So, the day before the boy showed up, I went down to run to the car and brought it back into town. I had to take a taxi to go get it, but once I had my own transportation, I went and got some more equipment and decided just to wait for my crew to show up. I put the stuff away in my room and hung out in town again.

During this whole time, I'm like, "I must have hallucinated, but I didn't, but I did, but I didn't," and I knew if I went up there, I was going to need someone else I could trust. So that's why I was bringing my crew because I just... wow.

If a shrink had been talking to me, they'd probably say that I was going through post-traumatic syndrome or something because I was literally looping. It was like having a moment you couldn't unlive. It was life-changing.

It wasn't until I put some music on in the car on the way back that I realized how screwed I was because as I was driving, I smelled burning plastic, and I realized my finger was melting the steering wheel.

I pulled my finger away quickly, along with the rest of my hand, and pulled over to see the damage and figure out what was going on. There I was, on the side of the Scottish road, with one finger with a very, very small pinhead flame coming out of it.

As I calmed down and the music changed, the flame changed color. When "Smashing Pumpkins" was playing, it was orange, and now that the "Red Hot Chili Peppers" was on, it was more of a dull green but very intense.

I reached in with my other hand and turned off the radio, and the fire went down. I just started freaking out. Now I had to replace the steering wheel. So, I called them and asked the people I rented it from, "I had a cigarette in my mouth and I put it in my hand. I broke the steering wheel. How do I pay for that?"

They got mad and said I wasn't supposed to smoke in the car. I apologized and said, "You're right." They said they would charge my credit card. I said, "Thank you very much. I will pay for it when I bring it back. Please note that on my account." "It's already been noted, sir," they said, and they hung up, very unhappy that I had done that. And I was too.

I got the music off on the drive back to town, parked the car, and went and had a very, very big drink. I didn't show anybody this, not Jen, not anybody, but from now on, I guess I wasn't driving.

After drinking too much, I was back at the fountain, and all of a sudden, I hear someone playing the bagpipes for cash down another street, and it's a good tune, and I'm smiling. And then I think about it, and I look down, and on my one finger, there's this little flame that's just bouncing to the beat, and I can barely see it like it's not there. But I put my hand in the water, and I look down, and there's a bubble, and there's another bubble, and there's another bubble. If I stuck my hand in here and left it long enough, I could probably heat the water. This is stupid. Oh my God, I got infected with something from the cave. I have fire magic. But magic is not real, but it's real, but it's not real, but it's real, but it's not real.

So, being drunk and doing fire magic in public, I realized this is stupid. Go someplace quiet and cold, away from everybody. So, I'll go for a walk, and I start walking until I find just a different alley that leads into an area where nobody is, and there's no music, and I calm down, and I just sit down on the grass on someone's lawn. I guess. I'm not too sure. I just sat down, and I used to try to meditate, and I sucked at it. But in this case, I was going to give it another try. And that's when it happened. I felt warmth coming from my finger, and I looked down, and the flame was like four times, five times bigger. It was a flame, a little one, but a flame nonetheless. And then I just held my breath for a second, and the flame died down, and I breathed, and I looked at it, and I concentrated, and nothing happened. And then I got mad, and it got bigger, and I got calm, and it got bigger, and anytime I got emotional, it got bigger. So then, I just cut off all my emotions. I just said, "No emotions. This is logical," and then it just went away. So, magic and emotion are connected. Ain't that a kick in the pants?

I was drunk before noon, and by the time my phone rang and the guys were like, "We're at the hotel, we're checked in, where the hell are you?" I let them know I was only a couple blocks away, and I'd meet them at the fountain. I walked back, and when they looked at me, all of them grabbed me and asked me what was wrong. As I went into robot mode, they knew this is how I acted after my dad died and that I was all screwed up in the head. And then they realized that I'd been drinking, and they realized I was in no condition to do anything, so they decided they wanted food for me and drinks for them. So, back to the pub.

When we got there, Jen waved to me, and I just looked at her and waved, and she got a little wigged out. She introduced herself and asked them what happened to me because I was just emotionless. I just turned it all off, and they didn't know. They just knew that I was really drunk and needed food. So, Jen went, "Okay, we'll work on this," and just didn't really want to put up with my stupidity. And I don't blame her, but she got food going and drinks for the boys. And then they did something stupid. They put another drink in me and they fed me, but they added more alcohol. And as I relaxed, someone put music on, and I didn't even think about it and I didn't even hear it until I freaked, and they're all looking at me. "What's wrong?" As I'm holding my hand closed, and Jen looked over, realizing that I am, well, made noise. And when she saw what was wrong, she came over, and that's the last thing I wanted, and I basically tried to bail, but I was in a booth, and I was locked in by the guys. And then Jen came over and asked me what was wrong. They were all looking at me, and I was so drunk, I just opened my hand.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

There was like no one in the pub at this time. There's like the other side of the room, so no one saw except the table. And I looked around, and then closed my hand, and I said, "It's the music. I can't be emotional," and I just went back to being an unemotional. And I forced the emotions away, and the fire went away. It was very hard. Jen realized this and just went over and turned off the TV where the music was coming from. Truthfully, she changed it over to sports for the other people, and that was all it needed. But I knew from that point on that I needed to control this because I couldn't let anybody else know about this.

