“When we get back don't tell Jim just yet what you did. He won't understand.” Samuel pulled the rented vehicle up towards the front of the apartment.

  “I know Jim fears me, even as I try to help him. Though, he had seemed to accept me somewhat over the months I have been here.” I wanted Jim to accept me more than he had so far, but I wasn't sure how to make it happen.

  “Not everyone can accept the things we do, even or especially those closer to you. Jim is… a soft soul, he doesn't handle violence well. Just roll with the punches and be you, I'll figure out the rest.” Samuel was slowing the vehicle when he suddenly sped back up. He was looking at the few parked cars around the apartment building and seemed agitated.

  “What's wrong?” I looked around too, but didn't notice anything strange.

  “Something's off, see that black car there? I've never seen it here before, and it's way too fancy to be in this part of town. Maybe I'm just being paranoid, but I think we skip the apartment.” He pulled out his phone and dialed Jim's number. It rang several times, but didn't pick up. He tried again, and this time it picked up.

  “Yes?” It was Jim's voice, but he sounded different. Something about the tone wasn't right. I looked at Samuel and shook my head.

  “Hey Jim, you alright? You never showed up for the after party for the successful win.” Samuel put on a cheery voice, tinged with a little worry.

  “Oh, right, how could I have forgotten the party? That was silly of me. I better get on to Herald for not reminding me. Where was the party again?” Samuel immediately hung up his phone and then threw it out the window.

  “Fuck…” He exclaimed quietly and kept driving.

  “Jim has a mind like a steel trap, he'd never forget something like a party, or the fact we never planned one. DAMNIT!” He slammed his fist on the dashboard as he continued driving. I stayed silent, waiting for him to continue.

  “The GA must have already found their way onto your trail. Jim and Herald should be fine, detained and being questioned, but nothing they haven't gone through before. We need to get out of here, forget the supplies.” He drove us down several back roads and as we came closer to the outskirts I expected him to head down a road leaving the city. Instead, we kept to the back roads and he continued driving.

  “Where are we going?” I asked him, getting comfortable in the seat.

  “We can't leave immediately, the GA Are going to be watching for us. I don't know what you did to get them on you like this, but it must have caught the eye of the Prime Minister. I need you to explain everything to me, Kara. I know something has been going on with you, and I didn't want to pry, but it is affecting me now. The GA doesn't just look into random gangsters' deaths like this.” I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. I hadn't particularly meant to keep what was happening from Samuel, I just hadn't felt there was a reason to talk about it. I had gotten affected by hallucinations from the Void very often since it attacked Lathea. I had stopped thinking about them more often than not, and when I was within my safe space back home they faded away. I began explaining almost everything to Samuel, from beginning to end, though I decided to leave Lathea for another time. I wasn't ready to share what happened there. He listened without commenting for the entire thing, all the way up to when I used my new ability to stop the car and electrocute Ollie.

  “I need to process that, Kara. I have… beliefs, in the supernatural and such. I've seen some things in my time. But some kind of blue, fiery squares only you can see? That's…” He trailed off, not saying more for some time. I was worried, I trusted Samuel and I wanted him to trust me, but I understood that this was ridiculous.

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  “I believe you, Kara. I can't explain it right now, but I just have a feeling about you. I’m with you on this, we'll get to safety and figure this mess out.” He continued driving, taking random seeming turns and even doubling back on himself a few times, but other than that it felt like a normal drive.

  “Can you tell me more about your past?” As I asked him he hummed and scratched his beard.

  “Hmmm… well, I have a lot of past to cover, but we have time I guess.” He seemed to be thinking for a while before he continued speaking.

