A low rumble came from over the hill. Just beyond the start of town a lone rider crested a hill. Splayed out before her was the town she’d ransacked. When she was in charge money finally flowed into their coffers. Sure, it meant breaking a few fingers but they were a gang. Nate had been too soft, which was fine with her. He could be her big softy.

  The modified muffler whittled and howled. If the police were any good at their jobs they’d have arrested her for disturbing the peace. The motorcycle was long and light pink. Riding in the seat was a short girl with pig-tails shooting out of her helmet. If Nate had been hurt while she was gone she vowed to bring the pain. The whole town would have to suffer whether he wanted it to or not.

  Her phone buzzed as she reached the hospital. At least Nate hadn’t forgotten how she operated. Had he not sent her his room number she really would have trashed the whole place. She still might if the feeling came to her.

  On the way up she passed by a Pseudo-Necromancer and a real one. Knowing this was their territory she calmed down. It was best to play it cool around those types. No reason to upset the apple cart while Nate was here. Licking her bright pink lips she grinned wickedly. From behind her lips sharp, pointed teeth pointed out.

  Just out of sight of his room she stopped. Taking a deep breath she shook a bit. The last time they’d been together he’d ordered her to leave and never appear before him. It was technically against his order to show back up. She didn’t want him to be mad at her.

  Squatting down she grabbed both her legs. The dress she wore puffed out around her. Body curling into a bit of a ball. Gathering her courage to see the one she loved once more.

  “Little girl are you ok?”

  A nurse walked over to her. Clearly she thought it was a lost young child. If she’d been of any other mind she’d body slam this woman. Since Nate was just a few steps away she shrugged it off. No, need to ruin her clothes before she saw him.

  “Look lady, I don’t give a shit if you work here. I ain't no little girl. So shove it before I knock your teeth out.”

  Taking a step back the nurse was confused. The little girl's cutesy voice clashed with the way she talked, an odd sense of incongruity. Before she could speak again the girl held up a driver's license. It was clearly her, eighteen years of age. Laughably, she was only four foot ten.

  “Oh, I’m sorry. Did you come to see someone?”

  The nurse was in her twenty’s. A pair of large circular glasses covered her face. Nate would recognize her as his regular nurse. She wanted to cover up her mistake in calling out to the girl but didn’t want to just let the matter go. It was understandable for her to get upset but that didn’t mean she could use that language.

  “Yeah, I'm a friend of Nate’s. Came to give him a handy.”

  “To give him a hand?”

  “Yeah, sure.”

  The little girl stood and marched to the door. She slid it open with ease. Leaving the nurse standing in confusion. This guy received such odd guests. Taking out a small book she made note of the interaction and walked away. She wouldn’t try her luck for an apology.

  Nate stared at her. The Hurricane in the flesh. She looked no different than when she’d helped topple his life. Honestly it was odd that Two years had passed and she still looked exactly as she had before. That’s when his eyes hurt.

  The pain in his eyes could have been from reading the rest of the chapter in the time that he had left. That was if his teacher's curse wasn’t still cast on his body. It was weaker than the spirits curse but not that weak. Pain was shooting out of his spiritual eyes as her form shifted ever so slightly.

  Her cheeks were now shimmering with rainbow colored scales. Her long brown hair had an aura of wispy blues and greens that twinkled around her. He couldn’t see it but he could feel something from her exposed forearms and bare legs. Just beyond the flesh there was a hidden energy.

  “Holly shit. You get hit by a truck? Wait, what's this I smell?”

  She still spoke in that girly high voice. Honestly the fact she was a girly girl except for her love of fighting pissed Nate off. The always prim and proper looking girl was the one who’d mopped the floor with him. He’d lost a lot of respect for it. She just clashed too much.

  “What the fuck happened to you? Why are you Necromancer?”

  “Why do you have scales?”

  They both looked at each other speculatively. She took a tentative step forward than another before finally she sat next to him. Her eyes inspected him with a worried look. An unstoppable hand reached out and pulled his shirt up. He’d just gotten some of the bandages removed revealing the criss crossing scars and stitches.

  Looking past his flesh she preferred into his soul inspecting it closely. A smirk formed on her lips. Nate attempted to push her arm down; it was a useless effort. She’d seemed to have tripled in strength since they’d last met. Unable to resist, she licked across one of the wounds and then kissed it. He could feel it fester for a second before it started to visibly heal.

  “The hell, don’t just lick me.”

  “Sorry Darling, I couldn't help myself. I just wanted your Boo Boo to go away.”

  “Answers. Now.”

  She giggled a little, dropping his shirt to begin twirling a loose piece of hair. She didn’t answer him right away. First she sized him up. If this was the real deal she’d be getting back what was hers, if not she’d be super angry. He had grown taller in these two years and fit even more into her type.

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  “Fine, I’ll tell you. The reason I can beat you up is because you're a big’ol wimp. Who’s so weak that he can’t even take on a wittile girl like me.”

  “Cut the crap Karah. A Paladin did this to me. I don't have time to deal with your bullshit.”

  Karah stopped looking at him worriedly. She wasn’t well versed on the supernatural world, the few contacts she did have all told her one thing. Don’t get involved with Paladins; they are too strong. Naturally this made her want to find them even more. Maybe she’d find a challenge.

  “Ok Nate but only because I’m taking it as an order. I don’t know what I am. Mom and Dad don’t have any clue either.”

  “Ha, so you're telling me you're not involved with this side of the world?”

  “Well, not completely. I dabble.”

  “Dabble?”

  What can I say? I was born this way and my parents accept me for who I am.”

  “Fine, so Mandy sent you?”

