He nodded. "If the guy knew you had some dormant ability that you weren't consciously aware of, I'd say he does."

Nick frowned and asked, "Does it apply to other things?"

"What do you mean?"

"Would he know something like math?"

"Oh, yeah of course. Same with languages, business, law, finances... pretty much everything."

"So he'd be the smartest man alive then."

Strom slowly agreed with the statement, but added, "It also makes him the deadliest man alive as well."

5:19 PM.

Both.e.l.l, Washington "Why can't we hang out tonight?" Rachel asked Jordan over her cell phone.

"I'm starting a new job tonight," he told her. "I mean, it's a freaking miracle I got another job so soon, so I really can't slack off at this point."

Rachel sat on her bed in her room and frowned at the news. "I guess you're right. So when's your next night off?"

"I don't know yet, but you'll be the first to know." She heard Jordan let out a sigh over the line and tell her he had to go since his shift was about to begin.

Rachel hung up and set her cell on the bed beside her.

Despite her usual attire and demeanor Rachel was far from as gloomy as she pretended. Rachel actually liked things neat and orderly, which was well represented in her organized CDs, movies, art supplies, books, clothes and shoes. Everything in her room had its place and at the moment everything was in its place, except the bracelet she'd lost on the night of the party in Seattle.

She wore tight black leggings under a checkered black and white skirt. Rachel also wore a brown and black striped tee shirt underneath a dark gray zip up hoodie. The hoodie held two purposes then, though the most important feature was the long sleeves which hid her bare wrist from her aunt, who Rachel feared might notice and overreact.

Her Aunt Claire knocked at her door and told her dinner would be ready soon. Rachel got off her bed, opened the door, and told her she'd wash up. "Will Jordan be joining us tonight?"

Rachel shook her head, "He's working tonight."

"Oh, well I guess it's spaghetti for two," she said before she turned and headed back toward the kitchen.

Rachel shut the door, locked it, and fell back onto her bed. She'd lived with her aunt since her mother died when she was twelve and although she loved her aunt for all she'd done for her, Rachel felt she needed her own privacy, and that was why she had a lock on her door, her closet, and on her journal that sat under a locked charms box on her windowsill. Rachel doubted her aunt would even want to pry, but Rachel was an overly cautious person.

Claire returned and knocked again. Rachel let out a sigh, got up, unlocked her door, opened it, and let her aunt talk. "There's a handsome young man at the door for you Rachel."

"What are you talking about?"

"He says he met you a few weeks back," she continued, "And that you two will be cla.s.smates this coming school year."

Rachel frowned but followed her aunt out to the door to find Vladimir there. Her aunt left the two of them alone. Rachel left the door open and kept close to it. She examined Vladimir and asked why he was at her home.

"I am sorry to suddenly appear here on your doorstep," he started, "And I am only here because I have a discovery that I believe could not wait until I merely happened to cross paths with you again."

"What are you talking about?"

He took a breath and told her, "I have something for you." He reached into his pack and retrieved her emerald gemmed, silver banded bracelet.

Her eyes lit up as he returned it to her, "Vladimir where did you find it?"

"I was returning home with my host brother from the party last weekend where I happened to see someone on the street who desperately wanted to sell it. I realized he must have stolen it from you and promptly bought it off of him," Vladimir reported.

Rachel's heart sank. "How much was it? I'll pay you back."

The young man refused though, "It was nothing. I only traded him a pocket watch that was hardly worth to me what that bracelet is worth to you."

"No way," she shook her head, "What do I owe you?"

The lad only smiled though. "Rachel," he said calmly, "I knew before I spoke to the man that I was going to have to lose something to get it back from him to return it to you. And besides, you told me how important it was to you and as such I could not simply allow some brigand to make off with it and rob you."

"But what about you? Now you've lost"

"I have not lost a thing," he stopped her. "Rachel, it was no trouble."

"W-Well what can I do to make it up to you?" she asked.

"Rachel, you do not owe me a thing. Some people do the right thing and do not expect anything in return."

"At least stay for dinner."

"I can't."

"We're having spaghetti, garlic bread, green beans, and I think that my aunt made some Jell-O"

"I'm allergic to tomatoes."

"Well...Well what about coffee sometime?"

"I do not"

"There has to be something. Please, there must be something that I can do to make it up to you."

"Rachel," he paused a moment to ponder her request. Vladimir finally came to what he believed to be a reasonable appeal, "I am more than aware of how little your boyfriend cares for me, as such he would never agree to this but I ask you it nonetheless as you are one of the first friends I have made since I came here this year." He took a small breath of courage and asked her, "Would you continue to be my friend?"

She blinked. "What?"

"Just...please, be my friend." He averted his eyes momentarily as he mentioned how he was usually not able to make very many friends on account of how quiet and reserved he was. "As such I would rather not lose someone like you so soon after I became acquainted with you."

She laughed at the request but agreed. "I don't think I've ever had anyone come out and ask to be my friend Vladimir."

He apologized, "As I said before, I am not exactly the most sociable of sorts."

She forgave him anyway and agreed.

They stood at the doorstep without an idea of what to do or say next. Rachel knew she was already late for dinner with her aunt, yet she felt she wanted to stay and chat with her new friend more. After a short moment pa.s.sed, Vladimir scratched the back of his head and claimed he needed to be leaving. "If I'm out too late I fear my host parents will fret."

"Oh..." Rachel cleared her throat and asked once more, "Are you sure you can't stay?"

He nodded, "Some other time maybe."

She agreed. He turned to leave, but she stopped him and asked, "How did you know where I live?"

