It's 11 PM on the dot; Elias even checked before he left. Abel and Ezra went on ahead so they had more time to steal the goods. Elias didn't trust them to do it quietly, but they needed the money.

  He wore a black hoodie and black sweatpants. He held his staff discreetly, like a carry-on bag.

  Sylvie was meant to be here by now. Especially with all the talk, she talked about Elias not being late.

  Seconds passed, and she still didn't arrive. He even put on all black to match the aesthetic.

  “Elias, hey!” A voice yelled from ahead.

  Sylvie.

  She ran up to him while waving, “You’re late!”

  “Uh, not this time, Sylvie.” She slows down as she reaches him.

  “Whatever, man, let’s go. Where is it?” Sylvie asks with a fire in her eyes.

  “You're fired up; it's just behind the apartment. Ezra made a hole in the walls so we can get out to the runway.”

  Elias looked down at her. She thought it was smart to wear all black like Elias, but he didn't see any weapons on her. He almost forgot she knew how to fight.

  “Okay, let’s go,” she says, practically leading the way for him. “So who is this smuggler actually?”

  “He's supposed to be this anti-magic guy who is also a pilot, and we have to convince him.”

  “How was I supposed to help with any of that, dude?”

  “I'd feel safer with you, and you want to be a psychiatrist, so I figured you'd understand a lot about people, you know.” Said Elias, although only the first part was true.

  “Yeah, you're right, I have a file on you and why you do everything you do.”

  “Wait, really—”

  “No! Dumbass, I said I want to be a psychiatrist, not that I am one.” She said, rolling her eyes as if it wasn't believable.

  “Aren't you like scared but exhilarated?” Sylvie asks.

  “I'm more scared than anything,” Elias answered truthfully but kept his calm exterior.

  He hoped he wouldn't be as helpless as he was a month ago. He also hoped all his training wouldn't have to be put to use just yet.

  “So I'm assuming you use a bo staff, right?” Sylvie asks, looking at his gilded weapon, “I honestly thought you'd fight with a gun or something.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah, with your whole serial killer group.”

  “You're only a serial killer if you kill more than once, actually.”

  “I bet you're an expert on that.” She smirks.

  “Oh my God,” Elias rolls his eyes, “It's just over here.”

  There was a hole in the 30-foot walls. Just large enough to fit two people. The thick concrete completely shattered, and the rebar bent out of place.

  “Woah,” Sylvie exclaims with a shift in her tone of voice as things get real and humor evaporates.

  The air around it smelled of freshly mowed grass. There was no greenery around.

  As they crept through the hole, they were met with 3 warehouses lined up and one long airstrip.

  At the right end of the airstrip sat a small propeller plane and a man resting on it, cigarette in hand.

  They looked at each other wondering who would lead the way. Elias decided to go first towards the man.

  The silence weighed heavy as they got closer and closer. The tension rose like an oscillating xylophone. From what he could see, the man wasn't armed. In fact, he looked like any other old man.

  “Aye, this is private property; leave now!” The man shouted before they had a chance to approach him. Warm crimson embers lit up the night air.

  He was more relaxed than he should've been, like he'd dealt with this before. He must've seen them enter the way he waited until they were close enough to hear him.

  “We're just here to talk!” Elias yells back, trying to keep the same tone the man enforced.

  “We'll pay too!” Sylvie adds.

  “Go on,” the man says, lighting another cigarette.

  “We need transport from here to the nearest airstrip; a mutual friend of ours sent us.” Elias copies everything he heard from the movies and Abel.

  “We'll pay—” Sylvie is interrupted.

  “Why should I trust you, and where's the rest of your team? You brought no magic or firepower.” The man explains stone faces as if he had the answer ready.

  Shit.

  There's a long pause as Elias thinks of something to say. Anything.

  If he lied, he was sure the man would know, and telling the truth could trigger him. It was best if he kept it as vague as possible.

  “Because—”

  “The rest of our team isn't here because this isn't a threat. I use magic, and he doesn't. We only need a lift,” Sylvie butts in. Vague only because she doesn't know anything else, although it was still the truth.

  “You're some smart kids, I gotta admit.” The man fixes his gaze on Sylvie. “Why don't you show me some of that magic of yours, lady?”

