"Are we seriously doing this shit right now? I don't have a girlfriend, Mark. Who does he have?"
"He has Rebecca?"
"He's bluffing."
"Well, what if he isn't?"
"Does he even know that she exists? This is a bluff."
"Would he know her name if he doesn't? Think about it, Fredrick, you said he had an ally at the school. Wouldn't it stand to reason to think that he saw you and Rebecca walking home together and reported it to Jeffrey?"
"Yeah, but how would he have captured Rebecca? It'd be kind of hard to do something like that in the middle of the day, in broad daylight, with dozens of people also walking home to witness. It's a bluff. I've interacted with him enough to develop a good psychological profile on him. Honestly, his plan already worked. He's trying to buy time to escape. The time I've spent running down this street is far more than enough for him to have caught up to him. He probably hid behind a bush or something and jumped out while we were arguing. We need to make our way to TJ's house before he can make it away any further. You go deal with that. I'm going to check on Rebecca, and show you that I'm right."
"Yeah, you're going to check on her because you want to be right so bad and not because you want to fuck her. It's okay, Fredrick, I already told you I want lots of grandchildren."
"Shut up, Mark. Now's not the time for jokes like these."
"I wasn't joking about the grandchildren thing."
"Just stop talking. I'm hanging up now."
"I love you too!"
Mark snuck that last line in before I could hang up. Dammit, that man gets on my nerves sometimes. Sometimes, I wonder what would happen if mom ever decides to show herself again. Since I've graduated from the Arcane Syndicate, it'd be easier for her to show her face and not jeopardize her plan. I wonder what it is she hopes to accomplish with all this? Nonetheless, it didn't matter since deep down I just wanted to see my mom again.
This wasn't like me… I just want to see my mom? What for? I realize it now, what Mark and Rebecca want me to be like. They want me to be like them. The thought… that thought of acting more like them…
It fucking sickens me.
…
I finally arrived at the apartment complex where Rebecca, Mark, and I were staying. I rushed up to our floor, floor 3, and pulled out the spare key to Rebecca's room she entrusted me with. I'm not sure what I was feeling, I knew I was right, I always am. However… There is a part of me right now that believes Mark, that she isn't okay and that something bad happened to her.
I flung open the door.
"Rebecca, where the fuck have you been?"
I asked, trying to sound playful.
There was no response.
I waited. My ears began to ring, and my body froze in place.
"I'm not gonna ask again, Rebecca. Come out here, I need your intel for something."
Nothing.
What?
I entered her apartment, and there was a note on the desk.
You should've trusted your emotions, not just your logic. You're predictable.
Goddammit, Jeffrey, you son of a bitch. I'm going to pull this fucker's limbs from his body when I find him. Although, once I pulled the note closer to my eyes, I noticed something. This handwriting was very pretty. If I remember correctly, the note Jeffrey wrote in the trophy case was pretty sloppy. That means that Jeffrey didn't write this note. So then…
Who did?
Rebecca herself? Is she playing a trick on me?
Bob Joel? Did Jeffrey send him here to trick Rebecca? She's not that smart, and I didn't forewarn her of anything.
Someone else? Is there someone who I didn't predict to be a part of this?
I dialed Rebecca on my phone. It took a bit, but she answered.
"Rebecca?"
"Fredrick? What are you doing? I'm at school right now, where the fuck are you?"
I sighed a huge sigh of relief when she answered. I was right. I was always right. So why did I feel relief?
"I've been up to something recently. I'm going to need you to hold out a little longer for me."
"I've been telling people you're sick, but this weird guy with, like, blonde hair keeps saying he doesn't believe me. Can you get here already?"
Dammit, Bob was making moves. He might actually be a problem. I thought he was just Jeffrey's puppet at first, but I'm starting to notice that he could be smart on his own as well. Since Jeffrey's focused on evading us, Bob's been acting on his own. Unless Jeffrey has made some insane predictions, I'm gonna have to do some investigating.
"Is his name Bob Joel?"
"Probably? I don't know, can you, just, get here? I miss you."
"Not today, I have something important to do. Who wrote the note left in your apartment?"
"Note in my apartment? I didn't write in any note, wait, what the fuck are you doing in my apartment? Oh my God, Fredrick, are you trying to sniff my panties? That's a little weird, but I'm okay with it. I'm glad you're finally embracing your inner emotions. Honestly, considering you're a teenage boy, I'm surprised you haven't made a move on me yet. Maybe you are starting to feel like a norma-"
"Shut up, that's not why I'm in your apartment. You said you didn't write the note, right?"
"I don't know what note you're talking about, so no. Show me this note if it's so important. I still think you're trying to be an underwear thief."
"Stop talking about underwear, I'm not trying to think about that. I'll text you the note, find who has handwriting like that."
I sent her the picture I took.
"Oooo, that's pretty. I'll find who it is. This might finally be my secret lover. I'm sorry Fredrick, but I do feel human emotions and I want to feel loved, too. If you ever start doing that, feel free to let me know. Maybe we can build a hou-"
I hung up. What the fuck is she even talking about? I mean, I guess I would need someone to be with, since Viktor and I were the only people to survive the previous generation.
Well, now I am the only one.
I called up Mark.
"She's at school. Jeffrey expected us to visit her apartment, though. He had someone, probably Bob, leave a note in her apartment."
"It's a warning, he's saying he can do dangerous things if he chooses to. We're going to have to find him fast."
Mark's voice sounded grim.
"Find anything at TJ's house?"
"Nothing. You were right, Jeffrey's plan to buy time worked."
"It's alright, we can meet up and figure out our next plan of action. I already have an idea."
…
Mark and I met up at this park we found near the neighborhood Jeffrey and TJ live. It's a pretty nice spot. Anyway, I decided to fill my Mark in on my plan.
