CHAPTER 53: CH 53: THE VIDEO.

Watching the spark that would change everything.

Aegon finally snapped back into reality as he avoided the storm and ran towards the principal and Mr Collins.

He crouched beside her as Collins tried to stop the bleeding— but it wasn’t looking good. Her blood had dyed everything red.

Her breath was shaky, her pulse weak and her eyes couldn’t focus on anything, yet she had a smile on her lips.

She mustered all her strength to say, "C- Collins, go get the bastards who did this. Hanging with a dead woman isn’t going to fix anything."

Aegon and Collins exchanged a weird glance before he turned back to her. "Come on, Morwen. You really expect me to let you die?"

Tears welled up behind her eyes as she tried to laugh. "I’m dead either way, both I’m telling you to hunt those bastards down." Her words dragged more and more, "please."

Collins held his gaze with her, one last time. Before hesitantly getting up and going after the mercenaries.

She forced her head down to hold eyes with Aegon. She removed a hand used to stop the blood gushing out her neck, stretched it out for Aegon to hold.

"You’re gonna be fine" Aegon tried to reassure her, "and we’re gonna get them."

"Don’t lie to me, man." She chuckled before her expression turned serious.

"I don’t care about my death... or even those idiots with guns, they’ll get what’s coming for them.

But you know the one thing I’m scared of? And one thing that terrified me when I was alive and the only thing that gives me joy now I’m about to die?

I don’t have to worry about Nightwalker anymore.

I don’t have to worry about him listening or watching or waiting for me in every corner.

Collins said you could make it to Paragon so I need you to promise me something," she squeezed his hand tightly, "I need you to kill that bastard.

End him and make it painful, promise..."

Her hands slumped as she let go and she was gone.

He kept his eyes fixed on her even after she died. Not blinking or maybe he couldn’t— not anymore.

He moved his fingers and shut her eyes. "I promise."

---

Most of the mercenaries died that day, the others escaped except one. The teacher captured him as the rest ran to their jet.

For now, he was the only clue to find out who was cocky enough to attack an awakened academy with guns.

After the incident, the teachers called parents to take their children home for the next two weeks. Luckily, no one died except for the principal.

Aegon’s step mother had sent someone to come get him. But he hadn’t said much since that day, no one had really, Aethera was dead silent apart from wishes to the principal.

He sat at the edge of his bed a few days later, his eyes dead fixed through the window and at the moon.

Whenever he blinked he could still see the look of joy in Miss Morwen’s eyes when she realized she was free of Nightwalker. A woman was in pure ecstasy and it was all because of him.

The thought alone made him clench his fists. ’I need information.’

He leaned back onto the bed in exhaustion and rubbed his eyes.

’Even if they were using guns, it doesn’t change the fact that one of them had the ability to sever their links to Aether... even temporarily it was still a problem.’

He shut his eyes as he tried to recreate the image of that day. Focusing on the one person he didn’t see throughout the altercation.

Mira.

She was nowhere to be found and after the rather incriminating phonecall she had on the night of Claire’s party, it was clear she knew more than she was letting on.

He had to find a way to beat Nightwalker and had to do it soon. He picked up his phone and texted Cara.

She still had Mechaniaflow which meant she was still his only clue to finding out what the school had into their hidden network.

After a few texts, she finally replied in a rather ominous tone, she said she couldn’t send what she discovered over text and agreed to meet up tomorrow.

He finally closed his eyes and let exhaustion take him, the only comforting thought; tomorrow he’d finally get some answers.

---

Aegon got up early as sleep had been fighting him for a couple days now, everything he tried he’d see flashes of the principal either walking in the halls or making an announcement before she’d start bleeding out.

He shook the thought off, dressed up and headed to the cafe he and Cara agreed to meet in town.

He walked into the little cafe as the smell of toast and roasted coffee beans whisked past his nose.

He turned to see Cara was already there, settled in a booth and regularly looking over her shoulder like she was being watched.

He slid into the seat opposite her— she was flinching, dressed in a black hoodie and glasses, it’d be impossible to spot her if she hadn’t waved him down.

Aegon arched a brow of confusion. "Cara, what the hell is going on with you?"

"Were you followed?" She asked with a straight face, taking off her glasses as she continued. "Aegon, I’m serious here. Think, at any point in time were you followed here?"

"Cara?" He spoke in a calm voice in order to relax her, he stretched his hand out to meet hers on the table but she quickly swiped it back. "Tell me what you found."

She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. Then slid out the laptop from her bag onto the table.

Typing as she spoke. "You remember The Vanguard?"

"No?" He leaned in. "Why should I?"

She looked at him weirdly over the laptop’s monitor. "How can you not remember The Vanguard? They were ’The’ superhero team a few years ago."

"Uhmm..." All he could do was scratch his head before she continued.

"Anyway," she turned back to the keyboard. "They were an awakened superhero team that lived in the nation until... they disappeared."

"How does a whole superhero team disappear?"

"No one knew, at least that’s what V.A.L.O.R said, on their last official mission the new report said they had a little bicker with... Nightwalker.

The report and the videos online said it was over a little misfire between one of the Vanguard and Nightwalker... and even I wouldn’t have thought anything else about it till I saw this."

She turned the laptop to him, the screen was displaying what seemed to be the start of a video.

He reached to play it before—

"Stop." Cara halted him, opened her hand to give him a pair of earbuds.

"Trust me, you’re gonna need them and I hope you didn’t eat anything before coming."