ARCANE

029

Hope slowly creaks out of bed. Her father is asleep, thankfully. She feels the electricity inside her pulsing, even though the hospital has gone dark. It's not a power outage, because the back-up generators aren't on.

Only bothering with a glance around the room, Hope moves quickly. She grabs her journal and throws on her pants. There isn't enough time to put her shirt on, let alone find it, so she darts out in her hospital gown. The signs in the hospital are confusing, especially since her father has never let her inside one before. Eventually, she manages to slip out of the hospital.

Somehow, she knows where she is going.

~~~

It takes Percy a second to bounce up from the ground. Jeffrey Tai catches Lee's body, tossing her aside to the ground. Quickly, Percy grabs Emily Hsiao by the small of her wrist, peeking out beneath the glove.

Emily Hsiao begins to glow. Percy feels the hair on her arms stands on end. A buzz runs into her heart and her eyes flash luminescent turquoise. She sees a moment in a plaza made in the middle of the night when another ball of lightning comes to the ground, where she is surrounded by a dozen people. Then, Hope in the club, shoving her down. Hades dead on the floor. Hope in the hospital, and when touched, Hope jolts awake. Lee's arm, grabbed and glowing, with Percy's own body lying on the ground in the background.

For the first time in a long time, Percy feels warm.

She jolts her arm away. Her eyes scan the empty park. Jeffrey Hsiao is beginning to peel himself off the ground. Percy runs and grabs Lee's guitar case. She smashes it into his head, knocking him backwards. His head hits the ground, his sunglasses smashed. The glass staps into his skin, bleeding. It begins to heal, but slowly. Percy smashes him in the head once more, until his skull begins to splinter into different pieces. Hopefully that will keep him asleep for a while.

Her eyes dart over to Emily Hsiao. She still hasn't moved, her eyes still open in shock.

Then, Percy looks over at Lee, who lies on the ground.

Percy darts over and begins to shake her. Lee isn't getting up, but there is no injury on her. She tries to listen for a heartbeat, but there isn't a pulse. Pulses are hard to find, she remembers.

When Percy checks her own neck for a pulse, she finds one. She can feel her heart pounding, and thankfully she can find its traces in her body. The sound reaches her ears, drowning out everything out. Percy curls her knees into a ball.

~~~

Slowly, Erik pulls himself off of the ground. His Dad lies on the floor. Panting, his Dad is able to pull himself into a standing position, blood spilling out of his lips. When the man pulls out the knife, red liquid floods the floor. The man raises the knife and lunges at Erik.

Erik ducks out of the way. He pulls himself up on to the counter and grabs another knife. His Dad begins to stumble over. Erik grabs a plate out of the sink and whips it. It connects with the man's stomach, knocking him off his feet. Erik takes the opportunity to jump on his Dad and stab him again.

Outside, June's head is groggy. Her arms struggle as she picks herself up off the concrete. On her fall down she ripped open her nice black dress pants, but those don't matter. The street lights have gone out, leaving her in the dark. It's perfect that she is at Erik's now because that means they can go to the place her stomach pulls her together. She walks up to the door and knocks. Nobody answers. She can hear a crash inside, so she tries the door handle and rushes in.