"Alright, so you know that I have the hourglass, right?"
"Yeah, but he has the watch, so he's immune to it being rewinded, just like us with our magic blockers."
"Exactly, but do you know who doesn't have any sort of immunity?"
"TJ."
Mark's eyes lit up once he realized what I was about to do.
"You're going to bait him into using the watch to send off a location ping, aren't you?"
"Precisely. I guarantee you he doesn't know yet that the watch makes him immune to the effects of all the other items, and by the time he does, TJ will already have been rewound a few hours, and we easily either Jeffrey or TJ. If we have one, we'll have the other. Excellent deduction, father."
"Actually, that's an abduction, but you knew that."
"I did. Well done. Now, let's wait. There's a chance he expects us to freeze time soon, since he just got away."
…
After about an hour of waiting, Mark seemed to lose his patience.
"Can you rewind already? We don't want him getting too far."
"Fair point. I would've liked to wait a little longer, let the thought completely exit his mind, but it's alright. This will do."
I pulled the hourglass out of my jacket pocket and flipped the inside part upside-down to start the rewinding process.
Immediately, the ground started to shift, people moved backwards, and the sun sank back down toward the eastern horizon, while my phone clock started counting down.
"Now, we wait… again…"
Ten minutes passed before we got the notification.
Looking at the map, it looked like he was heading for the museum, but what for?
"Fredrick, we need to head for the museum." Mark said as he started sprinting in that direction.
"Wait," I called after him. "Something isn't right…"
"What do you mean? That road only leads to the museum."
"I am aware, but what if that's what he wants us to think? Think about it, it took him 10 minutes to press that button. What do you think he was doing during those 10 minutes?"
Mark paused, and stroked the beard on his chin while thinking.
"He… probably… oh… He was running back from wherever he was going to throw us off his trail."
"Precisely. Do you know what else is in this general direction? West of this neighborhood?"
"The warehouse."
"The warehouse." I confirmed, then checked my phone.
Time is rewinding?
"Mark, time is rewinding."
"The fuck?" He said as he yanked his phone out of his pocket, then dropped his jaw as he checked the phone clock.
"You know what that means, right?"
"I'm at a loss for this one."
"The watch rewinds time, but it didn't do that last time he pressed the button, wanna know why?"
"Just spit it out."
"Because it counters the glass. This means all the magic items counter each other."
"That makes sense. The Ancient Ones probably wanted them to be able to stop each other from becoming too powerful, similar to the U.S. government system of checks and balances."
"Exactly the thought I had. Anyway, you know where to go. Looks like we don't have as much time."
Mark nodded.
"Let's go."
…
We arrived at the 4-way intersection in which we assumed Jeffrey came from. According to the time it took to get here, TJ would be showing up here if they did walk across any of these roads. There was no sign of Jeffrey, but I expected as much.
Mark pointed to the street to my left, and I looked over there. Sure enough, there he was. TJ in the flesh. He was rather hard to miss, he stood out like quite a sore thumb.
"Alright, now we wait for Jeffrey to come out of hiding and unfreeze TJ."
I nodded.
"Exactly. Good job, Mark."
"Don't forget where you get your brains from, young man."
"I won't, father."
There, as I said that, Jeffrey darted out of a convenience store and tapped the watch to TJ, who immediately returned to normal. Looks like he doesn't have to actively be touching the watch, but just has to interact with it while time is frozen. Very interesting.
"Now's our chance."
I rewound time to normal, then Mark and I headed over to them.
"Not so fast." Jeffrey and TJ turned to see us.
"Hey, guys… fancy meeting you here."
Jeffrey said meekly. His smug face looked up at both of us. He knew he could get away with anything right now. There were several spectators here to watch if we were to get into a fight. All of a sudden, he pressed a button on his watch.
Time froze.
"Now that we all have some alone time," Jeffrey said while pressing the watch back to TJ, unfreezing him, and stepping closer to Mark and me. "Let's play a game."
Mark and I turned and shared a glance. Is this guy serious? Obviously he plans to have TJ try to beat us up, does he know who we are?
Before I could finish that thought, TJ sprung onto Mark and delivered a hard right hook to his face, sending Mark sprawling back. In a second, I quickly jumped forward, bringing my left foot to his rib cage. However, TJ caught it midair and threw my leg back to me. I landed back on my foot and quickly recentered myself. I knew this guy was strong, but damn. This is some next level stuff. Mark staggered to his feet and swung a sharp punch at TJ's jaw as I lunged for his left leg. He quickly delivered a roundhouse kick to my jaw, sending me sprawling to the floor. My mouth erupted in blood and I couldn't feel my jaw, it was likely broken. I could barely stand back up, but when I did, I saw Mark passed out on the ground.
Who the fuck is this guy?
I'm alone now. My jaw is shattered. And the worst part? TJ isn't even tired.
"You seem to have underestimated TJ's ability to fight." Jeffrey's cocky voice called from the background.
Says the guy hiding behind him. I thought, but my mouth wouldn't move. Definitely broken.
I lost. The weight of what just happened finally dawned on me. This was a real, genuine loss. Mark and I just got fucking wrecked, outclassed. Like we were nothing. And TJ? He barely broke a sweat.
I looked down at my shaking hands.
I just lost.
There is no better way to put it. In my current state, I am not perfect. Then that leaves me with… what do I do? How do I become perfect? To be perfect to never lose, and yet I just did. I had my jaw to show for that as well. As I put my hand up to my broken jaw, I wiped the blood off my face as my thoughts came to halt.
What was I feeling right now? Rebecca told me to focus on emotions, and there's no better time to think about it. I felt…
Absolutely humiliated. I just got my ass handed to me.
I have to get stronger.