How can I get you to believe me, Dad??! It was all Charlie’s fault, no matter what she says!! She was the one that took my binoculars AGAIN, she was the one who did exactly what I told her not to AGAIN.

Okay, so, yes, I could have put the binoculars in my bag and not left them on the seat in front of Charlie, but I wanted her to have to look at what she did. She broke my one physical connection to you. That’s unforgivable. I refuse to forgive her even if she get down on her knees and begs.

“Hand it over, now!”

I stared at the man before me, the man I thought I knew. In my hand I held a journal. It had been bound, but the lock was easy to break. I broke it earlier, and read through his journal, the one he had been keeping for years. Ever since we met, he wrote in it each night. And I thought he’d be writing about how much he loved me and our time together. But I found . . .

“You’re seeing other men!”

He nodded. “Can you blame me? Look at you! A psycho. And this just proves it!”

Deflecting. Gaslighting. I had let it pass before but now I saw him for what he was. I needed to let him go. Like his journaling, it would be my self-care.

This scene replays as I stare at myself in the mirror, decades later. I can still see the image of me then, young. I can see him too, but he had never had the chance to age. I almost wonder what he would have looked like.

EXT. ABANDONED WAREHOUSE - NIGHT

The warehouse stands alone in the dark, with only the moonlight peeking through the broken windows.

JACK yelling Hand it over now! Jack, a rugged and determined man, stands in front of a group of people. His eyes are fixed on a young man, who is clearly terrified.

YOUNG MAN I-I don't have it anymore. I swear. The young man holds his hands up in surrender, but Jack is not convinced.

JACK Don't lie to me. We both know what you did. The tension in the air is thick. The other people watch on, unsure of what to do.

JACK You had one job, and you messed it up. Now, hand it over before I have to make you. The young man's eyes dart around, looking for an escape. But Jack and his group have him surrounded.

YOUNG MAN Please, I-I can fix this. Just give me one more chance.

JACK No more chances. You knew what was at stake. Jack takes a step forward, his hand reaching for something in his pocket.

JACK Now, hand it over. Or things are going to get ugly. The young man's face pales as he realizes Jack means business. He slowly reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small object, handing it over to Jack. Jack looks at the object in his hand, disappointment written all over his face.

JACK You're out of the game. Don't let me catch you here again. Jack and his group leave, leaving the young man alone and defeated in the abandoned warehouse.

YOUNG MAN (to himself)

What have I done?

“Hand it over, now!” “What does this achieve?” “A life of living” “A life where you leave”

“So what if I leave? Why do you care?” “I care about you” “Something I do not share”

“We’ve never been liars” “We lie to ourselves” “Better than hating” “Hatred is our wealth”

“I will not hand it over” “What does this prove?” “That we can still fight” “We always fight to lose”

“But that can change, Resist a little longer” “What if I can’t?” “We will and be stronger”

“I’m tired of being strong” “Like you, as am I” “But if you let it go-“ “We continue til we die”

“So we simply suffer, Battle with ourselves?” “It is better like this, Than hurting our girl”

Aurelius said nothing as he looked into the pretty face.

Behind him, Yulio came up the steps with a gag and rope.

"How could it be you? What happened?" Aurelius cried.

"I need you to learn that leaving. Has. Consequences. Yulio, mind doing the honors?" the woman asked.

"Gladly." Yulio laughed.

Aurelius spun around too slowly and Yulio quickly had the gag and ropes on him. Aurelius grunted and fell to the ground on his knees.

"I..." Aurelius's plea was silenced.

Yulio kicked Aurelius down more. He winced as he skided across the floor.

The woman walked off the platform and went toward Aurelius. She stopped before him. "Pity it had to end this way. To the room, Yulio."

Yulio grabbed Aurelius's ropes and dragged him after the woman. Aurelius struggled to keep his eyes open.

When they reached the room, Yulio tossed Aurelius in a chair and tightening the ropes and removing the gag.

The woman sat in the desk before him. "So, hand it over, and this all will end."

Aurelius straightened. "I will not give it to you."

She sighed. "If this is how it must be." she signaled for Yulio.

"Because I don't have it." Aurelius finished.

The woman stopped Yulio. "What do you mean you don't have it? You always used to have it on you!" she stopped herself. "Oh shit."

