The voice whispering in my head is much crueller than I ever expected it capable, but it is his nonetheless.

‘I can’t believe you told them my secret… now I’ll have to disappear, again!’

Alex is covering his ears when I look up, the disgusting sight of our headteacher just… forcing himself on Rory (though his thoughts claim this is for our sake, and that he’s sure it’s our only chance) enough to make me feel ill. I’m almost glad I can block sounds out when I read minds nowadays — it makes it easier to think.

I ignore Sir’s thoughts about his current actions, and the ones about Rory, but I pay close attention to what he’s thinking about Alex.

The, uh, less gross thoughts, anyway.

Nothing he thinks about Alex is good. A lot of it involves a price, and it seems a high one.

I know we need to move.

But I can’t.

"I can't believe you told them my secret!" Sophie put her hands on her had, wishing this was all a nightmare. "Now I have to disappear. AGAIN!" She was sitting in her office at Nelson College, speaking to a co-worker in the Science department.

"You're exaggerating," Linda said. "I only told one person."

"One person too many!" Sophie snapped.

When Sophie arrived at Nelson College a few years ago, she thought her past was behind her. When she worked at William College, she let her anxiety get the best of her and had a breakdown during one of her classes. She played it off as if nothing was wrong and tried to keep her anxiety was a secret. Until she got to the point where she couldn't even make it to class, but she never let the college know she wasn't doing her job.

It wasn't until the students started to tell their parents about this professor who never showed up that the administration got involved. She was fired and after word got out, no other college would hire her. She tried to start her life over, but nothing was working out for her. And then one day, she applied to work at Nelson College, changing her name on her resume, so the college wouldn't call up William College to find out why she left.

She met Linda on her first day there and the two quickly became friends. Sophie felt same telling Linda the truth, including that her name was Sophie and not Elizabeth as she had everyone on the college believing. She made Linda swear she wouldn't tell anything and now, she felt foolish for believing Linda.

Linda told another co-worker about Sophie's past. How she was fired from her last job because she never showed up and her real name, facts Sophie didn't want people to know. It was only a matter of time before the truth reached the administration and Sophie knew how this was going to end, with her out of a job and no one believing her story.

A loud crash of thunder struck causing our dog to whine. This was the first night my sister was on her mission in Alaska. You see, For generations and generations, My family has been a part of a secret organisation. Havoc. People call us everything like spies, agents, the government, operatives. Except, We are the good guys. Havoc works to save the world. I’ve always dreamed to be a part of Havoc, but I have a prosthetic leg and my mom thinks it’s to dangerous for me. I have a sister and a younger brother. My brother, Kyle, is an agent-in-training. However, Maddy, is a highly trained agent and is on her 2nd mission. My sister is only a few years older than me, as she’s 17 and i’m 15. When you are in training, you are normally between 10-13. My brother’s 11. When you are on a mission, nobody knows anything about you. Alias, Undercover, Off the grid, Basically disappearing. I’ll sure miss Maddy. If your cover gets blown you have to disappear for 2 years. When she was my age, her cover was blown, so she had to go deep undercover. If you can’t tell, I’m a blabber-mouth. My bestie is too, And I tell her everything.. So obviously I told her about Havoc. And obviously she told the gossip girl about it. Suddenly our whole class new, Then it was our whole grade, Then the whole school. Eventually, It was on the tri-state news! I realised I messed up.. I messed up so bad my sister had to be brought home. I was so happy I forgot about what I had done. It came flooding back when the first thing she said to me was “I can’t believe you told them my secret…now I have to disappear, again!”. It felt like she would never forgive me. If she didn’t have one successful mission by the time she was 18, she couldn’t be a part of havoc. I felt so bad. It got so bad, Even my mom wouldn’t talk to me. I just wish I could start this whole life over.