And I guess I couldn't keep this to myself anymore.

Bob, Mike's dad, looked over at Smitty and asked him if he could have his phone for a moment. He had to make a call because Smitty promised his dad to always be in contact, so he made sure that his cell phone plan could make calls.

Smitty almost didn't want to give it to him, but Bob's like, "I will pay you back, don't worry. I'm calling your dad," and with those words, the whole table swiveled to stare daggers at Bob.

"Give it here, boy," and he said it in the wrong way on purpose. Smitty had only been talked to by one or two people in his life like that, and one of them was his dad when he was mad. This Bob knew, and Bobby used it against Smitty because within seconds, Smitty had handed him his phone, and Bob just scrolled into the contacts, hit a button, speed-dialed Tim, Smitty's dad. But what happened next put a smile on all of our faces.

"Hello, Smitty, it's Dad. Are you okay?"

"Shut up, it's Bob, Mike's dad. How you doing? Oh, and the kids are absolutely fine. I'm here in Scotland drinking with them, but we have a problem with Jeremy. Do you remember Jeremy?"

"Yeah, we got a couple of drinks. Me and his dad got along quite well. Why? What's wrong?"

"So, Jeremy has inherited... Jeremy has inherited a cave in Scotland that he has no legal rights on, technically, but has found a diamond in it. He wishes to claim it, to do it legally. But due to the fact that this diamond may cause a war and also cause a change in some of the Jaguars going forward, would you be willing to drop in here and come drink with us and give your advice? And no, you can't do this over the bloody phone. I'm making this call on Jeremy's dad's behalf. Understand?"

"All you hear coming from the other side of the phone is a small grumble, and then, 'F*** off. Give me a bloody couple of minutes. I'll call you back,'" and he hung up.

Jeremy was just kind of stunned. Mike and Smitty were both kind of freaking out and s******* themselves, even being adults with their dad here. And yes, Bob was considered a dad to both of them because they all grew up as family and friends after they met. They've only known each other for a couple of years, but still, they all realize that they were family in a way.

Jeremy just started crying when the text message came in with only one sentence: “ETA 23.5 hr to you. Send GPS."

Jeremy didn't have any more booze after that. They wouldn't let him. And no one else really drank too much, but they all got fed, and they all got to their rooms. And they all just... they all just didn't know what to do. And they were going to talk in the bar, so as soon as they're done in the pub, they all headed out, and Jen told them to go around back. There's an open area that they could all go talk.

You could notice Jen kind of hanging out at the back door while they're in the back talking.

They sat me down at a picnic table and tried to interrogate me. I just was so out of it and freaked that it took a couple of minutes for me to actually pay attention to what was going on around me and not being in my own head. When I realized what was going down and what they were trying to ask me, I just looked over to the doorway and saw Jen and motioned for her to come here, and I told her I'll sit down. "You're all part of this now. I might as well tell you. But first, Jen, I want some paper."

I then wrote the following words on the piece of paper and had them all sign it after, including myself:

"All those that sign this piece of paper hereby agree that the cave and everything within the cave is the property of Jeremy and his family going forward throughout the generations, and you will not take them or claim any right to them. In return for this, you will be inducted into the information of the Ark."

Once they all saw what it said, they agreed, and after they signed, Jeremy went down to the last name and wrote another line underneath and said, "Now we have to wait for Tim," and that's all I would say. I just stopped right there.

Then Jeremy looked dead into Jen's eye and said, "Do you want to be infected too?" and that just freaked everybody out. They weren't expecting that, and now they had to have that thought in their head. What did Jeremy have? And Jen just kind of got up and went back inside, and just before she disappeared, she looked back, and the look on her face, even I don't know what that emotion was.

And I just looked at the last three of them and said, "I don't know what happened, and I don't want you to get sick. If this is deadly, we've done tests. There's nothing in the soil or air, and the cops even checked it out. But you saw. Do you want to be infected?"

What I wasn't expecting was Smitty's "F*** yes, I want it, give it to me now, b****," and I got smacked upside the back of the head. "You're asking if we don't want superpowers, you f****** idiot. Of course, I want superpowers."

Mike and Bob looked at each other and started laughing at Mike.

Bob then became the mediator and said, "Okay, we'll wait for Tim, but what's in this town?" And I started not thinking about it and just showing them around and playing tour guy because I'd been here for a couple of days. And we got food and everything, and we just... we had fun. And the next day, around 5:00 in the evening, Tim showed up.