floor.

"Jesus Christ, Rowan," Peter gasped. "We've gotta get you to the ER."

"Do not go," the ghost commanded.

Peter was frantically moving around the bathroom. Rowan wasn't responding, as he was slumped over the toilet seat and partially vomiting. The light started to dim for Rowan. His eyes were slowly closing. The words coming out of Peter's mouth were muffling sounds. He passed out over the seat, blood now coming out of his eyes.

[Boston General Hospital]

"Fuck," he gasped. The room was dark—too dark to see. Rowan was sitting in a chair. After a few seconds, saw a soul-like figure from afar. His memory was all over the place. He couldn't remember where he was or why he was there. His head was pounding and his foot was asleep, but he couldn't move it.

From afar, the object started moving closer. A very skeptical Rowan, who couldn't move, tried his hardest to see what it could be. To him, his mind had malfunctioned.

*Blep Blep*

"What was that?" Rowan asked. He could only move his eyes. The object came closer and closer until the bright light shone in his face, causing him to squint his eyes. "That's bright."

The only weird thing about this encounter was that Rowan wasn't actually speaking. Everything, from the voices to the bright light, was in his head. The words he thought he was saying aloud were only in his head. But to Rowan, it was as if he were speaking to the object that was floating in front of his face.

"Spirits," the bright, cross-shaped object said. "It's one of the many things in this world that many people don't fully understand."

Its voice was light, like that of a female child. It would stop speaking after every third word, then continue. It appeared to be taking its time coming up with the words in order to capture Rowan's attention.

"What awakens this feeling inside you?" It continued. "What you're facing is death."

The voice in his head became clearer and clearer. Her pitch kept changing until it fully matched the tone of his sister, Maeve. This made Rowan wonder even more. His head wasn't in the right place. He didn't understand where he was or what this object was actually trying to say.

"What the hell is going on?" he wondered.

"Now that we've fully met, I cannot wait to see the wonderful tasks that we encounter," the object stated. "You can call me Eve. As for your first task, let me think. I have low energy, so may you please kill some safety division officers?"

"What did it just say?" Rowan wondered before being blasted back into the real world. The screeches of the cardiac monitor, along with the flashing lights, alerted the nurses immediately. The beeping was so loud for Rowan. The room quickly filled up with nurses as they tried everything they could to address the problem. The alarm kept blaring more and more throughout the night. As more experienced nurses rushed into the room to handle the issue, Rowan could still see nothing. But he could only hear their frantic words.