Caution tape everywhere, roads blocked, red and blue lights flashing, police and investigators together trying to discover the mystery,of what? Needle pointed glass everywhere on the rock solid concrete. Droplets coming out, of their sorrowful faces

One school night in January, a little girl named Lilly heard some bad news. Her mom decided that Lily should have some friends over. So, she called Lilly’s friends Aria, Stella, Bella and Ella to come to her house. Once her friends came over, Lilly wanted to play a game so she could avoid telling them what was bothering her. Lily had an idea - she said how about we all play truth or dare? Stella sat next to Lily telling her that Ella can not keep secrets very well. Lily told Ella not to worry and then told Bella that she could go first. Bella chose dare. Her dare was to stay in the dark for 10 minutes. Aria chose truth- the question was have you ever secretly eaten chocolate under your bed? Her answer was no. Stella chose dare. Her dare was to draw a dog in one minute. Ella chose truth— the question was have you ever danced in front of your parents and they laughed. Ella said yes. Then Lilly, she chose truth. Her friends told her to tell them one of her biggest secrets. Lily was scared. This was one of her biggest secrets. Her mom said not to tell anybody.But she did, she said that if anyone was told the secret she would disappear because a which cursed her. The secret was that she was actually a ghost/human.The next day was a school day Lily got ready for school and then her mom told her she had to go on the bus today. Lily was okay with it. So at school she had 20 minutes of class before they had recess, Because Lily came late ,but then Lilly saw Ella telling some other girls Lilly secret. Then, all of the people that she wanted to make friends backed away. They all said to each other Lilly’s a ghost! Lilly’s a ghost! They all screamed and ran. Only her friends who were Aria, Stella and Bella were there for her. From that day onwards Lilly never told her biggest secrets to anyone.

“I can’t believe you told them my secret…now I have to hide, again!”

Didn’t he understand?!

She could slap herself for having made such an error of judgment. She had told him her secret in the vain belief he would have kept it.

Such a foolish action on her part.

She was so tired of running, never setting roots, something her secret and past made quite impossible.

But she had truly believed she could have trusted him with such a secret, the burden of carrying it for so long had become nearly unbearable.

And now he had told them! Everyone now knew!

Which meant only one thing. Running.

She was so tired but she didn’t have any other choice.

She could never face anyone in this village again. Even to so much as step outside would incur their wrath. Or worse, their pity.

She didn’t know which was worse.

“I’m sorry.” He sounded true.

But his apology was of little use now. He had destroyed her trust, not just in him but in very idea that she could ever trust another human being with her secret ever again.

She turned her back to him. She wasn’t angry at him, she was angry at herself.

She had been so stupid. And so in that moment she came up with a plan to leave.

Leaving what had once been a haven to her was hard, but she would do what she had to to survive.

Darkness. She would leave under cover of darkness, save any looks of pity or words of anger.

All she had to do was wait until the sun had dipped below the horizon and everyone had retired to there homes for the night.

Oh she still had a few hours to wait, and she had no doubt those same people were probably waiting for her outside. But she wouldn’t give them the satisfaction.

What would it matter any more anyway. With her secret exposed she was as good as dead anyway.

She turned back to face him calmly.

“Please leave me.” Her voice was calm, steady. She was in control.

His shoulders were slumped and his head was down. He looked like a little boy who had gotten his hand caught in the sweet jar.

A memory she was sure she would remember once she was, once again, on her own.

Just by herself, as was safer. She had mistakenly lowered her guard these last few weeks, and had now paid the price.

Her secret was not his burden to carry, it was simply hers, as it would always be.

