Magnus walked toward Chloe.
"Move," he said.
Nobody moved. Most of them hadn't even heard him.
Magnus exhaled. He took one more step forward, and said again. "Move."
But this time, it was no longer a suggestion. He pointed his left index finger at the ground. Both Rachel and Aaron were gently pushed aside by an invisible force. At the same time, everyone present was also held in place by an invisible force. Even Alex. The only person not frozen in place — not counting Chloe on the ground — was Maya.
Magnus knelt down next to Chloe.
He locked eyes with Maya. "Trust me, she's going to be okay."
And then he placed his right hand onto Chloe's chest, where the bullet entered her body.
Alex tensed under the telekinetic hold. She was expecting Maya to lash out, to curse at Magnus, to shove him off her girlfriend. But Maya was just frozen in place despite not being restrained — her face was a mixture of confusion and shock as she glanced between Magnus's hand on Chloe's chest and his face. Her lips were pressed together, visibly holding back whatever insults she would have been throwing at him.
"Wait, what are you doing?" Aaron asked.
Magnus didn't answer. His entire body was shivering, cold sweat drenched his back, and his teeth were clenched together. The air was thick, heavy, and silent. Everyone's eyes were on the back of the guy they'd all thought was harmless and awkward, always nervously trailing behind Alex.
Then Magnus's whole body shuddered and he collapsed next to Chloe. The invisible hold that kept everyone in place snapped out of existence almost at the same time Chloe sat up straight with a gasp.
As Aaron and Rachel went to check on her again, Alex made a beeline toward Magnus.
"Babe! Talk to me, please!" She shook him by his shoulder. "Are you okay? How are you feeling?"
She could vaguely hear Aaron exclaim in disbelief at the distinct lack of a bullet wound on Chloe's chest from a few minutes ago, but she didn't care. Her attention was entirely on her boyfriend — the man who was still lying on the ground with his eyes closed.
Alex shook him again, worry etching her voice. "Magnus, please, open your eyes!"
His eyes slid open just enough to meet hers as he smiled weakly.
"I'm okay," Magnus panted. "Actually… no, I'm not okay. This hurts way worse than your cramps. Feels like I just got shot in the chest or something."
Alex was crying and laughing at the same time. She smacked his shoulder. "How can you joke at a time like this?!"
"Okay, could someone please explain to me what the hell is going on here?" Valeria's voice cut through the air.
And Alex snapped into focus. She stood up, already barking orders:
"Okay, everyone. Help me get them both inside the house first! Then I'll explain everything. But right now, they need rest."
People nodded, Maya and Rachel helped Chloe up and let her lean on them as they led her back toward the beach house. Meanwhile, Miguel practically carried Magnus inside on his back, with Alex following right beside them. Aaron and Ethan stayed behind to tie up Todd's hands, then carried him back toward the beach house as well. And for once, they weren't arguing.
After laying Magnus down on the bed, they all filed out into the living room. Alex's first order of business was getting everyone to agree on a narrative: that the bullet had luckily missed and no one was harmed. Even if Todd could later say he saw Chloe fall down, they could say she was falling from the shock and fear, not an actual wound. Todd might get a lighter sentence, but it was easier than explaining how Chloe was miraculously healed so completely without even so much as a scar. She was well enough to sit on the couch in the living room — still in shock over what'd happened, but otherwise okay.
Jade had called 911 almost as soon as the shot was fired and Todd was knocked out, so the police arrived shortly after. One of the officers recognized Miguel and Ethan from the grocery store incident the day before.
"You boys again?"
"Good to see you too, officer." Ethan grinned.
The officer sighed. "Second arrest in two days involving you guys, both armed. Let's all hope this doesn't become a habit, for your sake."
"We're hoping for the same thing," Miguel muttered.
"Good, stay out of trouble. I hope I won't see you again tomorrow."
They all gave their statements and the gun as evidence, then watched as Chloe's ex was escorted away. Only after all that was over, did everyone sit down in the living room, waiting for Alex to explain.
Alex sat on one of the chairs with one knee pulled up.
