Hi guys – took a day to myself. Found out one of my friends is engaged… I'm still get upset when I split the yolk in the egg... This, my non-UK-friends is what we call 'Middle-Class Problems'.

86 Reviews? After this chapter, I should have a new record of reviews for 1 story! You guys are awesome…

So, I started at midnight… that's about 12 hours later than I thought I'd start… but, here we go…

ALSO – I changed Alex's riddle a few chapters back, but it's repeated here, so… no worries.

Reviews…

So hard to choose usernames – That's no problem! Hope you like this chapter…

Yeah… I was tempted, but you've got it right – this isn't a story about superheroes. And not everyone lives – people are gonna die in this story… not sure how many… several, though. Also, Hailey will be narrating the next chapter – I wanted to do something different with her chapter – give a lot of you what you've been asking for (I mean, I did just kill of a fan favourite – I've got to make up for that somehow...)

Yeah – well, that's it. People die – and that's the worst thing ever, but, that means when these characters are prepared to face danger – they're actually facing danger. And we, as readers, understand what that means…

Oh, no worries. Now I know why George R. R. Martin does it… becoming attached to a character is a mistake.

Hehe, I enjoyed writing the light-hearted scene. You know, life's full of good and bad. Each one exists to balance out the other. Remember – when I give you something good, it's probably because I'm going to try and break your heart next.

Haha, well, Warner doesn't really care about rules that much. As for Hailey's phone, it's not exactly unlimited data – that's a term Oxy gave to sum it up – it basically has a skeleton key to every wi-fi hub. So, she can piggyback off of the nearest hub.

Well, that's because Oxy's our lil' awkward noodle.

Ooh, that was very good – very close… but I've changed the riddle, so… sorry. But A* for effort!

You're way too kind – I'm glad I changed the ending… the original was awful!

tobi-is-an-artist-too – Yup… I love crushing dreams… it's how I get my kicks. I'm awful. Not in a 'haha, I'm so bad!' way, as in 'your tears flavour my coffee'.

Harukawa Ayame – That's exactly what I wanted! And yeah – that's why I changed the ending – and we see Kate's death affect literally everyone in this chapter. You've got the exact message I wanted to give "you can't save everyone". That's the whole thing – the whole moral of the game, and it's going to tie into this story – people are going to die.

And yes, that was Max talking to Kate.

Haha… I get what you mean. It's not that bad… not really…

W. R. Winters – Damn… I mean, I'm a little offended, but I mean, at least that shows I care about my characters, right? I changed the ending (so, even though it sucked to hear, thank you – I need to be put in line with my stories every now and then), and I think it's much better.

As for Robbie… I tried making him less angsty – it's not necessary to the story, and it's getting to the point of diminishing returns…

And, well… you wished for it. Though, I had planned this for a while, so I don't make a habit of accepting requests… I mean, everyone requested Kate live.

There's going to be a couple about a couple of chapters back-to-back from Robbie's perspective – this is purely for terms of plot, and there's not going to be much in terms of his own personal journey here. It's more to relay information to the reader, and he's kind of the only character that I can use for that?

That's not for a while – I need to compensate by focusing on other characters first.

RegaliaAmethyst1313 – Haha, good! Well, in Kenna's form, it says she deals with loss by focusing on taking care of others – something I followed a bit too the letter… I did have a long think about trying to portray her character a hell of a lot more, so… enjoy.

legendsofwoe – Haha, thank you! I'm very glad about this… Let me know what you think!

iamgoku – Haha… yeah… kinda needed to emotionally prepare people for this…

Thank you for being understanding – that's exactly what I was going for, and you summed it up perfectly there – "they are not omnipotent… people will die, and sometimes there's nothing you can do".

Oh yeah… these characters are going to get messed up… my bloodlust isn't quite sated yet – more people need to die… I'll only do it if I can do it well though – I don't want to kill off a character just to kill one off – it has to be because they wouldn't survive in that situation.

WhiteReaper4 – That's alright! And thanks for the congratulations!

Yup… well… Max is only one person.