Brantley Gibson was a nobody. He was in highschool, But there wasn't a single person that could point him out in a crowd… Which was good. For him. You wouldn't believe the things you hear when no one notices you're there. Just last week he had heard that Haley, the number one student in the school talking to her friend, gabby about Mr. PORTER. Now, Mr. PORTER was new to the school. Fresh out of college and someone all the girls seem to swoon over. haley had told gabby that Mr. PORTER offered her private lessons to help ace her college entrance exam. Brantley thought it was weird considering she was first in line to be valedictorian… Wrecker was in second, but a whole four points behind. Today Haleys demeanor had done a complete 180. She flinch at every locker slam in the hall. gabbywas nowhere to be seen, either. Brantley quickly notice. Haley would be able to hide it from everyone else. But not him. Ever since the sixth grade, he had found great interest in her. He pondered on the fact that maybe he should approach her. Brantley noticed Haley Stephanie and freeze. Brantley followed her almost petrified stare only to see Mr. PORTER making a suspicious beeline straight for Haley. Haley Gant glanced quickly to her left, and then to her right looking to escape. Luckily for her, the "girls restroom" was two paces to the left. haley slipped into the door. Mr. PORTER turned quickly to make it seem like he had forgotten something in his classroom. Brantley decided to take a step back into the shadows to go check on Haley wants to haul noise had subsided. Kids cleared the halls quickly before the bell rang. Brantley waited for the stragglers to get where they were going to be before stepping out of the shadows. He slowly walked over to the door where Haley slipped off into Annnnnaaaa… After a few attempts to gain courage, of course. Hale said quietly "who is it?" And before Brantley could stutter the words "Haley, are you are white?" She cracked open the door and peaked out. "Who are you?" She quietly whispered. Brantley managed to say "hi… Hi… I'm… I'm Brantley." He goes "what do you need." And Brantley says "Haley… I know what Mr. PORTER did." Before Haley can respond, A hand appears on Brantley's scrawny shoulders. He looks over and notices the hairy hand couldn't possibly belong to roger… The hall monitor… Mr. PORTER looks at Brantley and said "Son, I think it's best to head back to class." Shockingly, Brantley takes a step back into the shadows in Mr. PORTER loses him. Directed at Haley Mr. PORTER goes "I can't believe you told him my secret… Now I have to disappear… Again!"

Rynal, struggling to wake, blinked his eyes open catching glimpses of sun beams flooding in through his bedroom window. This was his tenth year, over 3000 days, calling planet Maltick his home and yet the cold air still stung like it was day one. ‘Some things never change’ he thought to himself as he threw the covers back. “Time?” Rynal asks. The clock to his right, resting on his bedside hover shelf, projects green illuminated numbers as a soft feminine voice announces “two twenty-seven p.m.” “Shit!” he exclaims, stumbling out of the sheets eyeing his jeans draped over the end of the bed. He’d let them fall down to his ankles with each step making his way through the hall and into his bedroom just a short five hours before. He was supposed to be meeting Calrue at the Corner Pub and should have been leaving ten minutes ago.

Rynal had spent the last twenty years being an interplanetary liaison, traveling to neighboring planets and galaxies negotiating peaceful resource trading. Last night was coming back to him in bits and pieces as he made his way to the wet room to wash it off. ‘How many Froongals did I have? 7? 8?’ he wondered as he made out his tired reflection in the mirror. He was a handsome man, 6’1, dark brown hair, green eyes, with a youthful yet confident face. ‘However many it took’ he concluded. He had been in deliberations with Resources Commander Delvin Leon, a robust man with thinning hair, and an unwavering love for Froondon, the last five months, traveling, almost weekly, between the two planets. Gaining Mr. Leon and his beloved planet as a resource ally came with a great sense of accomplishment and a sigh of relief.

Froondon’s positioning to the galaxy’s Sun Star gifted the planet specialized heat producing crystals, dubbed Heliohex crystals. They’re marked for their rapid growth and regeneration as well as their ability to produce and maintain heat. A recent discovery on Froondon had uncovered a wealthy supply and Rynal had secured a five year trade agreement for these crystals.

“Shower, on. Water temperature: 2 notches down,” he said to the empty air as he turned a 180. The water began pouring down and the sliding door to the wet stall opened. He reached his hand into the rainfall testing the temperature. He hoped the cold shower would reset his body but mostly his mind. The nightmares had started coming again and had even made their way through the 8? 7? Froongals from last night.