"This is going to sound crazy, but since you all have been through… what happened on the beach, I hope you won't dismiss it, because it's the truth." She took a deep breath, then continued. "It began about two months ago. Magnus woke up one day seeing menus over people's heads."
She glanced around the room. "In his own words, a System booted in his head. It gives him superpowers, and forces him to do death quests. The goals usually involve sleeping with different girls. Succeed and he keeps the powers, fail and he dies. I was the first quest target, and Telekinesis was the first power. Yes, the same power he used earlier to keep all of us in place while he saved Chloe."
She let that sink in. Everyone's eyes were on her — wide with questions. Then, Alex smiled:
"He decided to charm and win me over without the power." Her smile was bright, fond, as if recalling that week. "You all felt firsthand how easily it could have been for him to do the unthinkable. But that's just not who he is. And that's how it started between us."
A chorus of "sounds about right"s and "that tracks"es hummed around the room. Alex glanced around, then continued. "The week after that, his System assigned him another target, and after five days of panicking, he came to me with his secret." She hid her face in her hands. "And I arranged a threesome to save his life."
Several girls stared at Alex.
"You seriously did that? For him."
"Oh girl, you've fallen hard, haven't you?"
Alex was actually blushing when she lifted her face from her hands. She cleared her throat loudly and braced herself for the next part. "We officially started going out after that. Then the third week came, and a professor at our college was assigned—"
Ethan whistled.
"—and he died in my arms."
The whistle died. Nobody said anything. Everyone was staring at Alex again — confused by what she was saying.
"There was an item. A one-time miracle item. That brought him back to life." She covered her mouth and nose with both hands. "He hasn't gotten another one so far. So yeah, the death threat is real."
Maya leaned over and squeezed Alex's forearm lightly. She remembered the panic and fear that almost made her stop breathing when she thought Chloe might die earlier.
Seeing Alex might need an extra moment to calm herself after recalling the memory, Sofia took over:
"Anyway, the target after that was no other than…" she dramatically put a hand over her chest, "…Moi."
"And," she said after a brief pause, "I'm gonna be honest with y'all, he's great in bed. Like, really great. Like, I seriously wouldn't mind an encore if they'd consider it."
"We…" Alex hid her face in her hands again. "We actually talked about that and decided we wouldn't mind if the situation felt right. I've just never gotten the chance to tell you."
Sofia's eyes widened in surprise. Several girls — and Ethan — whistled.
Alex cleared her throat again. "Anyway, the power he got during Sofia's week was basically animal communication. That's the story behind the raccoon. His name is Tony and he thinks he's Magnus's mentor."
Everyone stared at Alex.
Ethan raised his hand. "I have so many questions."
"And you can ask him for answers later yourself. He can give you all the details. I'm just trying to get through all the gist right now," Alex cut him off. "Anyway, moving on!"
"After that, I've been helping him with his quests by arranging threesomes with quest targets, posing us as a couple experimenting. And his System kept escalating with increasingly awkward situations. We've had to sleep with… my fans, one of his fans—yes, he apparently has fans, too—then even Jordan—or Vanessa as some of you might remember her—and Harper—"
"Harper—like, Harper Ellis?!" Camila cut in. "Our babysitter Harper Ellis—Harper?"
"Yes," Alex confirmed with a wince.
Camila wasn't finished. "The same Harper who pulled you off me when you bit me at Sarah's birthday party—Harper?"
"Yes. But why are we talking about that right now?"
"Because you bit me!"
"We were seven. And you were being stupid!"
"I wasn't. And even if I were, that's not justification for biting someone!"
"You were! And that's perfect justification for biting someone to seven-year-old me."
Camila looked genuinely offended.
"You know you were being stupid." Alex pointed a finger at her. "And not a word of this to Magnus. He's already heard that story from Harper. If he knows it was about you, he'll never let me live this down."
"I can promise I won't say anything." Camila promised suspiciously quickly.
Alex opened her mouth, closed it, then turned toward Ethan and narrowed her eyes. "What about you, Ethan?"
"I'm not promising anything!"
Alex turned back toward Camila. "If Magnus hears about this from either of you, I'll make sure Ethan hears every embarrassing secret of yours when we were kids, too."
