Adventures of an Employed Planeswalker

(Matt's PoV)

It's Friday today, and I'm here at Haven Hills waiting for the boys.

While I wait, I've been testing the telekinetic string theory with leaves around here.

Strings are not the only thing I can do; lines with sticky ends, hands of any size, tentacles, spider legs. Whatever I can imagine and picture happening is reproduced. The way they all interact with objects is different as well.

I even tried making the spider legs pointy and tried to puncture some leaves, but I think I need further visualization first. Maybe at some point, I'll be able to make sharp blades?

Onto other powers, I've trained my emotional aura to work passively. It wasn't that hard; whenever I say or do something to someone, I know what I want them to feel and now my power responds to that on its own.

My physical Aura grew, though I've been neglecting it. I now keep it active whenever I can, since with Natural Harmony, I got through that block that didn't allow me to keep it under my skin. The only thing that denotes my usage of Aura now is the faint glow in my eyes and even that is controllable. While idling, the Aura lasts for 12 hours straight, mainly due to my great control over its energy expenditure.

I'm still working on the Semblance, but I don't know what it is or how to do it, so no clue there.

I'm introducing Observation Haki into my telekinesis training. For now, I can't feel anything, since what I control doesn't have any auras to feel. Still, I'm banking on the possibility of fusing it with Extrasense and maybe Paranoia.

My goal is something I read a long time ago: Seikuken.

That's a technique in a martial arts manga, History's Strongest Disciple, that works like a sphere in which you have 'absolute' defensive and offensive capabilities. I aim to make a Sphere of Influence (Yes, inspired by what Amanda said), that I can 'see' and feel through, making it easier to control whatever is in it, since that is the only 'weakness': the need to know where the thing I want to manipulate is. The fact it would make for easier attack and defense within said Sphere is a great bonus.

'Thinking about it now, it sounds a lot like Ultra Instinct, doesn't it...' I hear some voices nearby.

I extend my Haki, easily recognizing the auras of Steve, Matthew, and Andrew, along with some officers around this area.

"It looks completely different during the day..." Andrew says. I come from behind a tree, startling Matthew and Andrew.

I put my hands up, "It's just me, guys." They calm down at that. "Did you see many officers around?" I ask, turning and going further in the woods.

"No, not many. The place is supposed to be cordoned off, right?" Matthew answers, following me and Steve while Andrew brings up the rear while filming.

"Yeah. Apparently, the ground is collapsing in some places." I say, giving meaningful glances to each of them. They all understand what I mean and we trudge along in silence.

"Here it is..." I say, getting out of the way to let Steve, Matthew, and finally Andrew out of the trail.

The hole, as expected, is now full of dirt. The dirt seems disturbed like it was recently messed with.

They all spread around, Andrew positioning himself to get the best angles. Steve walks around the hole, trying to find some gap in the dirt, to no avail.

Matthew throws his hands in the air, "Well, shit. It really is collapsed... How did it happen?" He turns to me and asks.

I shrug, "I don't know. I only felt some kind of force pushing us all out of the hole and then I woke up here."

"That's weird, I can almost feel it down there..." Steve says, a wistful look in his eyes. I pat his shoulders in a consoling way to make sure nothing is influencing his mind.

I don't detect anything wrong with his brain, besides the signs of physical stress and the obvious mutation... though I don't know if I even would, but it's worth a try.

"It's fine... Steve, you know a lot about the city, right?" I ask.

"Yeah? I don't know everything but I've heard things." He answers, shaking off whatever it was that he was feeling.

"Do you know what happened here? Haven Hills, I mean." I continue.

He thinks for a moment, "From what I know, some people had livestock here - as you can see by the abandoned barn right there." He points to it. "They left a few months back and rumor had it that they took some huge losses and decided to pursue different avenues." He finishes.

I ponder for a bit. "Did you know anyone living around here?"

"No...? Nobody I remember particularly." He shakes his head.

"It's just... how did you guys find this place?" I insist, opening my arms and gesturing to this clearing.

He frowns lightly and looks at Matthew. "We were hanging around here smo-" He looks at the camera and corrects himself, "Drinking and just messing around, when we heard that weird sound. You heard it too!" He points at me and Andrew.

"Yeah, that "hum" sound." I supply, nodding.

"Yeah, that one. We heard that the people with us thought we were crazy! Then we followed it here and they all freaked out!" Steve recounted, laughing. Matthew joined him, but as he was about to start talking, an officer appeared on the other side of the clearing.

