The bed is cold and empty when I wake up.

He's gone again, I sigh to myself, not bothering to check around the room or even downstairs.

There's always that dead, stifled silence that hangs in the air when alone, and it's here now.

Still, I force myself out of the bed after a few minutes of staring at the ceiling and the back of my eyelids, can't get things done in bed after all.

Not that I have things to get done in the first place.

As I get in the shower, I wonder if that is my problem. I have nothing to do.

Vern has always been the one doing things, even now, he's always doing something.

Contemplating this thought I catch myself brushing furiously at my teeth. It hurt.

Why, though?

I'm not sure.

I step out of the bathroom, still wet and dripping all over the place from my quick lukewarm water bath and I find the dispenser.

The cup has been picked and set back with the set atop the bottle. And I remember.

Right. I've got six more days… or less.

I'm not sure what the cause is this time and I'm frankly anxious about how far I'm going to jump, but I always am.

Unfortunately, the time I'll be missing isn't the only thing I'm worried about.

That vision… Vern's going to be hurt.

As if to mock me endlessly, my time jumps come along with some extra time related powers.

Aside from random, small time frame jumps into the future, I get to see clips and snips of important events that will happen in the future.

But of course, I can't control or utilize this power in any way. I always see something important happening but I never know when or why or how. I just see it and I'm left confused and without any further information.

And now I've seen Vern get hurt.

This isn't the first time I've seen him get hurt. Back with Steve he got hurt all the time standing up for me to people he could fight, or just Neil.

And I've patched him up to the best of my ability, only becoming as good as I am because he got injured so many times.

With how frequently he got beat and got up, I quickly became numb to the thought of his life being in danger. A few scrapes and bruises never killed anyone right?

Picking up the cup again I feel surreal, like I'm about to be hit with another vision but nothing. They never repeat themselves, it's just pure randomness.

A randomness I now have to fight because a gunshot is vastly different from scrapes and bruises. Vern is in danger.

I fill the cup with water and empty it into my stomach. I realize I'm devastatingly parched and have some more until I'm a bit bloated.

Vern's always the one doing something, always the one on the move, always the one bringing some change.

Always the one living.

But today, I think today is my day. First step to ceasing the moment? Save Vern.

I'm not exactly sure how he gets shot but I'm a hundred percent positive on why.

Rex.

***

While it is most certainly barely noon, the dirty streets of Xoxia are full of people headed straight for comfort establishments.

And I'm one of them.

Being one of the many mini redlight districts in Xoxia, it's no surprise to see men, married or single, stumbling out of bars and clubs with their tie crookedly hanging around their necks or their hair strewn over their faces as they make their way out to wherever it is they're meant to be.

I walk in through the front, in the mornings places like these never have any customers important enough to shelter with a bouncer. In the morning, sin loses its exclusivity.

The large club is covered with an arrangement of chairs and cushions, and the floor is littered with filth just being cleaned up by the staff. The air is stuffy, soaked with fumes of all sorts of things.

I turn about, looking for who seems important enough to answer my question. It doesn't take long to spot a person like that.

A woman, leaning over the rails of the upper floor with her head deep in her tab.

Finding the stairs I make my way up to her, crossing over a velvet stanchion as I do.

As I make my approach she hears me coming and raises her eyes from her device, "I'm sorry, who are you?"

Her hair is frizzy and there's still some lipstick on her lips.

"I need to find Rex." I announce, not bothering to answer her questions, "The man from Invincibill's gang, I came in with him two days ago."

"Girl if he's your man shouldn't you know where he is?" The voice is shrill and sassy, another woman. She comes out of the room beside us, her hands busy wet wiping the makeup off her face.

"He's not my...man." I awkwardly clarify, looking between the two stylishly dressed women. It's then I realize.

They aren't anyone important, they're the comfort.

I begin to leave and the sassy woman speaks again, "If it's a gangster, I think a kid like you should stay away. But I know you're too stubborn to do so, I can see it written all over your face."

I resist the urge to roll my eyes, "I'll be on my way."

"Go looking for Juan's place. It's a bar not far from here, a bit to the south, near the clinic."

I stop and turn, "Thank you."

She shrugs, still wiping her face, "Don't say I didn't warn you. I expect if you head there without protection you'll either be on the news soon or in this parlour asking Simon for a job."

The frizzy haired woman laughs and playfully punches the sassy one, "She's just looking out for you kid, are you sure you want to go there?"

"Yes. I need to save someone."

They share a difficult look with each other at this and then look back at me.

"But can you?" the sassy one asks.

Yeah, that's just the part I haven't figured out yet.

***

I don't get anymore help from the comfort women, I do get doubled anxiety on my mission of finding and saving Vern though.

I stepped out of the club/bar the same way I went in. No fanfare necessary. Although as I walk past, a few pot bellied old men who should be in bed with a tube in their throat whistle at me and ask if I'm new.

The sassy one responds, "She might be if she keeps heading the way she's going."

There's a chorus of chortling laughter from them all. I don't know why they're laughing, there's nothing funny to laugh at.

I hasten my step and leave the establishment even faster, getting out into the snowy world on the outside of its walls.

Standing on the sidewalk I look about myself and try to get a sense of where Juan's bar would be established.

Deciding not to wing it in, I cross the road and flag a trike.

"Juan's bar?" I tell the rider. The man looks at me strangely and then nods. A smile spreads over my face and I start to climb in.

