Dagger woke up at 9:00. He rolled over, opened one eye slightly, then jumped at the sight of Ellie right next to him. He looked around and saw all of Grace’s sisters surrounding him. Both of his eyelids came down, leaving his eyes half open. At this point, he wasn’t that surprised. He got up silently, barely touching the ground on his way out of the living room. He darted stelthily down the empty halls and into the kitchen. He looked in the fridge and found some leftover pancakes. He shrugged, then opened the bag. Dagger put the pancakes in the microwave and set the timer for 30 seconds. Then, he went to the table and took the closest seat. Dagger took his eyes for a stroll. The house was huge, like it needed to be to house 10 teenage girls. Dagger thought about that. Realistically, they weren’t all teenagers. After all, Grace was the youngest, and she weas 15. Even if they were each born 9 months apart, her oldest sister would need to be at least 22. So why did they all still live together? His thoughts were cut off by the microwaves beeping. Dagger got up and silently grabbed his food. He sat down again and realized he didn’t have a fork or knife. He went into the closest drawer, which happened to be the cutlery drawer. While he was up, he went and grabbed some butter and maple syrup. When he sat back down, he could hear distant yawns. The microwave must have woken them up. Dagger quickly spread the butter and poured the syrup on his reheated pancakes. Then, he stuffed them all in his mouth and chewed thoroughly. By the time the first of Grace’s sisters entered the kitchen, he had gotten up and was heading for the door. “What’cha doing?” Ellie asked. “Heading to school. It starts in 5 minutes.” Ellie laughed. “You don’t have to. It’s Saturday.” Dagger starred. “I don’t have to go to school on Saturdays?” “Or Sundays. It’s called a weekend.” Dagger pumped his fist excitedly. “Great,” he said, still heading for the door. “Where are you going now?” “The edge of the city. I’ve got a feeling that’s where I need to be.” “Want some company?” “No, that’s ok. Enjoy your morning.” Ellie went up and stopped him. “I’d like to enjoy my day with you, and I’m not the only one. You’re our guest, and we might as well make sure you’re having a good time.” Dagger sighed. “You have two minutes to get them all ready to leave. Then I’m heading out.” “You won’t regret this!” Ellie exclaimed as she started down the hall. Dagger stepped onto the porch and took a lawn chair. He peered into the window and saw a few of them pounding on the bathroom door. Two of them had gotten smart and were heading for the bathroom upstairs. Dagger shook his head. Those were the biggest bathrooms he’d ever seen, but they weren’t big enough for ten girls to get ready in at the same time. Even five in each seemed far fetched. Dagger looked down at a watch he had picked up at the clothing store in Station Square. It had been a minute and a half. He looked through the window again and was surprised to see the girls hastily getting their shoes on. Dagger’s eyes went wide as they began to file through the door. When Grace shut the door behind them, Dagger checked his watch. It had been two minutes on the dot. Dagger stared at them. “How did you do that?” “We were motivated,” the second oldest, Avery, replied. “Now, let’s get going.” Dagger started towards the road, still shocked at how they had pulled that off. He thought for sure that two minutes wouldn’t even be long enough for one of them. He took another glance and realized they had only made minor changes to how they looked when he woke up, and yet they still looked like they had prepared for hours. Did they look that great naturally? They arrived at the edge of the city and ventured out into the surrounding forestry. They found a path and began walking on it. There was just enough space between the trees for the girls to walk in rows of five behind and infront of Dagger. The five in front were walking backwards and kept tripping over each other. “It might be better if you keep your eyes on the path,” Dagger told them. “If we do that,” Ellie replied, “we wouldn’t get to see you.” Dagger was about to argue back, when he noticed a strange glow on a branching path. Intrigued, Dagger took off from the girls and jogged down the path. He heard footsteps behind him, but as his jog grew longer, they began to run out of breath and stop. Just as he could no longer hear them, Dagger found the source of the light. It was another blue orb. Dagger reached out to touch it, when suddenly it took off at high speed. Dagger hesitated at leaving the girls behind after they had put so much effort in to go with him, but he only paused for a second.