Warner: Deoxyribonuclease Mutation

Blackwell was different. Worse than when Chloe died – then, it was a freak accident – a tragedy. One we could all feel bad about and say 'these things happen'. Now… with Kate's… with Kate gone… It wasn't an accident. It wasn't like someone fucked up – well, I guess it is. We all fucked up – we didn't make sure she was okay. We had people like Robbie and Nathan and Victoria posting a video of her online. And, most of all, we didn't do anything to help her. Sure, I felt bad for her – the video was funny the first couple of times, but it started to grind on me. It got to the point where I'd be ready to bash in the fucker's skull in the locker room whenever it was brought up.

I mean, the girl was wasted. And she didn't strike me as the type that drank a lot. Maybe that was why… It didn't matter anymore. She was dead. And whether we'd ignored her, made fun of her… we were all responsible.

But some were more responsible than others.

I'd gotten a text to meet Kenna in the Photography classroom – it was the only one free third period. So, I left my RV early, and took my motorcycle to school. It took way too fucking long to get there – with all the bastards and bitches yapping on their phones, checking themselves out in the rear view mirror…

Or maybe I was just pissed off.

I walked into the Photography classroom; Kenna was dressed in a pair of jeans with a cashmere sweater (was it ever anything else?) and a fitted denim jacket, the sleeves pulled up to her elbows. Maggie, dressed in a white blouse with her signature azure cardigan, sat at the table, holding the hand of Octavio, who still chose to wear his fur-lined hoodie, and his faded scarlet snapback. I don't think I'd ever seen him take it off… nor those massive, fuck-off headphones…

"Where's the other freaks?" I dropped my rucksack onto the table opposite them, pulling out a chair to lounge on. It was several moments before Oxy croaked out a response.

"Hailey's getting Robbie… they're coming…"

I sighed, taking out my phone and searching for something to look at – something to occupy myself. Because if I kept just sitting here, I'd break the fucking classroom in half. I stood up, walking over to the wall where a series of photos were hung up. And then I saw it – that class photo. Standing up behind Max Caulfield, was Kate. She wasn't smiling – no-one was, but she looked happier than I'd seen her before. Just goes to show – Blackwell's full of cunts. Sure, there were exceptions, but as I said, we all played a role in Kate's death – whether we intended to or not. I scoffed, taking down the photo and tossing it into the bin – who wanted a reminder of Jefferson, anyway?

"I'm…" I looked over to Maggie, who used her free hand to cover a cough, "I've been going around, giving my e-mail to everyone. I'm writing an obituary for Kate, and I wanted everyone to have an opportunity to say goodbye…" She shrugged – this was probably the first time she'd ever been writing an article and not losing her shit over it. I've got to say, she didn't piss me off like she did with Chloe's obituary.

But she still pissed me off.

"What about the people that pushed her to the brink? Do they get the chance to make up for all the shit they did? Say 'we miss you' and all that shit?"
"Warner…" Kenna shook her head, looking at me with tired eyes. Her voice wasn't even exasperated – she was just exhausted.

"He's right, Kenna," Octavio said – an unfamiliar confidence in his voice, masked by his frustration, "The video barely did anything – it was everyone who watched it that made her life difficult. You think we don't hear people calling us Jesus freaks because we read the Bible?"

"Not everyone did-" Maggie interjected. True – there were a few people that didn't see what was funny about reading the Bible. Sadly, most people our age will make fun of you for doing anything.

"Well, enough people did," I scoffed, "I'm sick of this fucking school…"

"Chloe… Rachel…" Octavio sighed, a distant look on his face, "now Kate-"

"Yeah, we don't need a fucking re-cap bro…" I growled.

Kenna jumped up from the table – her tired eyes now burning strongly as she thundered towards me, rage and fury sizzled off of her.

"We get it Warner," She half-shouted at me, pulling away the chair I'd been resting my leg on, "You're pissed. Guess what – we're all pissed. I dropped out of that stupid Vortex Club because of what they did to Kate!"
"Yeah, but-"

"No, shut up!" She bawled at me, "I was there when she died, and I tried to save her, so you don't get to be angry at me, at Octavio, or at anyone else!"

Her voice rung through the classroom and echoed down the halls. I didn't know where to look – seeing Kenna like this… I almost felt like getting up, grabbing both sides of her head and screaming down her throat how I felt. But she was right. I was just venting – and I was doing it to the wrong people.

"You're right Kenna…" I mumbled, looking down at the floor. I picked up my stare, fixing it on Oxy, who looked even more surprised at Kenna than me, "I'm sorry Oxy… I'm a… I'm a douche."