"HEY! You kids can't be here, ok? You gotta move on out! Ground's unstable, we're taping the whole place off!" He yells, making us all look at each other.

"Let's go, I think we've seen enough." I take the initiative to start heading back through the trail.

We move on out of the woods and find the three cars. I turn to them, "You guys make any progress? I have a lot of time on my hands, so I made a few... discoveries." They all look curious.

"I can move three objects at once!" Steve boasts, puffing his chest like he expects praise.

"I can throw little stones fast," Matthew says, not particularly excited about his progress.

"I managed to type a few letters on my keyboard. It's surprisingly hard to touch single keys..." Andrew says from 'behind' his camera.

"Good job, you all." I point at Andrew. "What I discovered can help us all get better at exactly that kind of thing. I don't know about you, but whenever I use it, I... try to picture an energy surrounding what I hold." They all seem to hang onto my words.

"Like, if you imagine a hand reaching out to grab something..." I focus on Matthew's shoulder and a hand imprint slowly forms on his shoulder. He startles at it and Steve starts laughing at him.

I continue, after a chuckle. "It can become whatever you imagine, as long as you imagine it well enough. Hand, line, hook, string; I tried them all and they all work."

"So you're saying I can make... invisible hands...?" Steve slowly says, a perverted smile forming on his face. Matthew cuffs him on his arm and they both laugh.

I laugh too. "Haha, yeah, you could. Tickle torture is never going to be the same, is it?"

"Oh, you have NO idea!" He laughs harder.

"But seriously, I think if you imagine fingers it might be easier to type. I've tried different ways of interacting with objects and it changes significantly." I finish saying. Steve and Matthew mimic yawns, mocking my explanation, while Andrew focuses on it.

I roll my eyes at them, "Yeah, sorry my explanation is so boring. I just thought I'd share my insight into our superpower so you can control it better." I shake my head, a mock rueful look on my face. "I guess I should be talking about how Tiffany or Jeniffer are so hot and single now."

That makes them feel a bit awkward. I wave it off. "I don't mind it; I know some things I say are somewhat boring. People say I get into too many details, I thought it might help you-"

Steve interrupts me, "No no! It's fine, we were just joking." He clasps his hands together, putting them above his head. "Teach us, sensei!"

I chuckle, "Yeah, yeah. You still have a long way to go, padawan. I'll make sure to impart all my knowledge unto you!" I finish solemnly. He nods vigorously, making Matthew and Andrew laugh at our byplay.

"Anyway, let's go home before these cops get us a ticket or something. We going to someone's place or would you like to come to mine?" I say.

"You guys can come to my place if you want," Matthew says, getting to his car and leaning into it.

"It's still early, guys! Come on, we can go to the lake." Steve suggests, getting into his car and starting it.

"Sounds like a plan." I get in my own car and we all roll out.

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It's a beautiful late summer afternoon. The lake has some people milling around, but none near where we are. It's quiet, the only sound being the birds chirping around and the occasional watery sound of stones skipping on the lake.

"So... how's life?" I ask, picking up a smooth stone and throwing it into the lake. It skips twice before plopping in.

Steve sighs, enjoying the peaceful moment, "Can't complain. Been busy, but... well, there's this thing." He looks at us, hesitating on whether to tell us or not.

I look at Matthew, then Andrew, "I don't know what this thing is, but if you're worried we'll spread it around I might need to remind you of a much more important secret that we all share." I say with a smile, floating a nearby stone up to his eye level.

He chuckles, shaking his head. "It's not... Ah, whatever. It's about my parents..." He says, looking at the lake.

Silence ensued as we waited for him to gather his thoughts. "They've been... strange, lately. Cold to each other, weird interactions, spending less time together..." He once again shakes his head, as if he wants to shake away the very idea that plagues his mind.

He can't, though. In the end, he glances at us three and smiles in a melancholic way. "I think my mom cheated on my dad."

We all take a while to absorb that information, once again plunging the conversation into a lull.

"I... I don't know what to do. And my dad, he... he's just silent. He looks numb to it."

"Shit, man, I didn't mean to bring it up or-" I start, but he interrupts me fast.

"No... no. It's... fine. I just don't know what to do, is all." He keeps staring out at the lake.

Yeah, that's awkward...

I take a deep breath, "Sorry to hear that. Don't know what else to say, really."