Dagger darted down the path in pursuit of his target. The orb started up a mountain near the city, and Dagger quickened his pace. He sidestepped pebbles to stop himself from slipping and flung himself off of trees growing off the side of the mountain. The distance between himself and the orb was closing fast. Dagger felt the ground leave his feet. He looked down and saw thet he had taken off from the top of the mountain. The orb began to slow down as if gravity applied to it, and Dagger’s extended hand grasped it. Dagger felt a jolt of electricity that sent him semi conscious. He could see and hear, but his body wouldn’t respond to his commands. He felt bursts of pain as he tumbled down the side of the mountain and landed in a lake at the bottom. He saw his blood coming up in the water around him, and felt a pain in his chest as he began to run out of breath. Just before he lost the bit of consciousness he had, a hand gripped his wrist and pulled him out of the water. Dagger coughed as water entered his lungs. He choked, but couldn’t do anything else. His breath was cut off, and he blacked out. Even in this state, his mind was processing the new information he’d received. It sudden;y stopped, showing Dagger that there must be some serious damage. Then, he phased out of reality entirely. . . . Dagger awoke in a burnt city. He got up and moved around. He saw Nutty and tried to call out to him, but his voice wasn’t even audible to him. Dagger went to kick a pebble by his foot, but his foot went right through it. A sudden explosion caught his attention, and Nutty was on the ground beside it, covered in smoke. Dagger heard voices. His own and Raelyn’s. He turned to see himself, also covered in smoke, holding Raelyn up. All he could make out was “ray,” “destruction,” and “undefeatable.” Dagger moved up to hear more, but the same light crashed onto him and sent him into another place. It was nearly pitch black, and all he could see was himself. His hands, his feet, and the rest of his body. He felt an unbearable pain in his chest and fell over. He looked up and saw a silhouette. The figure had a sword, and flames began to burst behind him. The flames grew closer and swallowed Dagger and this mysterious figure up. There was light, and Dagger regained his hearing. “Some savior you are,” he heard the silloettte say in a gravely voice. There was another sharp pain in his chest, and Dagger yelped in pain.The world around him faded to black, leaving Dagger full of questions and covered in blood. There was another sharp pain, and Dagger awoke on a couch. He peered down and saw scars, but not nearly as bad as what he had seen the last time. His hearing came next, picking up Grace’s voice. “He’s alive!” it called. “He’s opened his eyes!” Grace’s sisters appeared and looked over him gleefully. Dagger felt his taste return, and blood is what met him. He began to spit, causing the blood to come out of his mouth. His throught cleared enough for speach. “Who was that? Why was there fire? What was with the fleet? Is Nutty okay?” Nutty looked over Dagger, the purple in his bangs washed out. “I’m okay. You’re the one you should be worried about.” Suddenly, Dagger remembered the orb. The crazy things he just saw must have been a vision. “No! That can’t happen! I won’t let it!” The girls eyed him curiously. “What? What?” “I…” Dagger couldn’t begin to describe what he had seen. He realised that saying that would only make things worse, and the vision was slipping from his mind like a dream shortly after you get up for the day. “Never mind.” Ellie leaned over and sat Dagger up. Dagger began coughing, and Avery went to get him some water. Dagger felt arms come around him, and realised Grace was hugging him. He looked over quickly. “It’s going to be okay,” she said softly. “We’re here, and we’re going to make sure you heal.” “Do the other girls know? Are they okay with me staying here while I recover?” “Not yet. They’ll most likely get here soon asking to draw straws again. I’ll give them a good look at you, and I’ll sak if you can stay here.” Dagger couched again. “I don’t think I could go anywhere else if I wanted to. I feel awful.” Ellie sat down and hugged Dagger as well. “You’ll be fine,” she told him. “We’ll devote all our time to your recovery. I promise you will leave here in a stable condition within the next week.” “You know you can’t promise that. You can’t control fate.” Dagger felt more arms wrap around him. He counted 18. Avery handed him the glass of water, then joined. Dagger took a large gulp, then struggled to lean over to put the glass down with all those arms around him. “Okay, I’m starting to overheat. Get off.” The girls made no move. “Please?” Instantly, they all came off and scrambled for things to help make Dagger comfortable. Once they had all gone, Dagger smiled. He was glad to be under their care. To Be continued... Song: Supporting Me Remix from Shadow Generations