Oxy nodded. It was that nod that only guys do – like, it says 'we're cool' and 'don't worry about it' and 'I understand exactly what you're going through' and 'I don't know what you're going through, but I'm here for you buddy'. All in an absence of words.

Maggie looked up at Kenna.

"Are you going to tell us why we're here?"

Kenna opened her mouth to respond, but was interrupted before she even began, as my friend entered the room. Alex Harper.

"Sorry, had to make up an excuse to get out of class…" Alex informed us.

"Harper? Yo, what are you doing here?"

Alex looked around at us – he wore his letterman jacket, which fit him perfectly – like, in all those chick flicks with the quarter-back wearing the letterman jacket, which shows off all the muscles and matched his clothes perfectly? Yeah – he was like a walking Abercrombie model. Fucking white bread, but hey, who doesn't love white bread?

"Where are the others?"
"Robbie and Hailey are coming," Kenna said, "Now, what is it? Why are we all here?"
"There's something I need to show you-"

Again, the door opened, and in walked Robbie and a red-eyed Hailey. He was clad in his café racer jacket, with skinny jeans scrunched around his dulled Chelsea boots. His hair was styled in that typical ruffled look – like he was some kind of pop star. He was a walking cliché of a British guy. Hailey, on the other hand, was a great deal shorter than Robbie, dressed in her large, oversized aqua hoodie. She wore a pair of loose, grey track pants over her ratty Nike trainers – you know, the opposite to someone like Kenna or Robbie, who lived in the most exclusive designer brands. Fucking yuppies…

I realised my mistake of thinking around Kenna, as she flashed me a glare.

"Alright, Alex?" Robbie nodded, making his way towards the free table and leaning against it, "What's the golden boy doing here?"

"He's about to tell us. Refused to say anything beforehand," Kenna raised an eyebrow expectedly.

"What, are we doing a super secret candle-lit vigil for Kate?" Robbie asked, bored, as he took out his tobacco to roll a cigarette.

I looked over at him, completely, wholly lost as to how one person could be such a cunt.

"Is that meant to be funny?"
"Am I fucking laughing, Warner?" Robbie asked in the same monotone. I launched up out of my chair, letting it fall over behind me, but as I took a step, Kenna was between us again.

"Warner, sit down- sit down!"

"Did you hear what he just fucking said-"

"We're not going to get anywhere trying to kill- being at each other's throats. Sit. Down!"

I did as she bid, as she turned to Robbie.

"Stop trying to cause trouble."
"I'm not trying to-"
"No, but you are. Now sit down and shut up!" Kenna took a deep breath and let out a growl. "I'm sick and tired of you two – that's the last time I'm getting involved. Jesus…" She shook her head, "I'm not your fucking mother…"

Robbie and I swapped a look – past all the fucking distaste, we were both perplexed – Kenna was usually the cool-headed one. Why was she acting like this? Well, I guess it didn't take a genius to figure out – she felt what everyone felt. And with two deaths in the span of… well, there's a reason Robbie and I stayed quiet.

"Alex? Maybe you should…" Maggie said, her voice fragile and dainty compared to Kenna's outburst.

"Right… yeah…" Alex shook his head, and began to stroke his chin in thought. "Well, in short, I know about you – all of you."

We were all thinking the same thing – I didn't need to be Kenna to figure that out. What did he know? About our powers? If so, how? We all waited in anticipation – unsure of what we would do? Should we just admit it – there's no point in avoiding it if he already knows. But, if he doesn't…

"Know… know what, exactly?" Octavio cleared his throat and failed at sounding innocent.

"Well, Octavio, I know you can speak to machines, I know Maggie can talk to a cat," Alex turned to me, "you can move things with your mind," he pointed at Hailey, "you can teleport," he gestured to Robbie, "You, I'm… well, I'm not too sure…" Robbie clicked his tongue, winking in response with a finger-gun – what a douche, "And I know you can-" Alex turned to Kenna.

"Empathise," Kenna nodded.

"What?"
"It's a long story…" Maggie rubbed her eye.

Alex looked from Maggie to Kenna, then to the rest of us. After a moment, Hailey nodded.

"Yeah… tell me about it."