"Yeah... I don't think any of us do..." He murmurs.

A few minutes pass by in silence. The atmosphere is heavy now, with none of us knowing what to say or do. I keep silent as well, nothing I can say will solve this issue or make him feel better. It's a relationship issue after all.

Recomposing himself, Steve turns to us, "What about you guys? Anything happening lately?"

I glance at Matthew and Andrew, neither of which seem to know what to say. I sigh, "Well, not much is happening these days."

"I... I'm getting in the swing of things again. In school I mean." Matthew says, "Parent's being out made me a bit... lax in my schedule, but I'm growing used to it."

"Living by yourself? Must be nice..." Andrew mutters, fiddling with his camera.

"What about you, Andrew?" I ask, drawing everyone's attention to him. "Anything going on?"

He looks at us, hesitating a lot. "I-um. Nothing much, no..." It doesn't take a genius to know that something is up, but I decide not to press him, else he withdraws even further.

Steve has the same wisdom, only looking curious about it. Matthew, on the other hand...

"Come on, Drew. Talk to us a little." He pats his cousin on the shoulder.

Andrew seems conflicted, but just shakes his head, not saying anything.

Knowing this isn't going anywhere, I decide to change the subject entirely.

"When he wants to talk he will, Matthew." No chance. "So, you guys wanna know something weird about Haven Hills?"

They all somewhat perk up at that. I continue, "This chick came to my house talking about truancy and whatnot the other day, saying I should be going to school. She let me take a look at some other student files and three students drew my attention."

"They all lived near Haven Hills, started missing out on school, and then suddenly disappeared... right along the time the place was abandoned."

They stay silent for a while. "You think they...?" Andrew starts and I nod.

"It seems too much of a coincidence to me," I respond.

"So you think that thing in the hole, like... got them or something?" Matthew asks, getting agitated.

"Look, you guys said that thing made a sound and you went there to check it out..." I let the words hang in the air. "It might be what it does: draws people in and... gives them powers?" I make a face.

"Yeah, that doesn't make sense... if they got these powers, why would they disappear like that?" Steve asks.

Andrew's response slips out even before he can think, "I know I would..."

He widens his eyes briefly, then starts fiddling with his camera more intensely, trying his hardest to ignore the looks Steve and Matthew were sending him.

"Anyway," I say, drawing their attention back. "If we want to understand this thing better, we might learn something new if we find these guys. Their names were Octavius Mars, Julian Mavis, and Gina Norman."

"Oh! I knew Octavius! Yeah, now that you say it, he started appearing less and less before the summer break. He was acting strange too." Steve says, frowning.

"Problem is: where do we even start?" Matthew says.

"Maybe if we ask their parents?" Steve suggests. "They might have said something or maybe something is on their house?"

"Maybe, yeah. Well," I say, getting up. "You guys want to go there now or...?"

Steve shoots up, "Now? No way! Samantha is already on my case about not having time on weekends for her anymore, I need to give her some attention, yesterday."

I can't help but laugh at the way he got so desperate. "Sure, dude. Tomorrow then?"

He nods, getting close to each of us and dapping us up. "See you later, dudes!" He runs to his car, leaving us alone in the lakeside.

A moment of silence ensues until I break it up with a question. "You guys up for pizza?"

They both grunt in agreement, "Good! Today's on me!" I cheer, helping them all up.

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(Matthew's PoV)

"Ugh, it's been a while since I ate this much..." Andrew says, from his seat by my side. I'm driving him home - as usual - after our pizza night.

"I agree dude... How could Matt eat that much and still be fine!?" I ask in outrage.

"Some people just don't get fat, I guess," Andrew says with a smile.

"Damn him and his metabolism then! Damn it, getting my nickname, having money, being handsome... he's like a better version of me!" I started the sentence as a joke, but the words hit closer and closer to home.

Andrew taps my shoulder, "Don't worry, there's one thing he'll never be better then you at..."

I look at him seriously, "What?"

"Being a dumbass!" He says with a laugh. I resist the urge to hit him right then and there, only rolling my eyes. 'No car accidents, Matt...'

A beat of silence followed. Andrew started fiddling with his camera again. I look at it with curiosity, "So, how is it?"

He looks at me dumbly, then catches on, "Oh. It's great. I gotta thank Steve later."

"Hey, I was the one who chose and paid for it! ...most of it anyway."

