The walk home was brutal.
Without their bikes—which were now twisted piles of scrap metal left in the woods—they had to walk three miles back to town. They stuck to the side roads, avoiding streetlights, jumping at every rustle of leaves.
By the time they reached the edge of Kenji's neighborhood, it was past 10:30 PM.
"We need a rule," Sarah said, breaking the silence. She stopped under a flickering street lamp. Her denim jacket was torn at the shoulder, and she looked exhausted. "Nobody talks. Not to parents, not to teachers, not to Sheriff Miller."
"My mom would freak out if she saw my arm," Marco whispered, pulling his long sleeve down over his stone skin. It had turned back to normal flesh about twenty minutes ago, but it still felt hard and cold to the touch. "She thinks I'm at a movie."
"It's a pact," Kenji said. He looked at each of them. "We figure this out ourselves. Meet at the library tomorrow after school. The computer lab in the back."
"The library?" Sarah rolled her eyes. "Why not the arcade?"
"Because the library has the fast internet connection," Aris said, adjusting his glasses. "If these things are... radioactive or alien, I need to use Ask Jeeves to find out what they are. Plus, old Mrs. Higgins is deaf, so she won't hear us arguing."
"Fine," Sarah sighed. "Library. Don't be late."
They split up, disappearing into their separate houses like ghosts.
June 15, 2001
7:00 AM
Kenji woke up to the sound of static.
He sat up in bed, his heart pounding. For a second, he thought he was back in the satellite station. But he wasn't. He was in his room. His walls were covered in posters of Dragon Ball Z and Linkin Park. His floor was a mess of dirty laundry and comic books.
The noise was coming from his small television set in the corner. He had left it off, but now the screen was glowing with gray snow, hissing loudly.
Kenji got out of bed and smacked the top of the TV. The image flickered, then cut to the local news anchor.
"...strange atmospheric disturbances reported last night over Ravenwood Creek. Experts say the solar flares may cause cell phone interruptions..."
"Solar flares," Kenji muttered, rubbing his eyes. "Right."
He looked in the mirror attached to his closet door. He looked normal. Messy black hair, skinny arms, dark circles under his eyes. He didn't look like someone who could teleport.
He tried to focus. He stared at the doorknob across the room. He imagined being there. He pushed his mind, trying to find that feeling—that strange, electric pull he had felt last night.
Nothing.
He just stood there in his boxers, squinting.
"Kenji! You're going to be late!" his mom yelled from the kitchen.
Kenji sighed. The magic was gone. Maybe it was a one-time thing. Maybe he was just normal, boring Kenji Sakai again.
He got dressed, throwing on a baggy hoodie to hide his skinny frame, and grabbed his backpack.
Ravenwood Middle School
8:15 AM
School felt fake.
That was the only way Kenji could describe it. As he walked through the crowded hallway, surrounded by kids talking about homework and who was dating who, it felt like he was watching a TV show he didn't belong in anymore.
They don't know, Kenji thought, gripping his backpack straps. They don't know there are monsters in the woods that look like glitches.
He saw Marco by the lockers. The big guy was usually laughing with the football team, but today he looked pale. He was wearing a long-sleeved flannel shirt even though it was warm outside. He gave Kenji a subtle nod but didn't come over.
Aris was already in class, probably sleeping.
Kenji turned the corner toward his locker, head down, trying to be invisible.
"Watch it, Sakai."
A heavy shoulder slammed into Kenji's chest.
Kenji stumbled back, dropping his math book. He looked up to see Kyle Thorne towering over him. Kyle was the star of the junior varsity wrestling team, wearing an Abercrombie shirt that cost more than Kenji's entire outfit.
"Spacing out again?" Kyle laughed. Two of his friends snickered behind him. "Maybe you need thicker glasses."
Usually, Kenji would apologize. He would pick up his book, mutter "sorry," and run away. That was the routine. That was how he survived.
But today, Kenji didn't move.
He stared at Kyle's face. And then, it happened.
BZZZT.
A sharp pain spiked behind Kenji's eyes.
Suddenly, the hallway froze. The noise of the students stopped. The color drained out of the world, turning everything gray.
In this gray world, Kenji saw himself move. He saw a ghostly blue version of himself teleport behind Kyle. He saw the Blue Kenji sweep Kyle's legs out from under him and slam him into the lockers with a burst of kinetic energy. He saw Kyle on the floor, gasping for air, terrified.
It was a vision. A possibility.
"You gonna cry?" Kyle's voice shattered the vision.
The world snapped back to color. The noise rushed back in. Kyle was still standing there, smirking, waiting for Kenji to cower.
Kenji looked at his own hands. They weren't trembling. He realized, with a sudden, cold clarity, that he wasn't afraid of Kyle anymore. Kyle was just a person. The thing Kenji had fought last night... that was scary. Kyle was nothing.
"No," Kenji said. His voice was quiet, but it was steady.
Kyle blinked. He stopped smiling. "What did you say?"
"I said no," Kenji repeated, looking Kyle in the eye. "I'm not going to cry. Move, Kyle."
Silence rippled through the immediate area. A few kids stopped at their lockers to watch. Kenji Sakai never talked back.
Kyle's face turned red. He stepped forward, balling his hands into fists. "You think you're tough now, little man? You want me to stuff you in that locker?"
Kenji felt that pull in his gut again. The blue energy. It was waking up. It wanted to protect him. If Kyle touched him, Kenji might accidentally blast him across the hall. He might kill him.
Don't, Kenji told himself. suppress it. Don't use the power.
"Problem here, gentlemen?"
A deep voice boomed down the hall. Mr. Clarke, the science teacher, was standing there with his arms crossed. He was a tall man with a messy beard and a coffee stain on his tie.
Kyle immediately unclenched his fists. He put on a fake smile. "No problem, Mr. Clarke. Just helping Kenji with his book."
Kyle kicked the math book toward Kenji, then leaned in close to Kenji's ear.
"You're dead after school, Sakai," Kyle whispered.
Kyle shoved past him, his friends trailing behind.
Kenji let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. He bent down to pick up his book. His hand was shaking now—not from fear, but from adrenaline. He had almost done it. He had almost warped in front of fifty people.
"Nice job," a voice said.
Kenji looked up. Sarah was leaning against the lockers nearby. She had seen the whole thing. She wasn't smiling, but she looked impressed.
"You didn't run," Sarah said.
"I almost..." Kenji lowered his voice. "I almost glitched."
"I know," Sarah whispered, stepping closer. "I saw your eyes. They flashed blue for a second."
Kenji froze. "They did?"
"Yeah. You need to be careful," Sarah warned. She looked around to make sure no one was listening. "Meet at the library. We have bigger problems than Kyle Thorne."
"What do you mean?"
Sarah pulled a folded piece of paper out of her pocket and handed it to him.
"Aris found this in the school basement this morning during band practice," she said.
Kenji unfolded the paper. It was a drawing. But it wasn't a drawing done by a student. It looked like it had been scratched into the paper with a sharp claw.
It was a circle with a line through it. The same symbol they had seen on the satellite station door.
"It's here," Sarah whispered, her eyes dark. "Whatever we let in last night... it's already in the school."