One scoop electrolytes.

One scoop All-heal Lite.

8 oz of water.

Hesitating slightly at the smell, Rynal chugged the concoction citing to himself “Another one down.” After years of long nights of hosting and interplanetary travel he had come to rely on this old healing drink, first discovered and used by the last known peoples from planet Earth. By looks alone, one would think he was consuming a refreshing hydrating glass of water, but the smell took on a life of its own. “Like fermented wheat and rotting nut cheese.” He noted the familiar smell and after-taste as he placed his cup into the rinser and started out the door.

Rynal rubbed his hands together vigorously cupping his face to trap the heat for a moment before the cold invaded again. “Message Calrue:” he said to his bodily comms. System. “Hey buddy, running a little late. Delvin had me going one for one with the Froongals and I touched down a little later than expected. Save me some Malshots.” As he strolled on toward the pub, taking in the familiar sights, smells, and sounds of the town, he felt the hairs on the back of his neck and tops of his ears stand. Something about the air was eerie. He checked his messages. Nothing from Calrue yet. ‘He’s probably tanked already’ Rynal thought.

Calrue, a shorter than average but nonetheless striking man, was Rynal’s best friend and his first upon coming to Maltick. They met in an old Pub, now a Nitro-bean café, called “Smitty’s.” Upon entering the pub for the first time, Rynal eyed an empty stool at the bar between Calrue and a slumped over heap of brown jacket, stained pants, and half-tied dirty boots. “Regis never did know when enough was enough,“ laughed Calrue as he took another sip from his mug. “Name’s Calrue. Let me buy you a strong one.”

Calrue was what they used to call a blue-collar man. He repaired, maintained, and formatted Auto-borgs as a contract worker. The hands on work came easy to him; tinkering was in his nature. Being a contract worker gave him the freedom to enjoy his favorite hobbies: gardening and drinking at the pub. That day at Smitty’s started a multi-decade long friendship between the two. Rynal hadn’t been able to trust someone enough to call “friend” in ages, but Calrue was different. Honest, loyal, and giving. He was refreshing for Rynal.

‘Should have brought him an elixir’ Rynal thought as he checked his messages again. He was growing more and more suspicious of Calrue’s silence. The Corner Pub was in his sights, he stood only about twenty yards from its entrance, and he could hear unfamiliar voices from inside. This time of the day was chiseled out for locals almost exclusively. Rynal felt his blood begin to warm his cheeks as red flooded up from his chest and into his neck and face. ‘It can’t be. Can it?’

His mind was racing frantically with old memories as he approached the pub doors and extended his hand toward the Scan-Wave. The system checked his finger and thermal prints, verifying his age and financial standing before allowing him to enter. He swallowed down a hard lump in the back of his throat, thinking of all the possibilities awaiting him. Just then the doors opened to reveal to him the locals he had been expecting, surrounding a table of three men he’d not been expecting but that his intuition had told him were there. Bounty hunters. They were dressed in protective body armor suits, carried beam guns at their hips, and the man, whose unfamiliar voice he heard regaling his friends with tales of the lost evil planet of Earth, donned an arm patch signifying his Special Ops Commander status. The Special Ops team was dedicated to finding one man. The one man with the biggest bounty on his head in all known accessible galaxies; the lost leader of the Old Earth.

The planet Earth, or Old Earth, was once a beautiful world with changing seasons and thriving life. It was one of the first planets to participate in interplanetary resource trading and some considered it the pioneer planet for resource discovery. Earth and it’s then planetary ruler, Bartron Wheaton III, aided in the discovery of new resources from abandoned uninhabited planets, resources that improved upon the planet’s seemingly unstoppable global warming issue. Bartron was an environmentalist and truly loved his planet Earth, but he was still human. Lingering in the depths of his mind were harbored thoughts of mortality and greed that drove him to reveal the darkest parts of the human being. One afternoon his Interplanetary Resource Discovery and Recovery team came to him with one of their greatest findings. They had gone to a planet at the edge of the galaxy, one that they had almost overlooked when first mapping out their Discovery route. Planet Z4, later renamed “Giovane” for its magnificent and dangerous resource, the brown youth stone. Upon the team’s arrival on Planet Z4, their elemental radars directed them to a grouping of trees surrounded by a wall of brown stone. Once back on Earth, the team of scientists studied their stone samples for months running tests and experiments before learning its true power as an anti-aging serum. Bartron, eager to have us much time as he could to save other planets and life, as he had begun saving Earth, bathed with the stone letting its elements wash over him.

