"Stop playing dumb, Titus," said the boy helping Rowan. His name was Linus, and he was white with black straight hair. He seemed more mature than Titus, as the two of them have been best friends for a long time. Linus was smaller than Titus and younger than him by a few months. He still acted as if he were the older brother of the two.

"That's a genuine question, dummy," Titus explained. "I know some of them have something, anything useful."

A girl raised her hand. She was traumatized and covered in blood, but both Titus and Linus saved her, so she wanted to chip in and help. She had bangs covering her eyes partially and looked goth. She wore dark clothes and had wide eyes. She was very small and had a high-pitched voice with the tone of a soprano singer. Her name was Meghan, and she was in 7th grade. She was the last survivor in her class. Along with everyone else, she didn't see who or what attacked her. She lost two fingers and has a bad gash on the left side of her abdomen. Meghan was very shy and didn't want to bother anyone. But she claimed that she had an ability, so she wanted to help.

"Great!" Titus smiled. He looked toward the hallway, then kept speaking. "Anyone else?"

"Titus," snapped Linus. "Stop it."

Titus looked pissed off, but the both of them would cheer up sooner or later. Rowan stood up and asked Linus to help the boy he had been carrying. Linus examined him to the best of his abilities but shrugged and shook his head. He couldn't do anything. To avoid detection by the safety division, their most favorable option would be to leave the school unnoticed. As well as not being seen by the thing or things that destroyed their school.

"You think the outside looks like this?" asked a boy from the top of the steps. "I'll help, but I'm not good at using it. No one in my family that I know of has an ability, and I barely use it."

"Great, what's your name?" asked Titus.

"Braxton," the boy stuttered. He was tall, white, and in the same grade as Rowan. Braxton's clothes were almost torn up. His shirt was hanging and soaked with blood, and his sweatpants were shorts now. He had slick blonde hair and was bruised. Braxton walked down the steps, landing on dead bodies since the steps were covered in them. Once he got to the bottom, where Titus had been standing, he shook his hand.

There were eight students left on the staircase. Initially there were nine, but the boy Rowan was carrying succumbed to his injuries. All of them wanted to get out alive, not knowing what's lying ahead of them. But they needed a plan.

"While Braxton is keeping watch, I'll make this quick," Titus stated. "I, Linus, Braxton, and Meghan have abilities. I'll explain mine, then you all will do the rest."

"What about Braxton?" asked a girl sitting next to Linus on the steps.

"I'll switch with him after," Titus stated. "But he can still hear us, as, of course, he's just right there."

Titus pointed to himself, smiling. He then curled up his fist and hit his chest, then pointed at Linus.

"No, none of that," Linus said. "Explain it yourself."

"What was that?" asked Rowan.

"It's nothing, something childish we do," Linus responded.

Titus cleared his throat to gain the attention of everyone. He started off with a few words, stating, "My name is Titus McDaniels. I am an ability user, and some of you may not know this, but there are many categories for ability users," he continued. "Some have rare abilities; some have bloodline abilities. Not many people have the same abilities, and for those that are the same, it's rare. There are a lot of people in this world who don't have abilities, so for those who don't, they are in trouble from threats such as these now."

"Hold up, hold up," paused Linus. "Just explain the abilities. We don't have much time."

"Why do you keep butting in?" sighed Titus.

Everyone was still glued to the two of them having a small argument, but then smiling and chuckling.

"Alright, alright," shrugged Titus. "I'll start again. I'm Titus, and I have an ability that makes me summon a glowing green arrow. Apparently I can do other things, but I'm still young, so I don't know much."

"How does it work?" asked a boy.

"Well, I just have to say a word, and it spawns in my hand," Titus responded. "I also have to position my hand so it doesn't randomly fall."

Everyone was intrigued. Most people haven't seen ability users who weren't in the S.E.S.D. This made the experience better for everyone on the stairs, even in a horrific environment.

"I'm next," Linus announced. "I'm Linus Houlihan, and I have a bloodline ability."

"What?" everyone, but Titus and Meghan, asked.

"What does that mean?" asked Rowan.

"My ability deals with illusions," he responded. "My whole family has this same ability, but some vary more than others. My dad is more deadly when it comes to his illusions, holding you hostage in a whole world. It's amazing."

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

This ability made everyone super interested. Even though the introductions were supposed to be short, it couldn't be helped. Rowan and the others were all fascinated by the fact that kids in general could acquire abilities.

"Can you show us?" asked Meghan.

"No, I cannot," Linus responded. "We've got to make this quick."

Titus walked over to switch spots where Braxton had been keeping watch. He explained everything to him, then told him to go introduce himself. Everyone watched as he walked up towards them. They could see how nervous he was and how he didn't fully want to speak in front of everyone. It was as if he was picturing this as a big presentation that was worth a large percentage of his grade.

"My?" Braxton said.

"Dude, just say your name and your ability," Linus told him.

"Right," he stuttered. "My name is Braxton Zimmermann, and my ability is blood bending."

"Blood bending?" asked Rowan. "Like in those cartoons?"

