About thirty minutes ago.

"How 'bout we split up?" Eli suggested.

"Alright, who with whom?" Quinn answered.

Aegon replied almost immediately, "Me and Mira. You and Eli."

His directness made them pause for a second before they continued. They nodded lightly in response as they went in opposite directions.

Quinn looked over her shoulder at Aegon and Mira's fleeting figures with a clenched fist.

She immediately whipped her head back straight to see Eli smirking at her. "What are you laughing at?"

"Nothing," he said but continued to smile. "Just watching you. And Aegon. And Mira. And Cara. And now even Claire."

She unconsciously grabbed him by the arm. "You talking about the rich girl we went to her party?"

He was startled by the abruptness of her hold, but his smile quickly returned. His eyes trailed down from her arm to her eyes. "Guessing you wanna join the crew."

She immediately let go of his chair and moved forward. "As if."

He followed close behind her. "You say that now, but you seem to always be in his orbit."

She ignored him and proceeded forward.

"You don't know what I'm talking about?" He arched a brow.

"You guys sat together at orientation. You guys somehow still ended up in the same dorm. You guys found Micheal, the number one Novus. You guys got called by Miss Therin together and now—"

He gestured around the corridor. "—you guys have me breaking into school together."

Cara's voice broke up the conversation.

[ Guys, I finally got into the speakers, but I'm gonna need a minute to get into the cameras. ]

They continued down in silence until they finally reached what seemed to be a vault door.

They moved closer to examine it. Quinn took hold of the vault's handle just as Eli looked at her with wide eyes. "What are you doing?"

"We came here to find shit out." She narrowed her eyes. "This is how we find shit out."

"I really don't recommend breaking into the school's vault out of curiosity."

The light suddenly went out, engulfing everything in a quiet darkness.

Cara spoke again through the speakers.

[ Sorry. I think the system is trying to shut me out. Hold tight, I'll get it working in a few minutes. ]

Quinn sighed. "Does that girl even know how to do anything right?"

"Am I sensing a hint of jealousy?"

Eli smirked as he leaned against the adjacent wall.

[ Alright. I got the emergency power on. ]

She said just as a dull red light lit up the halls, bathing them from all angles.

Quinn faced the vault door again, hands on the locking mechanism and ear placed against the vault's heart.

"Like you know how to pick a lock," he said sarcastically. "Where would you even learn that?"

"Just because I'm Spectra's daughter doesn't mean I didn't have my fair share of a shitty childhood." She said with her face smudged against the door. "You see, while you were playing with friends, I was learning how to fight, endure pain and... well, crack vaults."

~BAM~

She stopped and turned as they suddenly heard a loud sound far off. "We should go check that."

"Nahh," Eli said, already taking a step forward. "I'll go. You open the door."

He moved forward. Though it was hard to see in the red light, he made do until he saw them.

Aegon and Mira, sprinting towards him like their lives depended on it. "Fuckin' run!!" Aegon yelled just before they got to him.

He turned on his heels and followed them, stealing occasional glances over his shoulder until he finally saw him.

Completely bare with his cock hanging out, body so big he practically took up the corridor, scar on his chest that should've been fatal—blood still pooled from it, but he didn't stop.

Eli froze; fear had officially taken over. He locked eyes with Extraordinary—eyes that held so much pain and anger it was suffocating.

"BRING. ME. NIGHTWALKER,"

he said as he approached Eli.

"Oh shit." Eli stared blankly. Realization slapped him that this was how he was going to die.

That was until Aegon came back for him. Hands out as fire erupted from his fingertips, momentarily stopping the beast.

Aegon dragged him by the hand. "Come on. Come on. Come on, man." Stumbling a second before running with him.

The squeaks of sneakers and the stench of burnt skin filled the corridor as they barreled forward.

"Where's Quinn?" Aegon said, but Eli was still too engulfed in Extraordinary—how his skin healed faster than any awakened he'd seen before.

Aegon grabbed him by the neck and forced his head straight. "Don't look at him. Look at me. Where's Quinn?"

He kept running, but his soul had left his body. He opened his mouth, but words scrambled in his head. In the end, all he could do was point a finger in Quinn's direction.

They finally reached her just in time.

"What's going on?" Quinn pulled herself away from the vault door and faced them—out of breath, sweaty and constantly looking over their shoulders.

"There's something coming after us," Aegon managed to say as he gasped for air. "How long would it take you to open up that va—"

Extraordinary's growl made them all turn in its direction. He wasn't here yet, but he was close.

"What the hell is that?" Quinn said, taking a step forward.

"No." Mira pulled her back, gesturing to the vault. "The fucking vault first."

"Excuse you?"

Quinn hissed.

"We don't have time for this!" Aegon stepped between them. He took Quinn's hand into his and locked eyes with her. "Can you get the vault open?"

She averted her gaze from his. "About a minute."

He turned to Mira. "Can we buy her a minute?"

"I don't think we have a choice." Mira swallowed hard. "Might as well go out with a bang."

They nodded once at one another before stepping forward. Mira glanced back at Eli. "He's not gonna help us?"

"I don't think he can right now." He lowered his stance, fingers wiggling at his sides for instant attack, a quick haze already forming around them.

Extraordinary finally came into view.

They fired. Flames and ice erupted from their palms.

But all it did was slow him down. Extraordinary raised a hand to shield his face from their attack as he marched on.

Each step pushed them further and further back. He wasn't stopping, and they couldn't keep this up.

Just as their palms gave in—

~BAM!~

Eli lunged forward with a staggering uppercut.

His muscles bulged bigger, his eyes pink slit, and twin horns jutted from his forehead.

The punch wasn't enough to fell Extraordinary, just enough to piss him off.

He soon regained balance and let out a blaring scream. "GRRRHH!"

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