  “Well, I guess I can start from the beginning.” He spoke of his childhood, growing up on the streets after the orphanage he lived in burnt down. He was an urchin, and stole to survive for a long time. He never got caught, if he had he'd have lost his hands eventually, starting with his fingers. The turning point for him was when he was sixteen. A man, massive in frame, and his wife were walking through the streets, rich folks, and he took them for easy marks. He went in, quick as a snake, and snatched the lady's purse from her. He thought he would be eating good for a while, he was quicker than anyone he'd ever stolen from. His vaunted quickness was not enough this time around as the man had immediately snatched him around the neck and hoisted him into the air. He said the man started to say something, but he didn't wait to lose his hands. He swung his fist backwards and it connected with the man's jaw. He had learned to defend himself in the streets, and having a pretty rough attitude, he fought a lot. He had leaned against brick walls less sturdy than that man's jaw. The man shook him like a dog with one arm until he stopped fighting. His grip was like steel and Samuel couldn't see a way to fight back against him. He said at that moment the pressure on his neck released and he fell to the ground, dropping the purse. The man then picked up the purse and told him if he wanted food he could come with them to eat. He said he took the offer, he wasn’t sure why, but he felt it was the right decision. He ended up eventually being adopted by the two, which were new money in the city due to the man having risen in the ranks of The Arenas. They lived happily for a long time, and eventually his parents passed away for one reason or another. He kept on living, and joined The Arenas himself, rising almost as high as his father and meeting his wife there. They had a daughter and both retired to the outskirts of town, living off what they could grow themselves. Samuel grew quiet and I thought maybe he was done speaking, but he eventually started again.

  “I… lost them both. My wife and daughter. It was at the time said to be a random break-in, some kid tried to steal from us while I was in the city getting some new farming equipment.” I could feel he was hurting with every word, but I wouldn't stop him if he wanted to continue.

  “It wasn't some dumbass kid that did that to my family. It was the Prime Minister, the Governor of Eastown at the time. He had tried to get me to come out of retirement and train his mercenaries. Such a petty fucking reason to ruin a man's life.” I saw his knuckles turning white as he gripped the steering wheel, his forearm muscle bunching up.

  “I hate him, and his damn crew of glorified thugs. But what can a single man do?” He loosened his grip as he took a deep breath.

  “But you, if you have these abilities you say you do, you can do something. You might have the power, especially if you think you can get more powerful.” We stopped at a stop sign. The rain pittered against the windshield, it had grown heavier as we drove further and further away from the apartment.

  “You could be exactly what we need in this city if you are willing.” He looked at me and I could see the wrath in his eyes, burning away at his soul all these years until he finally found a way to fight. He looked at me like a weapon, his eyes that of a revenant.

  “I will do what I can, Samuel.” Samuel smiled, tears running down his face. A weight seemed to have lifted off of him, though I could tell it wasn't gone—I had taken some of it upon myself.

  “Thank you Kara. We need to get out of here as soon as possible, before the GA finds us. I want to get somewhere you can show me these powers of yours.” We kept going, still taking strange turns but towards the outskirts of the city.

  “Why are you driving like this?” I asked him after the curiosity overcame my patience.

  “Cameras. I have a route that leads outside the city that has little or no observation from cameras. I want to make sure we have as little chance of being spotted as possible. The strange turns are to throw off pursuers, or to catch them out if we're being followed.” I nodded and we just drove in silence as we slowly exited the city. Samuel drove us down a concrete road for several miles and then turned off onto a forested backroad. The Road was filled with potholes, not maintained well if at all. He turned on the radio, some kind of music about a secret guitar in a cathedral played, and we kept going down the bumpy road for a long time. I liked the music here, the music I could remember from Lathea was similar in many ways, but none of it was the same. A whole new world of music, though I missed some of my favorites at times. My player left in my safe haven, surrounded by death and the Void, never to be listened to again. At least I no longer had to keep listening to the same ten songs over and over again. We turned and pulled up a dirt road that twisted and wound through a hilly, forested area. Several more turns later we ended up in a clearing, at least it would have been a clearing if not for a massive tree right in the middle of it. The tree had to be ancient, standing tall and powerful through ages. The ancient bastion of nature popped out from the top of some kind of cabin, reminding me of some of the structures of Lathea. There were several small plots of farmed land and gardens all over the land, kept up and seemingly growing well. I looked over at Samuel and he smiled. He stopped the car and shut off the engine, stepping out of the car. I followed and walked over to the front with him. He looked more at peace than I had seen him since meeting him, yet there was still sorrow and wrath under the surface.

  “Welcome to Villa Kat-Franc, my true home.”