His eyebrows go up a bit. "...Thank you, then, Matt."

I look over to him, to give him a nod and see him pointing the camera in my direction. "Ugh, I almost forgot how it felt to be on camera all the time," I say in annoyance.

He blows me a raspberry (how old is he, 12?) and keeps filming.

"Hey, Drew... I- do you think I'm a good cousin?" I ask. I've been thinking a lot since Steve shared about his parents with us.

It's been a while since I had any news about Aunt Karen and Uncle Richard. I'm also not really... that present in Andrew's life, am I?

Andrew frowns, likely thinking about it for a while. "I don't know. You give me rides - that's something." He shrugs.

"No, I'm being serious. We aren't exactly the closest, you and I." I grip the wheel tighter. "You weren't always exactly... easy to talk to, you know? Not that you are now, it's just-"

He scoffs, "You're such an asshole."

It's now my turn to scoff, "See? You're just... hostile." My head shakes in exasperation.

I can never talk with this guy...

"That aside, Drew, just know I'm here, ok? Even I could see you didn't want to talk about your life for now, but it's ok to ask for help, got it?" I stare at his eyes, ignoring the camera.

He holds the stare for a brief moment, nodding and averting his eyes. I quietly sigh.

I think that's the best I'll get.

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(Andrew's PoV)

Getting home is never my favorite part of the day. Far from it, in fact.

"Andrew! Where have you been!?" I hear my dad's coming from the living room. From the slurring words, he's already into a few bottles.

"I was just out with some friends, nothing much..." I say, loud enough to be heard, but not to be called out for yelling.

"Friends!? Since when do you have friends, Andrew?!" He yells louder and tries to get up. He fails spectacularly, almost falling on his face on the ground. He throws himself back onto the couch, groaning at the dizziness that attacked as soon as he got up.

"Matt- Matt's friends, I was out with Matt and his friends..." I say, trying to placate him enough to let me go.

"Oh... oh, yeah, whatever. Get the fuck out of here. Now." Seems like he got quite the headache. 'Serves him right...'

I get up the stairs and go towards my room. On the way, I see my mom's room door slightly ajar. I peek into it, seeing her having some difficulty breathing. I put my hand forward, imagining a gentle touch on her side, pushing her lightly until she's lying on her side, her bed covers covering her better.

"Thank you..." I barely hear her muttering and that simple thing almost washed away my bad mood.

Almost.

After a quick shower, I lay on my bed.

"'It's ok to ask for help', huh..." I can't help but scoff. As if they could do anything about it.

'You could ask for money... Matt said he had a lot of it...' A small voice whispers from the corners of my mind.

He barely even knows me, why would he give me money? And even if I got the money, how would I explain it to Richard? He might beat me again...

I toss and turn in bed for a while, eventually turning to the drawer with the camera on top. I start getting ready to get up when a smile graces my face. I reach for it with my hand, imagining my own hold of the camera, except with invisible and floating hands.

Slowly, the camera floats in my direction, and a press on the record button starts another recording.

I record myself in my bed, smiling until I fall asleep.

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(Matt's PoV)

Saturday morning. I'm eating eggs, bacon, and hash browns, with a side of orange juice. Good food, but I've had better.

The boys should be here at the diner soon.

Today we plan on visiting the houses of the Mars, Mavis, and Norman families, hoping to find some clue as to where the students might be. I'm not that hopeful, but you never know.

I feel them before they get in the diner, Matthew and Andrew. As they get in, I raise my hand and shake, drawing their attention. They sit on the opposite to me, Matthew having a strange face.

"How'd know it was us? Or do you raise your hand every time someone gets in the diner?" Matthew asks me.

I finish chewing before speaking, "I recognize the sound your engine makes." And bite down on another forkful of eggs. While it is true, I didn't hear it from here.

He gets a somewhat impressed look on his face, "Good hearing too, damn..." He subtly looks at Andrew, who just chuckles. Some inside joke?

"So, who are we visiting first?" Matthew asks, signaling for a waitress to come get their orders.

I ponder between bites, "Probably the Mars; Steve said he knew Octavius, so I'm hoping he'll want to go there first."

They place their orders and I use the opportunity to ask for a plate of waffles. They asked for basic eggs and a cup of coffee, each.

When I finish my order and the waitress goes away, Matthew turns to me with a strange expression. "After all that pizza yesterday, you're eating this much and still asked for waffles?? Dude, where does the food go!?" He asks with some disbelief in his voice.