I couldn't help but grin at this – I'd forgotten she'd only just met us the other day…

"So," Maggie asked hesitantly, "How do you know all this?"
"I… I don't really…" Alex began to thumb his chin again. Kenna's mouth dropped open slightly.

"You can do something too…"

"Jesus… you know, suddenly I don't feel so special anymore…" Robbie rolled his eyes.

"What is it?" Octavio jumped to life, "What is it? What can you do?"
"Well… whatever I write, comes true," Alex reached into his jacket, and produced a small, black moleskin.

I couldn't contain my snicker – and neither could Robbie. However, we quickly shut up after Kenna's glower.

"You can… you predict the future?" Hailey asked in awe.

"Not every time," Alex frowned, opening the notebook, "some of the things don't come true…"
"Oh, so… you're like every other psychic?" Robbie smiled.

"It's not like that. It's like… I can see a future… it's not always the one that comes to pass…"
"Right, well," Robbie stood up, grabbing his bag, "I've heard enough. Thanks for the laugh – I think we all needed it," Robbie started to make his way towards the door, but that was when Alex spoke again.

"That riddle that I told you… at your birthday party?" Robbie turned around. "I wrote that."
"Riddle?" Maggie looked from Alex to Robbie, "What riddle?"
"It's nothing," Robbie shook his head, "something about swallowing… and destruction…"
"The Coastal Town shall be engulfed by itself, Swallowed in an uncontrollable rage, Defended or Destroyed, the Wolf shall not remain…" Alex recited, reading from his notebook.
"See, this is what I meant," Robbie rolled his eyes, "ominous prophecies, vague threats…"
"What does that mean?" Octavio mused, "Arcadia Bay's the 'Coastal Town', right? But is that rage a… metaphor? And what's that 'Wolf' you mentioned?"
"Could be… a reference?" Hailey suggested to him, "I mean… Arcadia Bay is built on Native American land…"
"Well this reminds me of a certain film…" Robbie rolled his eyes with a murmur.

"Usually I can decipher what I write, but this one… this one, I can't."

"You're not exactly helping us here, mate-" Robbie was silenced by Kenna's hand.

"I hate to admit it, but Robbie's right – that's not much to go on…"

"…I stopped writing a couple of days ago. I started drawing instead." Alex passed his notebook to Kenna, who flicked through it. "Just doodles at first, but then I started to recognise what I was drawing…"

She passed it Maggie and Octavio, who mirrored her horrified face.

"That's… that's ridiculous…" Maggie said, as Octavio passed it to Robbie and Hailey. Robbie's face shifted from his unimpressed sneer to utter awe – a look that Hailey reflected, albeit with more shock.

"More ridiculous than you talking to animals like Snow White?" Robbie raised an eyebrow.

"Is that… Arcadia Bay?" Hailey asked in a shaking voice.

Robbie flicked his fingers, jettisoning the book over to me. I caught it with both hands, looking at the pages. They were all drawn in biro and fountain pen, but the resemblances were accurate – I saw Chloe, dead on the floor, as an outline of Nathan held the gun. I turned the page, and saw another drawing – Mr. Jefferson in a jail cell. I flicked through the book, seeing numerous other drawings – a crudely drawn Robbie grabbing the hooded figure (who I recognised as Hailey) in front of a car, a hand outstretched towards the pretty, petite figure of Kate Marsh, who stretched a foot out of the roof…

I turned the final page of drawings.

It was landscape, from the lighthouse. And in the Bay… well, there wasn't a bay. Instead, there was a large, dark pit where the bay used to be. I looked at opposite page, which had the outline of a figure by the lighthouse.

"Who's this?" I asked.

"I don't know… it's hard to… turn it on. And each time, it's something different."

"I don't buy it…" Maggie shook her head, "That could be anywhere."
"Maggie." I stared at her – we all knew where it was.

"Ken-Kenna? You'd be able to know… with your…" Octavio hummed, pointing from his forehead, to Kenna's, to Alex's.

"It's not like that; I don't get to choose what happens."
"Happens?" Hailey squinted her eyes.

"She means that she might hear a thought, feel an emotion…" Robbie explained quickly, "it's a bit of a gamble."
"B-but, it's worth a shot. Isn't it?" Octavio asked. Kenna looked at all of us, and then sighed – she was the only one who would know. Furrowing her brow, Kenna stared at Alex with determination. It was weird… narrow her eyes, the intense expression carved into her face…

It was pretty fucking hilarious, actually.