Eventually Bartron lost sight of his passion and succumbed to his greed. The absence of aging changed his perspective on life and how to live it. He no longer cared about bettering the planet for everyone, he only cared about finding more resources as powerful and magnificent as the brown youth stone. His neglect for the planet and its future well-being caused a revolt from Old Earth’s people. A planetary war broke out bringing Earth to its demise by their hands. Historical records conclude that about ten thousand people. a fractional percentage of the entire human population on Earth at that time, made it out safely to live out their lives on neighboring planets. Though the brown youth stone had stopped Bartron from aging, it did not shield him from the atomic destruction of planet Old Earth.

Over the decades there had been claimed sightings of Bartron and some believe him to be living on, undetected, though nobody has ever been able to say with certainty.

Rynal made eyes with Calrue who didn’t appear drunk off his socks from Malshots like he’d been expecting to find him. He had an expression Rynal didn’t recognize on his friend. He looked guilty. As he made his way over toward the table of men he knew he was facing betrayal; Calrue was the only living person who knew his secret. Rynal understood why he’d done it, but it still felt like a knife to his back. Calrue’s stature put him at a physical disadvantage to these trained hunters, but his financial hardship left him with no choice. The promise of a life of unlimited wealth was too much for any human to pass up. Rynal readied his hand over his left hip preparing to engage his hyrbid armor suit.

Just then the Head Hunter, eyeing Rynal, said through a sideways smirk, “Give it up. We know it’s you, Bartron.”

Rynal, rushing with adrenaline, turned to his friend to say, “I can’t believe you told them my secret, Calrue. Now I have to disappear, again!” He dug his hands into his hip letting his armor engulf him and turned to a sprint toward the pub doors. ‘Some place warmer this time’ he thought ‘definitely someplace warmer.’

We both stared at each other for an unbearable amount of time. Her eyes locked with mine. My eyes locked with hers. She had her arms crossed, suggesting a feeling of anger. I had my wall up. I wasn’t ready to fight, but she suggested it.

“Why did you tell them?”

I replied, “I thought that if they knew, they’d stop being so mean to you.”

“No! Not at all! It’d only fuel their anger more! It fuels them like a gas station fills a car.”

“I’m sorry.”

“No you’re not. I can’t trust you anymore!”

She takes out a sword and points it at me.

“I can’t believe you told them my secret!”

“I didn’t know, I’m really sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry now.”

“I’ll have to disappear again!”

She then points the sword at her neck.

Blu paced up and down from one end of the room to the other, his wide hooved feet leaving indents in the plush carpets as he moved.

He was running his hands through his hair nervously, the fury on his face only multiplying the more he considered the situation in his head.

Fabian slinked further beneath his sheets, pulling the blue and red captain America blanket over his face so only his eyes peered though.

Fabian had never seen Blu this angry, not once in all the time he had been friends with him.

Blu’s lower half was covered in dark chestnut fur with two matching hooves, his upper half was completely human, still covered in that bright blue jumper he never seemed to get rid of. His appearance often looked goofy and fantastical, but today the clobbering clank of his hooves and his muscular shoulders made him look animalistic and wild.

“Silly, silly, boy…..never trust a human….”, Blu mumbled, his fingers now moving from his hair to lace through each other in a knot in front of him.

Fabian cleared his throat and pulled his head out from beneath the covers, still wary of addressing his friend he cleared his throat.