Aurelius widened his eyes. "A-Aubrey? Are you serious?"

"Ugh, fine." Aubrey took her hood down.

Aurelius looked away.

"Uh, Aurelius, who is that?" Aubrey asked.

Aurelius turned his head around and looked up. Cosmia stared down at them with narrowed burning white eyes.

Her voice was booming as she spoke. "I don't know what's happening, but I do know it's because I'm angry."

Aurelius sighed and turned back to Aubrey. "I gave it to her in a necklace."

"You what?!" Aubrey shouted, looking up at Cosmia. "Yulio, get her! What are you doing?"

Yulio stopped eating his doughnut and put it on Aubrey's desk. He ran for Cosmia.

Aurelius just smiled. "You're never going to get it, Bry."

Aubrey growled. "Of course I will."

Behind Aurelius, Cosmia accidentally shot Yulio with bright beam from her hand. She smiled and laughed after, realizing her true power.

Aubrey sat stunned in her chair. Cosmia came down and stood by Aurelius.

Aubrey laughed nervously. "Can we...talk this out?"

"Not a chance." Cosmia removed the ropes from Aurelius and tied them tightly around her.

Aubrey whimpered.

Aurelius got up and took Cosmia's hands. Her eyes and body returned to normal.

"I was going to save this for our next time alone, but, now that we're both here, I might as well use it." Aurelius slowly took a box out of his back pocket.

"Have you had that in there the whole time?!" Aubrey shouted.

Aurelius turned his head to her. "What do you think?"

Aubrey grumbled.

Aurelius turned back to Cosmia and really slowly got down.

"OMG OMG OMG, Aurelius you don't even have to ask!" Cosmia exclaimed.

Aurelius laughed once and got back up. "Dear sweet Cosmia, will you marry me?"

Tears started running down Cosmia's face. "The answer will forever be yes."

Aurelius smiled. He leaned down to kiss her and she returned it.

"And what is that?" Yulio grunted.

Aurelius ignored him. "Cosmia. Please, stay here. Come on, Yulio, we have to go to the museum."

Cosmia shivered on the couch as they left. Yulio headed straight for the car. Aurelius lingered by the front door.

"Comin'?" Yulio stopped with the passenger door open.

"Yeah yeah." Aurelius slowly made his way to the car. "I'm just worried I Cosmia feels I'm ignoring her for work. And I'm worried too." he slipped into the driver seat.

Yulio closed the passenger door behind him. "Cosmia is a strong woman. I'm sure she understands why you have to always leave for work."

"You're right." Aurelius sighed. He backed the car out of the driveway and drove down the road.

Once they arrived at the museum and got out of the car, Aurelius rushed up the steps and through the large wooden doors.

The entire space was empty. Suddenly, a figure dressed in black stepped out from a back door with two others beside them.

"Who are you?" Aurelius called out.

The figure put her hood down and revealed her face. "So glad you could play my game, Aurelius."

“Hand it over, now!” Cassius froze. He’d been alive long enough to know that those words were rarely good. He edged closer to the wall, peering around the corner. Three guards loomed over a slim figure in the loose clothing of a non-Rider. She was clutching something to her chest—a book, he thought. She couldn’t be more than twelve years old. The girl glared up at them. “No.” “Um—no?” The guard seemed baffled. “Give us the book, girl.” “No,” she repeated. “Girl, I’m warning you, you’d better hand us that book right now, or—” She moved so abruptly that it took a moment for Cassius’s brain to catch up. One moment she was standing stock-still, glaring at them. The next, she was diving forward, sliding between the guard’s legs and scrambling to her feet, then running, running, running, a blur of motion down the semi-crowded corridor. “Get her!” The guard shouted, and all three gave chase, yelling for bystanders to get out of the way. Cassius stared. In his five years living here, he’d not seen anything like that. It was the sort of thing he’d seen all the time in the streets back home, although it was usually food thieves running from shop-owners, rather than book thieves running from Dragonguard. “Hey,” someone whispered behind him. He whirled around, looking back and forth in bewilderment. “Look down,” the voice said again. He did, and found a cat staring up at him, wide golden eyes seeming to look right into his soul. “Oh, sorry,” the cat said, and a moment later turned into the book-thief girl, squatting on her haunches and staring up at him through the same golden eyes. “You’re really tall,” she commented. “What—how—” “Never mind that now. You seem like a nice person who knows things. Do you know how to get to the Dragonring?” “Do I—yes, I know how to get there.” She leapt up, bouncing with childish energy that made her seem either half her age or at least a decade older. “Great, then you can take me! Come on, come on, we need to get going!” He shook his head, trying to clear the fog. “No, no, no. I have to get to work right now.” She stopped, tilting her head. Disappointment saturated every bit of her, with underpinnings of hopelessness. “You . . . Can’t help me?” He sighed. “Not right now. How about I take you when I get off work this evening, seventh hour past noon.” “Oh, fine. I’ll find you then.” Her form shimmered strangely, and then the girl was gone. In her place was a little bird with golden eyes who hopped once, then took off in a slight puff of air and was gone. Cassius gazed after the creature, feeling like he’d been hit in the head. He’d felt like this before—the first time, it was dragons. The second time, it was Quinn Meredith. “What just happened?” He muttered to himself, running a hand through his hair. “Did I . . . Those eyes . . .” He would be late to work that day.