  She replied with a nod of her head. The two spent a small amount of time catching up. He filled her in on the event of being attacked and that Mandy was watching Teddy. For her part she didn’t have much news. She was running a small group out of a gym in the neighboring city. They didn’t even get near talking about the past. Not yet at least.

  Nate wasn’t happy to see her, at the same time he did find he had missed her. They’d been together for a short but passionate time. Them having been together at the tail end of his time with Mandy and the gang. It had all happened so fast.

  Karah had practically forced herself upon him at the time. She’d been just like the motorcycle she drove in on. Loud, dangerous, and thrilling. Being the only one he couldn’t beat but having the same drive to fight. They were made for each other in a way. Nate figured it was one of the reasons she wanted him so bad.

  Karah took up the couch saying it’d be cheaper than a hotel. Nate figured she just wanted to be around him. Giving Nate a hard time was just what Karah did to show her feelings. She never could be completely honest with who she was. It was the same now as it was then, she was hiding from herself. They were both younger at the time and made mistakes. If his father hadn’t died they probably wouldn’t have ended up this way.

  Two years ago his father passed away from a sudden case of sepsis. He’d not had surgery and was at home when it hit. The best guess was that he’d been hiding his illness. Nate languidly flipped through the pages of chapter two. As he thought through his predicament.

  He needed to get revenge on Paladin Wood. Not just him, everyone of those Paladins coming to town. Anger bubbled up in his chest. The ground in the Soul Square turned blood red as he did so. It might be irrational, it might be wrong, but it was what he had to do. Looking at the ring he considered it for a moment.

  Should he even bring the soul back in? It was always soothing his anger, trying to make it go away. Was that how he wanted his emotions handled? The spirit had healed him but at what price. He’d paid for it over these past few years. Every injury was in a way this spirit's fault. Just like everything lately it was a double edged sword. Could he give that part of himself to the spirit again?

  Karah was blacked out on the couch. A frilly pink eye mask snuggly attached to her face. He could tell she was still awake. Their proximity being what it was, she was showing incredible restraint not doing whatever she wanted to him. She didn’t take no for an answer, which is only good when you want to drown in your own despair. Nate didn’t need to fall there right now.

  Wayne had told him that monsters could be placed under a necromancer's control, even made stronger. With her help would he have the chance to kill Paladin Wood? What would her price be? Nate found that he didn’t know where his line fell. He used to run the gang, he set the limits, he made the decisions. Karah had taken some of that from him. What little control he had at the moment he had struggled to obtain.

  His father had taken the rest. Their last conversation, still fresh as the early morning dew on grass. They fought because of Karah’s new orders to stir trouble in town. Nate had gone with it because he wanted the fight. Janara’s death, and the inevitable end of humanity. Everything at the time was pushing on him and he didn’t think about anyone else. He felt like an idiot for letting it all overwhelm him.

  “Son, I let you run wild. I certainly did the same in my youth. This is just too far. You were going to bomb that place? For, what, to start a gang war? This was fine when it was just kids having fun. Now. What am I going to do with you?”

  His dad’s voice always had a caring tone. He tried to harden his voice; it just didn’t stick. Nate’s mother had been the disciplinarian, it was lucky for him to get caught by his dad at the time. At least that's what he thought in the beginning.

  “It was a fire bomb. Not even that strong. Just singe them a little.”

  “A Molotov Cocktail? You think that makes it any better?”

  “Maybe a little.”

  Nate’s hair was a vibrant green, dark square sun glasses on his face, numerous piercings in his ears. He looked like a classic punk. Blain had to stop himself from laughing at the ridiculousness of the situation. His son was straight out of an old nineties movie.

  “Listen. Son, you can go to jail for this. Do you think that just because you're a kid they won’t throw the book at you? What will happen to Teddy if that happens?”

  Nate paused, his dad had never taken up this attack route. It was always sermons from mom or dad trying to joke with him to stop. Had he really gone too far? He was quiet for a long time. He swallowed the lump in his throat.

  “I just don’t see the point dad. They taught us in school, we’re doomed. And then with what happened to Janara…”

  An unease settled into the room. Blains face knitted together tightly. He seemed to think deeply, before he let out a deep breath. His face relaxed. A clenched fist at his side.

  “Son, are you blaming what you're doing on an existential crisis and your sister passing away?”

  “What? No, I just.”

  “Ok, Son. I’ll give you one. That's it.”

  “Dad, you don’t understand, I just don’t know what the point is anymore.”

  “I understand. You're still young and you don’t know that one day none of this will help you. Son, am I responsible as a parent?”

  “Yeah, dad.”

  Nate felt his chest tighten at the thought of the old conversation. He could still feel his father trying to get him to quit what he was doing. What stuck the most to him was what he said as he left.

  “If anything were to happen to me, would you take responsibility?”

  He never got to answer his dad. The anger in his heart had flared up. The door slammed hard behind him. He was lashing out at the word and that's all he wanted to do. It's when he went back to the hideout, when he’d ruined everything with Mandy and given in to Karah.

  They were together for a whole week. The whole time he never came home. It wasn’t until later that he found out he’d died at home the day after they’d talked. That's when he took responsibility, cleaned up his act, and cut ties. Mandy and Kent stuck around, orbiting really. Mandy was pursuing him in secret and Kent well he was busy. Karah she’d just disappeared when he called the gang off. Even the hideout was destroyed.

  His mind cleared up. It was his responsibility. Paladin Wood and anyone else in town that posed a threat. Teddy had to be made safe, and everyone else. Looking at Karah he decided he’d bring her to him. If she was a hurricane then he’d ride the wind. No, he would rule it.