I raise an eyebrow, "Well, my stomach? A lot of calories are needed to keep this physique, you know."

"I don't buy that shit! I bet you don't even work out; I know you're that disgusting type." He says with a condescending expression, though I could see he's joking.

I simply eat the rest of my food, chewing it properly and letting him stew for a little bit, then answer. "What can I do? It is what it is." Shrugging.

Matthew shakes his head in exasperation, turning to find support in Andrew, only to meet a camera basically glued to his face. Andrew only grins from behind it.

"Yeah, film that freak! We need to study how people like him work so we spread the benefits to all of mankind!" He says, pointing at me. I chuckle, moving my plate to the side just as the waitress gets to our table with our orders.

"Thank you, Martina." I thank the portly lady, making her smile and giving me a generous serving of syrup. The wonders of tipping well. "These are my friends, Matthew and Andrew. We're waiting for a friend of ours, Steve."

She smiles at them all, serving them with a bit more enthusiasm, then looks at me, "I heard about this Steve before, is he famoso?" She says, slipping into Spanish at the end of her sentence.

"I guess you could say that. He's popular at our school." I respond. "Speaking of the man..."

The door opens again and in comes Steve. He looks at both sides of the diner before spotting Matt and Andrew.

He gets to our table and I scoot over to the side, making room for him.

"Thanks. Oh, are you the waitress? Can you get me some black coffee and a grilled cheese, please?" Steve asks. Martina smiles and nods, going to the kitchen.

Steve finally turns to us, a smile on his face, "Morning guys! How you doing?"

I crease my eyebrows with a smile on my face, "You woke up in a good mood today, Steve?"

His smile grows wider and he wiggles his eyebrows, "You have no idea... the only one in a better mood than me today must be Samantha!" Matthew grins getting what he's saying, I shake my head with a smile as well and Andrew just films the interaction, a slight red dusting on his cheeks.

"Good job, Stud. Now, where we going first?" I say.

He also ponders for a bit. "I only knew Octavius by face; never spoke to the guy. Even then, I guess his family is our best first bet."

I nod, expecting this answer.

We all eat and talk for a few more minutes. I noticed Andrew seemed to be hesitating about something, but he never said anything besides normal conversation.

I need this dude to open up soon, the longer he pushes us away the more time he and his mom will suffer...

I frown, hard. 'Since when do I need his input to heal her?' I can just go and do it.

I shake my head at my own overcautiousness. Whatever, I guess I'll be back at healing the ailing from today onwards.

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Knock, Knock, Knock, went Steve's hand on the door.

The Mars family house is a quaint little place, located on a street far from the city center. It's a quiet neighborhood, with some houses having their backyard just a few meters away from the woods that circle Haven Hills.

A few seconds pass and a lady opens the door. "Yes? How can I help you?"

She looks like she is in her late forties, but she is only forty-two this year. Dirty blond hair, deep-seated brown eyes, and thin, cracked lips. Her skin sags in some places, possibly indicating sudden weight loss, and her hair needs some work. Other than that, she is dressed in very comfortable-looking clothes, ideal for spending the whole day at home.

Steve smiles disarmingly, "Hello, are you Mrs. Mars? This might be a bit insensitive, but... I knew Octavius. I wanted to talk to you, if you would have me?"

The lady frowned as soon as the name Octavius was dropped, a flash of sadness passing through her eyes. "You knew my son? Are you a friend of his?" She asks, opening her door a bit more to get a good look at Steve and us.

Steve cringes, "Not exactly a friend, but I knew him. I was..." He struggles briefly to find a reason for our visit. Thinking fast, I motion to Andrew's camera - which, of course, was on and recording - and say, "We're trying to make a documentary about people who went missing."

She looks sad, but a bit interested. "I know it must be a hard subject to talk about, but we hope that with this school project, the police will be more engaged in their search. If you don't want to have your image or your story revealed, we'll cut it off the tape, but it would help a lot if you talked to us."

Steve looks between me and the lady, before smiling, "What he said, Mrs. Mars."

The lady, Miriam Mars, contemplates the offer, before sighing and opening her door fully. "Come on in."

Her house is, as I said, a very quaint little place; the living room is on the smaller side and connected to the kitchen and there's a hallway that leads to three doors, and a staircase to a second floor. She leads us to the living room, having to go to the kitchen to get two more chairs to fit everyone in.