"Four hundred credits" he suddenly says, stopping me in my tracks.

"Four hundred!? That's insane."

The man scowls at me, tutting, "You know where you going? You going to Juan. That place not so good with police or anybody."

He speaks in a broken, confused way, but I get the idea. Juan's place is crawling with bad vibes.

Still. Four hundred is a lot for this. I consider asking him to tell me the way there so I can just walk there but I have a feeling I'll get lost.

I don't have time for this.

I grunt and hop on into the trike and give the man a curt nod. "Let's go."

Wordlessly he starts his engine again and the trike is on the move.

The cold billowing winds bite against my skin as we journey towards this Juan's bar. The trike man is considerate in not taking any more passengers, although I wouldn't have minded if it meant a break from the icy winds.

I should have worn warmer clothes.

I've got on some jeans, a sweater and a coat, not my good coat, just an extra we got when we happened on that store.

I'm only missing out on some scarfs and gloves. Maybe a hat as well.

Either way, I endure the icy winds on the little exposed skin. Fortunately for me, I don't have to suffer long.

Like the sassy woman said, the bar wasn't far. I feel the trick begin to slow down and soon we're turned up on the sidewalk in a part of town where very few people seem to come across despite being so close to one of the many red light districts in Xoxia.

I get off at my stop, the bar is dressed up like a clothing store. It has a large, wide display window that allows full view of what transpires within, quite unlike normal bars tend to have.

There's a fallen sign leaning on the side of it that says 'Juan's Bar' and it lies near neatly and possibly recently shoveled and salted floor.

I give it all one more look and shake my head, It probably was a clothing store before they took it.

Counting out nearly all the credits I'd set out with and hand them over to the trike rider. He regards me with a careful eye and glances behind me.

I can tell he wants to say something, Probably going to tell me to be safe, better tell him I'm here for a friend.

As my lips part to do exactly that the engine of the trike roars to life and the man rides off without another glance back at me.

Right, this isn't the factories, but is still Xoxia.

I stuff my hands into my pockets and brave my way to the door, reciting the mantra of what to scream when challenged in my head.

I'm a spy for the Mayor and he wants Invincibill by all means, kill me and you kill yourself.

I doubt they'll buy the bluff but it's the only card I have to play. Their fear of the Mayor and his goons.

Pushing open the door a beg jingles, announcing my presence to whomever is stationed here.

There certainly isn't anyone at the bar.

The place is very much a former clothing store. The space is wide and the roof is low, a low roof isn't something you want for a bar.

People will smoke, have sex and do release all sorts of gasses. A low roof, and wide panel display glasses don't help keep the patrons from choking on their own excesses.

Which means… this place isn't being used as a bar. It's not being used as anything financial, is it?

I don't think so. I look around the place and whereas the outside is clear of snow and dirt, the inside is a harbor for dust and cobwebs.

Still, the place can't be dead and everyone still fear it, can it?

"Hello!" I bellow out, a mistake as I breathe in some of the dust and start coughing.

"There there, should I get you a glass of water?"

I almost reply with a yes before I do a double take. Behind me stand three men, one shorter than the rest and yet the one exuding the most authority.

"Who are you?" I question.

The man in the middle tilts his head to the side, getting a better look at me with his eyes.

He licks his lips, "I'm sure you know the answer to that, you wouldn't be here if you didn't now would you?" he chuckles with himself and steps toward me.

I step back and he stops.

"Afraid of me are you? Hmm...you're a lot better looking in person than pictures." he licks his lips again and sighs, "Unfortunately I hear you're just fifteen, who would have thunk, amiright boys!"

The men behind him cheer and agree with his words, whereas I'm beginning to dread every second of my existence here, in this place, in this time.

"I don't have time for this nonsense, where is Vern? Where is Rex?"

At the mention of their names weapons fly out of hidden pouches and are aimed. All on me.

With my heart already running a mile a minute this doesn't bode well.

DON'T FAINT. DON'T FAINT. DON'T FAINT!

My mental screaming is likely to only buy me a few minutes with those things hanging out in the air, directed at me. You'd think since Vern has one I'd be used to it but no.

"Relax boys, he's the kids' girlfriend." the man says, nodding at his men.

To my luck they put away the weapons, but the thought that they're there at all doesn't leave me at ease.

"So you're looking for your boyfriend huh?"

"Where is he?" I demand as bravely as I can manage.

"Where he's supposed to be, you on the other hand… not so much."

"Take me to him, he's in danger, I need to see him now!"

His eyes narrow dangerously at me and the men behind him began reaching for their weapons again.

Shit.

"And how do you know this?"

"Wha-I uh I jus-" I blink and sputter in a mess.

This line of questioning is not what I prepared for!

"Just take me to him."

He raises an eyebrow and in a soft, whispering voice that I don't expect from a man like himself, he says, "I can't, they'll have to save themselves on this one."

My eyes become saucers staring at him, although my mind was a fog when we met I would recognize Rex anywhere.

And this man bears an uncanny resemblance.

"You…. You're Rex's brother… You sent them there didn't you? You sent them. You know about it too and you sent them!"

The guns come out again but this time they come with a warning. "Chill the fuck out now or we will drag you down."

"Down?"

The man, Rex's brother face-palms and snap his fingers. "She knows too much already, and she's hysterical. Take her down…carefully."

I don't have a chance to hear the rest of what he mutters under his breath as his two large men lumber towards me, intent on capturing me.

But I'm certain he said something about Vern.