"That sounds more like a reward than a threat to me." Ethan blurted out. Then, at the death glare Camila gave him, he pressed his lips together, visibly having an inner battle—weighing whether learning Camila's secrets would be worth whatever treatment and punishment she would be inflicting upon him in the foreseeable future.
With that threat temporarily neutralized, Alex continued with her explanation. "Anyway, the power he got last week allows him to heal others by taking their pain onto himself. That's how he was able to save Chloe, earlier. And that's why he's lying upstairs sweating like he's just been shot."
"Will he be okay then?" Katie raised her pen. Apparently, she'd been taking notes.
Alex rubbed her forehead. "Yeah, the pain is only psychological, not physical, from what we know."
"Yeah, we can confirm that." Aaron raised his hand and nodded. "Rachel and I checked. He's physically fine. No wounds or anything. How did you figure that out, though? You said 'from what you know,' so I assume you've tested it somehow, right?"
Alex blushed. "He… he, uh, relieved my period cramps last week and curled into a ball on the floor."
Several girls' heads snapped toward Alex.
"You got a good one, Alex," Nicole said. "Not many guys would do that for their girlfriends even if they could. I'm not sure mine would."
"My ex definitely wouldn't." Priya looked up from her phone.
"Then why are you still texting him?" Tori reached over and plucked the phone out of Priya's hands.
Ethan raised his hand. "I would. If for no other reason than the scientific purpose of figuring out which hurts more: period cramps or getting kicked in the nuts?"
Camila looked at her boyfriend. "That's the most romantic thing you've offered to do for me for the least romantic reason ever!"
"You're still welcome." Ethan pointed at her.
"You'd only have a sample size of one. So your experiment is flawed from the start." Aaron pointed out.
Valeria coughed. "So, considering what you told us, Alex, could I assume one of the people currently sitting in this room is Magnus's target this week?"
Alex held her gaze and nodded.
"Yeah, since it's come to this, I'm going to be honest with all of you about that, too. The reason why Sofia and I invited all of you here specifically was because we wanted to make sure we can have a relaxing Spring Break where his System doesn't choose someone dangerous that we can't trust." She sighed. "If it picks one of you, we'd approach it like a couple experimenting. And if you don't agree to that, then worst case scenario, we'd share the System secret I've just shared with you all."
She paused to let that sink in before turning to Maya. "But remember how I said his System loves to make things complicated? Yeah, his target this week is you, Maya. That's one of the reasons why I insisted you and Sofia go into town with him today. I wanted to give you both a chance to get to know each other so when we broach the topic later, it wouldn't feel out of nowhere."
"So," she added after a moment, "you don't have to give me an answer right now. But we'll need to discuss it again sometime before the end of the week. Magnus's life depends on it."
Maya held up a hand. "We'll decide later how we're doing this. But we're definitely doing it."
Alex stared at her as Maya continued. "I mean, after what happened today? Even if Magnus just comes to me and asks for a no-question-asked favor and asks for that—insane as it is—I'll already be considering it. But now? Now he'd just saved Chloe's life, Alex. I owe him my life for that. So we're doing this, whatever it takes, he's not dying this week."
"Thank you, Maya. Really," Alex said. "But seriously though, what the hell happened in town today that you'd already be considering something this insane if he'd asked?"
"Nothing happened!" Maya and Sofia said simultaneously.
"Anyway," Maya said after a moment, "what power did he get this week?"
Alex narrowed her eyes at Maya's obvious attempt to change the subject. Maya held her gaze.
The staring contest lasted several awkward seconds before Ethan suddenly raised his hand. "Is it friction control? Was that why you two were being suspicious yesterday?"
Alex turned to him. "Yeah, you guessed it. That's what we were trying to figure out. His System has a bad habit of making everything confusing."
Ethan slapped his forehead. "So that's what happened!"
Several people looked at him. "What?"
Ethan pointed at Miguel and Aaron. "Yesterday at the grocery store—remember the last robber? The one who just fell over for no reason and couldn't get back up?"
They nodded.
"That was him!" Ethan pointed upstairs, toward where Magnus was resting. "He made the floor slippery! That's why the guy couldn't get back up."