"I don't really have a name for it," he giggled while being embarrassed.

Meghan was next, but just like Braxton, she was shy and embarrassed. She constantly inched her shoulder before speaking up. Her voice got higher and higher as she spoke, and she spoke fast so everyone could finish up and get out of the school as soon as possible.

"MynameisMeganWindermereandmyabilityisalsoabloodlineabilitywhereIcaneraseabilities," she gasped.

"What?" Linus asked. "How?"

"Uh, um, I can do it with a sword I can summon," she stated. "And I can only do it temporarily, but my dad told me whenever I enter a deranged state, it could be permanent."

"Permanent?" Rowan whispered.

"Alright, it's time to go," Titus stated. "I believe the coast is clear."

"Alright, everyone stay behind Titus and Braxton," Linus ordered. "Meghan and I will be behind, keeping guard."

The eight of them walked off into the dark hallway. They stayed at the staircase for a little under fifteen minutes before starting their expedition to escape the school. The smoke was unbearable now, as they covered their mouths and held each other's shoulders as they ventured into the blinding smoke. They hit roadblocks of dead bodies as dried blood and body parts created a path for them.

Titus abruptly stopped as the crew made their way out of the thick smoke. They held in their coughs as they all heard a loud clicking noise right next to one of the exits of the school.

"What's going on?" asked a girl behind Braxton.

Titus looked at the stained floor, then looked back at the thick black smoke. He then looked ahead and tried to locate the clicking noise. He turned his head and mouthed something to Linus, who then started panicking. Linus turned around, looking for anything out of the ordinary. This alerted Meghan as well, who was silently freaking out given how Linus started acting weird.

"What's going on?" whispered Rowan. "Why did we stop?"

"We've got to run," Titus said. "Don't look back."

Rowan's eyes widened, as did everyone else's. Everyone was scared, but the only way out was through the exit door. Going around the school was not an option.

"Ok," Rowan whispered. "Ok, ok."

Once Titus put his fingers up and started counting down, everyone prepped to run as fast as they could. No one had any other suggestions.

Titus lowered his ring finger. Everyone's heart was racing.

Then he lowered his middle finger. Steps could be heard from behind them. Titus was so focused on what was in front of the group that he didn't realize the amount of stomping coming from behind them.

He then lowered his pointer finger. Once he did that, more than six students ran as quickly as they could past the group, catching everyone off guard. One of them had something in their mouth as they cried their hearts out. A light shone from the object in their mouth, which blinded Rowan and caused a huge explosion that destroyed the whole hallway.

After a few minutes, the cries of a girl were heard as Rowan opened his eyes, as part of his body was lying underneath rubble. A boy with white hair and a black SESD suit was standing on Meghan, who had been crying for him to get off. Down the hall, a person held a shining sword that was stained with blood. The person was wearing a hoodie, and a symbol of a sword with a broken skull was enlarged on their right chest.

"A person from the Eleven Swordsmen?" the boy asked. "This would be a great takedown."

The swordsmen didn't speak. He held the sword in a hanging guard and slowly tapped his right foot.

Meghan kept crying, as all Rowan could see was her head above the rubble. She had no tears and had a scratchy voice. Rowan couldn't do anything, as he fell unconscious again.

[Back Bay Escapee's]

"Ugh!" moaned Rowan as he opened his eyes to see a white ceiling.

To his right, his sister lay sleeping on the couch as Mrs. Munster sat across from him. She had a big smile on her face as Rowan rubbed his eyes and yawned.

"What time is it?" he asked.

"It's a little after ten," she responded. "How was it? Did you remember anything from before?"

"Everything was a blur now," he said. "I only remember a few things."

"Do explain," Mrs. Munster asked. She took a notebook out filled with notes from what Rowan had spoken to her about. Her handwriting was very neat and elegant, as if she practiced long and hard to get the words and letters small enough to fit numerous on the line. She crossed her legs and held a pen toward the paper.

"I remember names, mostly," he stated. "Like Titus, Linus, and Meghan. Especially Meghan, but I can't remember anyone else."

"Anything else?" she asked.

"I remember that the safety division didn't help us," Rowan said. "But I can't remember much. I'm sorry,"

"You seem tense. Would you like us to end this?" she asked.

Rowan slowly nodded his head up and down. His hands were moving on his lap as he looked around the room to gain his memory back. The harder he tried to remember what happened, the more tense he'd get. To Mrs. Munster, this was solid progress from their other appointments.

Maeve had woken up after being asleep. Mrs. Munster put her through the same thing Rowan went through. She awoke first with her own set of memories regained. Mrs. Munster had a notebook partially filled with all of the things Maeve spoke about.

After everything was set, Mrs. Munster gave them both a ride home. The car ride was silent until they reached the apartment. Mrs. Munster looked in the mirror and saw that both of them were about to get out of the car.

"Rowan?" she continued. "I want you to remember the names you learned today. Then I want you to come back tomorrow, this time earlier than normal. I want you to meet someone."

"Ok, sure," Rowan agreed. He got out of the car and shut the door, standing behind his sister as they entered the apartment. The long night was finally done.