"Well…" Kenna said eventually, "…it doesn't feel like he's lying."

"Of course, if he knew you were going to read his mind, he might've just pretended to feel like he's not lying…" Maggie suggested.

"Or he's just crazy…" Octavio mused aloud.
"So, basically, that was pointless?" I asked, frustrated – Alex wasn't a liar – I knew him better than anyone here… at least, I thought I did…

"Great job, guys – team effort," Robbie went for the door again, "I'm going to work on my car."

"Well," Hailey turned to Robbie, "You could tell if he's telling the truth…"
"What?"

"Yeah… yeah," I began to snap my fingers at Robbie, "Do your… your touch-copy thing."
"I'm not a fucking puppet, Warner-"

"Look, Robbie," Kenna said, "if there's a threat to Arcadia Bay, isn't it our… our responsibility to do something? I mean…" She turned around to the rest of us for support, "did you ever stop to think that maybe we got these powers for a reason?"
"If you mention a cape, I swear to Christ…"

"Robbie, just…" Hailey shrugged, "just copy his power? Then you can either see what he saw, or you won't. Either way, we'll know."
"Who's to say I'll even see the same thing?"
"Well, it's worth a try, right?" Maggie reasoned.

Robbie sighed. He placed his bag on his table and walked over to Alex. He held out his hand, and Alex waited, holding out his own slowly. Their hands hovered, a fraction of an inch away from each other, creeping towards each other. Until, finally, they clasped each other firmly.

And nothing happened.

Robbie stood there, staring at his hand, confounded.

"Is it… are- are you done, buddy?" Alex asked.

"I don't think so…" Robbie murmured, "I swear, this never happens…"
"Having trouble performing, Robbie?"

"There's usually this warm feeling – a golden glow… let me try again," Robbie pulled his arm away, shaking his hand for a bit before clasping Alex's again. Still, nothing happened.

"M-maybe you should try using the other hand?" Octavio asked.

"Phrasing," I called across.

"How do you usually do it?" Alex asked Robbie.

"I don't know, I usually just kind of touch their skin, and-"

Robbie was interrupted as a brilliant, golden glow shone from underneath their skin, and Robbie's body contorted and stretched out as he faced the ceiling, all his weight on his toes, his eyes rolling back into his head as he let out a low, rumbling groan, drool pooling out of his mouth.

He stayed like that for a full minute, with Kenna moving forwards. I quickly sprang up, wrapping my arms around her and pulling her back – we didn't know what would happen to Robbie or to Kenna if someone intervened.

We waited there for what seemed like an eternity until Robbie finally dropped back onto his feet, stumbling with a groan, coughing violently as if there was water in his lungs.

"Are you okay?"
"I'm… he's…" Robbie coughed again, "he's not…" Robbie grabbed onto one of the tables to steady himself, breathing deeply and wiping the sweat from his forehead – he looked incredibly pale, his eyes wild and hair dripped in sweat. Robbie's breath slowed down, and he stood up straight. "I'm okay…" he sighed, "I'm okay."

Then he collapsed onto the floor.

"Robbie?" Kenna dashed to him, holding his head, "Robbie? Can you hear me?"

Octavio grabbed his phone, and in a second, began talking to 911.

"Hi? Yeah, my friend Robbie passed out… No, no, I don't think he did…"

I darted over to Hailey, who had began to take quick, panicked breaths in the corner, eyes wide like dinner plates. Maggie left, running through the hallways, searching for a teacher. I immediately ran over to help Kenna with Robbie, checking his pulse, putting him into the recovery position (something I'd learnt to keep my dad from choking on his own vomit, growing up).

This time, I was going to do everything that I could.

And… finished at 2:30am. So, 3188 words in 2 and a half hours… I think that's pretty good. Anyway guys, I hope you enjoyed this update. A little more focused on powers… let me know your thoughts on:

The weighting of the characters (Robbie took the centre towards the stage, but that's necessary for plot – I tried very hard not to be biased).

Alex's ability of precognition

What happened to Robbie

The meaning of the prophecy

Any of those pairings – time's running short, so if you've got them, throw 'em on out.