As we wait for her to get back, I point a picture to the other boys, making them have varying expressions; a photograph of Miriam, Octavius, and a man - Peter Mars - from a few years back. The woman we spoke to is a shell, a husk of the Miriam Mars in the portrait. 'Grief-stricken...'

"What do you want to... talk about?" She asks, after having us all settled.

Steve looks at me, but I just shrug, letting him handle it for the most part.

He barely contains an annoyed look, plastering on a smile instead. "Mrs. Mars, we heard that Octavius was behaving... 'strangely', as our sources told us, before his disappearance; did you notice such behavior?"

Miriam frowns, thinking deeply about it. "He was a very homey boy, my Oto. The only thing that changed before he..." She pauses, taking a shuddering breath, "He made some new friends; one of them was from this very same street, he said. He started going out more. I thought they were enjoying themselves... I thought he had finally come out of his shell." You could almost feel her sadness and longing on the look she sent Steve.

He, for his part, only gulped before continuing, "And... you knew these friends of his?"

She shook her head, "No. I would ask him constantly, but he would never answer. I thought I'd give him some time, thought that maybe he was just shy about introducing them to me..." She closes her eyes, a single tear rolling down her face.

"I... see. Did he say where they would go? Or what they did together?" Steve kept pressing on, but she just shook her head.

"He... he became more withdrawn. He stopped talking to me as much. I thought I was his best friend, that he could trust me!" She rose her voice, desperate-looking eyes seeking understanding in any of us. "At the time, I considered it just a passing trend. 'He is making new friends and wants to enjoy them, but he'll come around'." She finishes with a mockery of her own thought process.

Steve, who is sitting by her side on her two-seat couch, puts his hand on her shoulder in a reassuring way, letting her recuperate for a moment.

"I understand, Mrs. Mars. Can we... can we look at his room? To film it for our documentary." He asks a daring question, making Miriam whip her head to look at him. She seems about to deny, but looking at Steve's genuine expression, she deflates before slowly nodding.

Looks like Steve was moved by this mother... I can't say I'm not, but I'm not exactly hopeful about her son's situation.

She takes another moment to breathe and come to terms with her decision, before nodding to herself and getting up. "Follow me..."

We all get up and climb the staircase. On the second floor, there are three doors. She takes us to the furthest one. She takes a few more deep breaths, before looking at us and opening the door, not daring to look inside.

Just in case, I go through it first, confusing Steve. Inside is... a very normal teenager's room. Wardrobe, some posters on the walls (guy likes Katie Perry, apparently), a computer table with a primitive machine, and some action figures.

I walk into it fully, the three boys following me. Andrew films everything, not having to fake his interest since that is our cover.

I zero in on the computer table, looking through it and finding a drawer-like thing. Normally used to hide the keyboard, Octavius used it to hide a notebook. I take it carefully using telekinesis to cover my hand. Flipping through the pages, it looks like a notebook used to draw.

Superheroes, stickmen fighting, some concept art for a logo? At some point though, the drawings became more frantic. Instead of only drawing what he wanted on the white paper background, he started coloring the page with graffiti, leaving the drawing's focus white.

Trees, woods, a barn, a... hole. The last drawing was of a rock, but I knew what it was. I quickly show the notebook to the boys, Andrew making sure to get it on camera, before I hide it back where I found it. Looking at the door, Miriam was not there.

The other boys take another look through the place, Matthew even opens the wardrobe to take a look inside, but besides a stash of adult magazines no one had the guts to touch, we didn't find any other weird thing.

As we pass by Miriam in the hallway, Steve touches her shoulder gently. "Mrs. Mars? We filmed his room. Do you allow us to use your likeness and this recording?"

She was shaken awake by his touch, needing a moment to process what he said. She nodded, accepting it.

"Do you want to add anything? A message, a request?" He adds and she nods.

We all go back to the living room and she sits down on her couch, Andrew stays standing up to film her.

She looks straight to the camera, an intensity that contrasts starkly with her appearance. "Whoever is seeing this, my son was a good boy. He would never run away from home like that, I know something must have happened! No matter what the police says, I know my son!" Her strong facade slowly cracks, tears pooling in her eyes. "Help me find my son..."

And she just breaks down crying. I signal Andrew to stop recording for now and Steve sits down next to Miriam to console her the best he can.

This was...

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"... heavier than I thought, man. Sheesh." Matthew says as we walk down the street, going to the Mavis residence, which happens to be nearby.