“Hand it over, now!” He hollered, the expression from his face changing into a more sinister look. “I didn’t want it to come to this, so please, before you get hurt.” I gawked with broken eyes, confused and surprised by this news, holding the ring tight in my hand. “W-w-what? But, why?” I questioned. He sighed and glanced downwards before looking back up pointing a gun at my head. Terror filled my eyes, as I inspected the gun right in front of my face. “I didn’t want to have to do it this way, but-“ “You don’t! Please, just explain to me!” I cried as tears fell down my cheeks. He stared me dead in the eyes slowly changing his expression due to my emotional reaction. He tightened his face up and shook the gun before pulling it away and down by his side. “Fine,” he answered with an annoyed expression. “I’m jealous that you’re engaged to Matt and not…” he glanced away, and breathed in through his teeth. “Me.” He gazed up at me, his eyes sparkling. I wiped the tears from my eyes. “Is that true?” I asked intrigued by the surprising answer he gave.
“Yes,” he replied. “But why do you want my ring?” I wondered. He brought the gun right back up to my face again giving the sinister look as before. “Because it’s expensive. It’s the same reason as to why anyone would want it really,” he explained not showing anymore mercy. “So again, hand it over, or things are gonna get ugly.” “No! Please don’t do this Jonas!” I sobbed, begging for pity. I couldn’t let him have the ring. The diamond ring that Matt gave me was special, and I couldn’t just let him take it and get away. “Amelia, I’m sorry,” he clicked the gun preparing to fire it. I closed my eyes and turned away, but not before he shot the gun.

“Hand it over now!” The man wearing the cloak said.

The girl looked fearfully into his eyes. They looked red. A slight shudder went over her. He is the demon. He was the one her grandfather warned her about. But why now? Why here?

“N-no!” I yelled, looking down at the amulet around my neck, touching it softly.

The man walked closer, picking her up by the collar of her blouse. “Oh, you’ll regret that.” He growled.

The demon tied her up and stole her amulet. Afterwards, he threw her off the boat into the deep, blue sea.

“Hand it over, now!”

The toddler looked back at his mom with daring defiance and then dropped her phone into a full bath tub. The phone bobbed at the bottom of that tub for a long while. She had to catch the kid and anyways could the phone get more wet?

The naked little boy had tore past his mother while she registered what had just happened, a true opportunist at work. He had rounded the corner before she herself got up in pursuit. Is she hadn’t been so mad the image of his cut little butt juggling as he fled would have been one she had giggled at and loved.

Exploding through the threshold between the hallway and kitchen she immediately couldn’t find the little troublemaker. Her scanning was suddenly interrupted by a familiar voice. “Babe, you aren’t looking for this are you?”

His dad was holding him upside down by one leg in the threshold of back door, almost triumphantly like he was a trophy fish he’d just caught. The little boy knew he was not match for his dad. Accepting defeat he dangled playing dead as if that would get him out of trouble. The absurdity of the situation finally caught up to her and she began to laugh hysterically.

Gathering her composure she gathered the little boy up and called for her husband to tag along, “I’m going to need some reinforcement with this little terrorist. And possibly a new phone…” He bust into laughter, “he got your phone again didn’t he?”