“I’m sorry Blu. I thought…..I thought I was helping”, Fabian whispered softly, tears threatening to fall down his cheeks. The bedroom light was off with only the superhero nightlight in the corner of the room casting a glow around Blu. The unlit room made Blu shadows look long and stretched out, scary and intimidating when paired with his bitter mood.

Blu stopped his pacing and cast his stormy grey eyes down at Fabian. Though his face was somewhat obscured by the light from the nightlight, his features looked dark and menacing, so unlike the Blu Fabian called his friend. Fabian vaguely remembered Blu once telling him about the truth of who he was, why he was only part human. Blu had called himself a monster, something born from the real and the unreal. At the time, Fabian had laughed it off. How could Blue had called himself a monster? He had thought, Blue was always the kindest and softest friend Fabian had ever had. In fact, he was his only friend. Blu was the only person in Fabian’s entire life that was filling go sit and draw with Fabian for hours, play his favourite games, and watch superhero movies with him on weekends. But now, with that anger morphing his features, Fabian could see those monstrous parts of Blu fighting to come out.

“You thought telling your parents about us would help? Look what you’ve done. Now they want to take you to a therapist, Fabian. A therapist!”, Blus voice rose with each word he spoke, his melodious voice curdled with that new nasty emotion that pulled at his face.

Fabian trembled, his fear coming in waves as he watched his best friend transform right in front of his eyes. Fabian hadn’t meant for anything bad to happen when he had told his parents about Blu, but they took it all the wrong way. They had looked terrified and worried, their voices pinched with anxiety and nerves. Fabian didn’t understand why, but they kept questioning him about Blu. What did he look like? What did he want? Was he good or bad?

It had scared Fabian and he had burst into tears, pointing at Blu who sat on the living room couch watching the scene unfold. His parents looked to where Blu sat, whispered something to each other, and told Fabian about this Dr Larkey he would be seeing next week.

“Y-you said you were deal-dealing with problems I wouldn’t understand, g-grown up prob-problems. I thought my parents could h-help”, Fabian hiccuped, the tears finally spilling down his cheeks in rivers.

Blu looked at him, his expression softening for only a fraction of a second before it turned cold again.

“I can’t believe you told them our secret…..now I have to disappear, again!”, he bellowed his hands in fists at his sides.

By now Fabian was full out crying, his breathing ragged and scared.

He opened his mouth to say something, but his bedroom door flung open and the switch was turned on, sending a blinding beam of light through the room. Fabian blinked several times and once his eyes adjusted, he saw that his mother stood in the doorway in her pink robe as sleepy eyes.

When she saw Fabian’s crying face her eyes widened in alarm and she rushed to his side.

She caught his face in her hands and smoothed her thumb over his cheeks.

“Fabian, honey. What’s wrong? Why are you crying”, she asked frantically, her eyes searching his face and body.

Fabian tried to swallow past the lump in his throat but found it difficult to speak.

“B-Blu….he…”, Fabian mumbled, glancing around the room for his half human friend. But he found that Blu was gone, vaporized into thin air the moment the light had been switched on. The familiar dark jacket that Blu always left handing on Fabian’s chair was also missing, as was the strange hoof like shoes he left beside the table. More tears sprung to Fabian’s eyes until he was gasping for breath, grief and sadness bubbling out of him.

Blu was gone, all his things whizzed off along with him.

As he cried in his mothers arms she cradled him back and forth, cooing gently words in his ear. Though she was trying to calm him, Fabian found the words she was saying anything but calming:

“It’s going to be okay, Fabian. This creature you keep seeing- he’s not real. Its all imaginary, non of it is real. I’ll call Dr Larkey tomorrow and get you an earlier appointment. Don’t worry honey, you’ll never see that monster monster again”.

Though he couldn’t speak through his tears, Fabian shook his head. That’s what he was afraid of, that he’d never see Blu again and maybe he really was the monster both him and everyone thought he was.