"Yeah, tell me about it..." Steve says with a contemplating look in his eyes. He's been like that since we came out of there.

"What's on your mind, Steve?" I ask.

He sends me a look, then at the camera, "... We're already going to use that as our excuse, right? Why don't we actually make a documentary about them?"

"It's not a bad idea, per se..." It would explain why Andrew is always with his camera, why we are hanging out together, and- "I bet it would look pretty good for your campaign, right?" I say, considering the pros of this plan.

Steve grimaces, "I didn't even think of that... but yeah, it would."

"Who would put it together? Cut out the... sensitive parts, making it more watchable?" Matthew asks.

Andrew raises his hand. As he is usually the one who stays behind, no one sees it, so he has to clear his throat. We all turn to look at him, making him hesitate before speaking. "I- I can do it. I've been messing with the recordings for a while now, I know how to do it."

"Nice. Ok, I have nothing against it, then." Matthew says, giving a thumbs up.

"Double, triple, quadruple check it, ok?" Steve implores Andrew, who keeps on nodding. "I can't have people seeing me making shit float or things like that."

Matthew seems to catch something from that sentence, before jogging in front of us all and turning, making us stop.

"We haven't talked about it, but this thing, this power... we need to keep it secret." He says, dead serious. "Whatever happened to these guys, it's gonna be nothing if the government finds out about us. We can't let people know."

There are varying levels of understanding: I nod, easily accepting. Steve strongly nods, knowing that he doesn't want that kind of popularity. Andrew hesitatingly nods, conceding that it would probably not be very nice if the government took hold of a powered individual.

Matthew keeps us there for a few more moments, hoping to get his point across to us all, before nodding himself and turning around to keep walking.

When we get to the Mavis' residence, the place looks... rundown. The houses next to it are ok, but this one is in disrepair. We don't even need to get there and knock on the door, as there is a "For Sale" sign stapled to the wall next to it.

"There goes our second lead..." I mutter. Steve urges Andrew to film the place, doing a solemn narration over it.

We wrap around the house, filming it from different angles, but there's nothing much about it.

"Do you want to go in there?" I suggested, but none of them seemed thrilled about the idea. I simply shrug and move on. I can come back here later to have a look.

"The Norman residence is... huh, that's even closer to the woods," I say aloud, grabbing their attention. They crowd around me to look into the map I made; a simple map of the town, with red circles around each house.

If the Mars and Mavis residence are on a street a few meters away from the woods of Haven Hills, this house is on a road that eventually gets into the territory.

After we all get in our cars, I lead the way there.

The road is closed from both sides by the woods, with some houses interspersed on it. These houses are... they're very precarious, that's for sure.

The one we are looking for is in the middle of said road. Finding a place to park would be a veritable nightmare... were it not for the liberal usage of telekinesis to put the cars as close as physically possible to the edge of the dirt road. It would still be a problem if any wide vehicles were to pass, but with some luck, that won't happen.

"Are we sure this is the place...?" Andrew asks, his voice trembling a bit. I find that curious.

"Yeah, it's the right address. I even checked coordinates." I answer him. He nods but seems to still be a bit afraid.

"This place is little better than a haunted house." Steve comments.

The place is a wooden cabin on the side of the dirt road. Some windows have broken glass in them, the door is barricaded with several wood planks, the wooden walls are rotten in some parts, and from where I'm looking I can't say for sure, but the ceiling looks about ready to fall.

"There's something weird in there..." I say out loud. Being near the boys so much slowly but surely made me realize something. The "power sense" mutation I got, pings them as people with powers. I can feel it distinctly, I just didn't know what it was until yesterday when we were throwing stones at the lake.

I feel something in this cabin, it's just... it's like it's the whole cabin?

"What do you mean, Matt?" Matthew and Steve ask. I shake my head, starting to walk in there.

I make a skintight telekinetic barrier around myself and them, keeping it passive. I go to the door and pull out the wood planks easily enough. When I try to pull or push the door though, I feel like something repels me. Frowning, I push my hand into it.

It again at first tried to repel me, but as I kept my hand there this time, it seemed to let me in, slowly at first and then suddenly I touched the door.

"Weird..." I push open the door, being hit in the face by a foul odor of rotten wood and meat.

There, smack dab in the middle of the biggest room of the cabin, sits a vaguely human figure on an old and creaky wooden chair.