  He smirks, revealing his badly bloodied and yellow teeth.

  Elias catches a quick look at Sylvie, who is trying her hardest to keep a straight face.

  She pauses, then eventually lifts her shaking head up to her face. This time, sweat only beads in her hand.

  The color from her hand began to fade into the night, and it began to shrivel and wrinkle around her bones.

  Before the first drop fell, the rest gravitated towards a single point in front of her finger.

  A twisting ball of water floated in the air. Drops of water falling down on the runway.

  It smelled less like Clorox this time. More like the ocean.

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  Elias’ chest tightens.

  “Alright, enough out of you,” the man demands. “Where’s the money? I’ll need it up front.”

  “The rest of my crew will be here soon,” Elias said, hoping it was the truth.

  “Hmm.” The man's low voice rumbled.

  They all stood and stared at the warehouses, waiting for something to happen. The man was unfazed by the entire situation. All he did was light another cigarette and lean further back onto his plane.

  A minute passed, and nothing happened.

  Two, and still nothing.

  Sylvie had already burned through one water bottle and was starting her second.

  Elias flinched at the sound of the man's lighter.

  He chuckled slightly as he put the cigarette into his mouth.

  A loud crack came from the warehouse furthest from them. Then another.

  Elias and Sylvie both flinched, but the man stayed still, like he was watching the movie on low volume.

  3 more shots rang out into the night.

  Elias' shoulders tensed.

  Then silence and then yelling from a distance.

  Elias leaned forward and squinted. He could see two figures running with a crate in each of their hands.

  All they did was run as fast as they could as the three waited quietly, Elias too afraid to say a word.

  He felt a mix of relief and dread all in one.

  They passed the second warehouse from them and then the first; eventually they were close enough that Elias could hear them.

  They just laughed as they got closer.

  Abel only spoke as they were close enough to not shout.

  “We got the stuff,” Abel panted like a tired dog. “Get us out of here, man; they’re coming.”

  “What do you mean they’re coming?” Elias snapped back.

  “Look behind us!”

  What Elias didn't notice were the 2 unmarked minivans heading towards them.

  “Get us out of here!” Abel shouts at the smuggler.

  “You all deal with this. I doubt those crates are enough to pay.”

  “You cruel old man,” Ezra lashes out.

  “I know, now get to work; they’re coming.”

  As the cars came, Abel charged towards them, and Ezra followed suit.

  The car on the left began to wobble and shake as Ezra dug his hands into the ground. As it veered out of control, swerving to the side. Out came 3 men, only one armed with a small pistol.

  Of course it’s magic

  Abel waited for the car to stop before he sent a wall of flames so hot Elias felt it from near the plane. Although his flames were dispelled, he kept sending more and more at the people exiting the car.

  “Sylvie.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Don’t die.”

  “I was about to tell you that.”

  As the area around the cars cleared, a man came charging towards the two.

  Elias, without thinking, dashed away from Sylvie, letting her deal with him. A car began riding towards them at an alarming rate.

  Elias bolted towards the car to the right with the doors left wide open. Past gunshots and licks of flames Elias made it to the vehicle's side, threw his staff inside, and got in after. He only shut his door before he slammed his foot on the gas.

  He never learned to drive, but today was the perfect chance. His heart nearly stopped as a sound like rocks hitting metal rang through the van. More shots rang out, breaking glass. One grazed him, ripping his pants and breaking skin.

  Elias turned around, looking for any one person or thing to hit.

  He thought of crashing into one of the crowds. They were too far to make out any individual target, and he’d risk running into one of his team. The car that was riding towards them was close enough and began to stop.

  Again, without thinking, Elias pushed the pedal down as hard as he could, not thinking of what would happen on impact. On his way he almost swerved into a group, and not knowing who he could’ve hit, he turned the steering wheel to the left as if it were a ship's wheel.

  His car began to turn to the side before he hit the car.

  He closed his eyes.

  A familiar sensation washed over him as he was thrust into something and then out into the open air. He landed with a clap on the rough pavement. His black hoodie was torn, and his shoulder began to bleed.

  He was thrust right out of the car, breaking the door but landing on it.

  The sight of him deterred him more than the actual pain. Out of pure shock he almost threw up the pizza he had earlier today.

