The man looked at Len and his body suddenly started to quiver. He looked into Len's eyes, noticing they weren't directed towards his face, but his body. He turned to Doc and whispered towards him.

"Can he really see us?"

Doc looked at the man smiling. He nodded, and started laughing.

"Of course! Of course! Haha."

He peaked back towards the rearview mirror and Len was still staring at the man's body. Doc grinned.

***

They arrived back at the house just before it started pouring again. Doc opened the car door and stepped out, Len did the same, and soon after so did the man.

"Today really is a wet day!"

The man beside him did not respond

"Really Jame? Your not going to respond

"Ahem, sorry about that Doc, I was just deep in thought."

"It's alright, buddy, but it's not very nice to let someone talk to themselves."

"What about the kid?"

"Oh, Len? He is very shy and still needs to get used to talking to other people!"

"Is that right?"

"Yup!"

Jame showed a sign of relief.

They entered the house and the three of them walked into the main room. Doc sat down on the chair in the middle of the room and overlooked the city through the windows.

"Yesterday Len, yesterday I found you in the middle of the street with lots of bruises all over your body and today they are nowhere to be seen."

Len looked down at his body and Doc was right, there were no signs of any bruises or injuries on his arms anymore.

"I find that quite interesting, don't you?"

Len looked up at Doc and his eye began to hurt again. He closed his eyes and slowly opened them, and a dark mist began to emerge from Doc.

"Can you see it?" he asked.

The mist started moving around the room and Len's eyes followed the mist. Doc slowly looked back and stared into his emotionless face, Len's eyes were rapidly darting around. He rested his right hand on the arm of the chair and pressed a small grey button on the arm rest. A loud noise could be heard downstairs, Len slowly fixated his attention towards the stairs. The Doc grinned.

"What was that noise?" Doc asked sarcastically.

Len looked backed at Doc. His face, still emotionless.

"Why don't we go check it out?"

Len slowly nodded.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Doc approached the stairs and the two followed behind him, Len being between Doc and Jame.

"It really sounded like it came from your room huh?"

They approached the room and entered. Nothing looked out of place. Doc slowly walked towards the door in the corner of the room. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a tiny gray key and inserted it into the door's handle. He opened the door. The room was a small closet, but in the ground there was another staircase, leading further down into the mountainside.

"My isn't this interesting? Why don't we head down?"

Jame nodded, and they led Len down the stairs. He obediently followed, and his face was still blank. The stairs continued on and on, seemingly infinite, but not. They continued down the stairs, nobody talked. Footsteps echoed throughout the stairway and the three slowly continued down.

Minutes passed and the echoes in front of them came to an end, before them a small dimly lit room appeared with a tube like object in the center of the room. Doc went to the side of the room where a small white counter resided, laying his hand under the edge of it. He flicked a small switch and the tube slowly opened. Jame stood by the entrance to the room and didn't speak.

Doc approached Len and looked down at him.

"Get in."

He obediently followed Doc's order and entered the tube. Doc returned to the counter and flipped the switch again, prompting the door to close. The tube was like a one way mirror, on the outside Doc and Jame could see Len, but on the inside Len could only see himself. Suddenly a bright light turned on inside and Len closed his eyes. The two men could see him better.

"Wow Doc, this kid really is obedient."

"I would assume so, I found this kid on the streets and helped him out, so it's kind of a guarantee that he wouldn't go against me. And look at his face, he has worn that same expression since we met. Poor kid, fate really must hate him."

"Doesn't this seem too easy for us?"

"I mean yes, but who am I to complain?"

"Let's just get this over with before anything happens alright?"

Len opened his eyes again and a boy appeared in the reflection of the tube, this time distorted as a result of the mirror's round shape. The boy's mouth began moving, but no words came out. The boy's eyes started glowing and a blue translucent figure appeared behind him. The boy reached out his hand and opened it. Len started to feel dizzy, his knees collapsed and his head hit the mirror in front of him.

"Looks like the kid passed out."

"There's very little oxygen inside so that would be the common result, just keep a close eye on the kid's body just in case."

Doc pressed a button on the counter and a syringe slowly lowered itself from the top of the tube carrying an opaque purple substance inside. He pressed a few buttons and the syringe moved left and right and suddenly stopped directly next to Len's right arm. He moved the syringe left, sticking it into his arm. He pressed another button just left of the arrows and the syringe began releasing the substance into Len's arm.

***

welcome back…

this time I shall grant you power…

so continue on…

change your destiny…

Len opened his eyes and the blue star appeared before him. He looked around the area and a small gray star shined in the distance, he looked down towards his feet, and the once reflective surface was gone.

He looked back up and the star in front of him began emitting a blue light, landing directly on Len's face… He fainted.

***

Lens' body began to turn gray, and the two men nodded at each other.

"Looks like everythings working."

Doc turned back around and opened a drawer. Suddenly Len woke back up.

"Hey doc the kid is back up."

"Oh really? That's a first."

Len stood back up and saw Doc rummaging through a drawer, the reflection was no longer there… His eyes suddenly turned blue, and a light emitted from his right hand. His skin began to turn back to its original pale color.

"Hey Doc, this one's not norm-"

The glass broke, and a figure suddenly appeared right behind Doc.

"Hey Doc watch out!"

The spirit lifted his arms and threw his left arm towards Doc, striking him in the back of the head, shattering it. Doc's body fell to the ground and the figure disappeared. Len swiftly averted his gaze towards Jame, and lifted his hand, the blue light blinded him.

The figure appeared directly in front of Jame, and he fell on his back. The figure lifted his right leg and stomped down on Jame's chest, destroying his heart… Len slowly stepped over the broken glass and approached the figure. He stopped directly in front of it and looked into its eyes. They seemed vaguely familiar to Len, the figure suddenly smiled and let out a few words.

"Looks like I saved you once again kid… I have one ask of you, take care of my family…"

The figure slowly faded away, leaving Len there alone, with the bodies of the two men. His head began to feel light, his body hit the ground.