  He decided that getting up and running back towards Sylvie was the best course of action.

  Sylvie was on the ground as the man walked towards her. A blade of fire wrapped in his fingers, burning his skin. From behind, Elias saw the same iridescent scars creeping up his back like branches of a tree.

  Before Elias could raise his staff and attack, the air around him froze. Like the world wanted him to stay in his place.

  Sylvie’s soft outline began to twist and distort, becoming sharp and jagged.

  Elias's mouth became dry in an instant as it felt like rain began to pour from every direction. The droplets all began to pull towards the guy, increasing in speed as they got closer.

  In a few short seconds the man’s clothes were completely grated as blood leaked from his every pore.

  He fell to the ground motionless.

  The only thing that remained was the smell of the ocean.

  A shot cracked past Elias’ eardrum.

  Then another.

  Elias turned around on instinct, seeing a man with a small pistol aiming right at him.

  His eardrums began to ring as he pushed forward to the man.

  Three flashes of light illuminated the pavement. On the third, Elias was hit in the side, like a punch that just missed him.

  He continued to push towards the man, his strength slowly leaving his body.

  Before he could even get his staff up, the man shot once again, missed, and Elias toppled onto him.

  He dropped his staff and raised his fists to the man. The man's mouth was forced open by the sheer pressure of the flame brewing in his throat. Instead of punching him, Elias' hand only dropped onto his face. The flame inside the man got even brighter, lighting his skin from the inside.

  Again, dude?

  The flame inside the man's mouth reached its climax as Elias reached up to hit him again.

  Just as fast as it flared up, it fizzled out and compressed into a single point.

  It went down back into the man just as it came out.

  In the man's chest the ball of heat reached its singularity and exploded outwards.

  The force sent a shockwave through his chest. It expanded like the man was taking a breath. The man's chest deflated like a balloon collapsing inwards. He convulsed violently under Elias.

  Elias stumbled back, not in disbelief.

  But in fear.

  “Alright, that’s enough fun!” The smuggler yelled out. As if he controlled the chaos. The only thing he controlled was the fate of the crew.

  Abel and Ezra rushed back at the sound of his voice.

  Sylvie rushed towards Elias and helped him up while limping towards the plane.

  “I thought you said you wouldn’t die.” Said Sylvie, not looking much better than Elias but still in walking condition.

  “I’m fine,” Elias grunted through the pain.

  “Yeah, yeah, man.”

  Inside the plane Ezra and Abel were already situated and splayed on the walls and ground.

  Sylvie helped Elias in first and then got in herself.

  The exhaustion dropped Elias straight to the ground. He must've been running off of pure adrenaline as the pain began to sting.

  Apparently he has a thing for injuries on the left side.

  “Girl,” the man called as he got the plane moving. “You’re not with them, are you?”

  “No.” She responded, avoiding Elias’ gaze.

  Elias knew it was bound to happen. She had no business with them, and she had her own things to do. It hurt, but she had a future, and Elias didn’t.

  The vibration of the plane was the only thing that remained steady.

  “I’ll drop you right outside the walls; you'll have to find your way from there. One of you will have to help her up with your magic bull crap.” He spoke like the grim reaper, simply announcing their fate.

  Elias kept trying to look at her, but he couldn't bring himself to. It was a sort of melancholy feeling.

  The plane turned slowly as it took off to the skies. The back was completely hollowed out.

  Old stains of blood and children's toys were scattered across the floor. Despite everything, evil will always take the same forms.

  Once far enough from the walls, the plane turned back and slowly descended.

  Once Elias looked at Sylvie, her head was facing the stars. Blocked by the roof of the plane. This time it wasn't magic that pulled her tears.

  Elias said nothing.

  The plane dipped in small rounds until finally touching down.

  Abel was fast asleep, and Ezra stayed awake to help Sylvie up the walls. As the plane came to a stop, Ezra got up first and opened the door for Elias and her.

  They walked to the wall in silence, their feet crunching on the powdered ground. Ezra didn't even need to touch the ground before it began to rise from beneath them.

  It was beautiful, just not to Elias.

  Standing atop the walls, Sylvie and Elias held eye contact for the last time.

  Elias jumped into her arms, and Sylvie into his.

  “Thank you.”