"Ah," Vladimir was taken aback by the question. "My host brother Pyotr knows a friend who knows a friend who knows a friend who happened to know where you live."

"Oh."

He apologized yet again, "I am sorry to have just suddenly dropped by, but I knew how you worried about it at the party and I imagined you still did."

Rachel thanked him again and remained there on her doorstep while he left. She looked over her bracelet once more, briefly tried to read the Latin engraving on the inside of the band, and put it back on her wrist before she returned inside and shut the door.

Once their meal was over and after all of the dishes were washed, Rachel told her aunt she wanted to go out for a walk and that she'd be back later. Rachel left without a jacket or purse and headed toward the park.

It wasn't dark out and the air was finally cooling to a tolerable level compared to how warm it was earlier in the day. She wandered alone toward Stipek Park, which was only a short distance from her home, and though she wasn't sure why she wanted to get out of her aunt's house, she was glad to have the time to herself to meditate on the evening.

Rachel kept glancing at the returned bracelet, hardly able to believe Vladimir returned it to her. She smiled while she recalled the gesture and walked toward the bench where she and the young Romanian met weeks before. She espied someone on the bench and for a brief moment her heart raced at the possibility of it being Vladimir, though she quickly realized it was someone else.

Her smile waned as she walked past the gentleman who sat there on the bench with a set of what she thought were scriptures. Rachel walked past him though and headed toward a green field where a flock of geese stood. A few young men entered the park at the opposite end of the field and quickly ran onto it to chase the birds off. Rachel watched the geese fly away from the danger, but then they stopped. The geese and the boys and the cars on the road past the field all stopped in place. They didn't move or fall or make a sound. Everything around her simply froze where it was at that very moment in time.

"It's frightening, isn't it?"

Rachel wheeled around and looked at the man who sat where she'd met Vladimir, though he was entirely changed. He wore silver plated armor with a golden trim and golden chainmail beneath the armor that reached just to his mid biceps. The man wore a light, form fitted garment beneath his armor that extended from the armor down to the gauntlets he wore. His cape was white with blue detail and golden corners and the cape fell near his Achilles tendons. His armor pa.s.sed his waist and went down to his knees. Past that he wore tall, silver armored boots that met at his knee. And in his hands he held a four-foot long sword made of silver. The blade had no sheath and the man held the hilt in one hand and let the blade rest in his other.

The stranger continued, "Witnessing something that you cannot comprehend. Something so vastly out of your control that it could easily drive you to the depths of madness, as you know that there is not a soul on this earth who could possibly help you."

Rachel backed away from him and started to flee but as soon as she reached the edge of the park she blinked and found herself right where she fled from. The man let out a breath and asked her to stay calm. "I am not here to harm you Rachel," he told her.

"How do you know who I am?" she asked with a scowl.

The man chuckled and questioned her, "Shouldn't you be far more concerned with how all of this around you has happened?" He noted the sudden unrest in her eyes and he apologized, "All of this is foreign to you."

"What's going on? Are you the one who did this?"

"I am."

"That's impossible though."

"What is?"

"This!" she said while she indicated the park's sudden static state. "You can't just-just stop time."

The man shrugged and recited, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." He waited a moment before he added, "Philippians chapter four verse thirteen."

"I knew that..."

His eyes flashed and he cracked a smile, "No you didn't."

Rachel opened her mouth to protest but she immediately found herself mute. She looked at the man and he apologized yet again. "Unfortunately I have other matters to attend to, so allow me to get to the point Rachel." He stood up from the bench, took a step toward her, and said, "Last Friday you and your boyfriend Jordan Wilder were out at a party in Seattle where he was gravely injured. A bright light came and saved him, though you did not know from where the light came or how your boyfriend survived." The man looked at her and asked whether she could guess how her Jordan was saved. At first Rachel only glared at him, but the man merely snickered and told her she could speak again.

"I don't know...Did you save him?" she guessed.

He shook his head, "No, it was you Rachel."

She laughed nervously and denied it. "That's impos"

"Rachel," the man stopped her, "Look around you. All of this should be enough to dissuade any doubt you have about what is possible and impossible. When I say you were the one who healed Jordan Wilder I am not lying to you nor is what I have told you false." The armored man apologized for his tone and continued to explain the ability to her. "You are able to heal yourself and others from ailments, be it a toxin, a severed limb, or a simple cut. Beyond that you are able to also heal mental illness alongside deformity and a nearly innumerable list of illnesses."

"How am I supposed to do that though?"

The man grinned and told her it was something she would have to learn for herself.

He turned to leave but she stopped him, "Who are you?"

The armored man didn't answer her. He instead recited another scripture, "Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick: and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven. Matthew five, fourteen through sixteen." He turned from her and continued to walk away while he told her to live a good life, as well as an instruction to give up the drugs she consumed. "Although you now know they can't possibly harm you, I ask that you treat yourself better. You are a very special girl Rachel, someone who very many people care for and love. In fact, there are many who watch over you and want the absolute best for you. So I ask of you Rachel, please cast aside whatever doubt you have in yourself and remember that you are of great importance." The armored man smiled and told her he would see her again much later down the road and started away from her.

Rachel chased after him, but a searing light surrounded the man and he vanished from before her sight. The geese flew once more, the boys in the field laughed at the birds, and the world continued as if nothing was the matter. Rachel, on the other hand stood quietly in the park with her thoughts on the incident. She only started home after the sun began to set and the air started to chill.

Chapter 11.

August 29th, 2029 2:23 AM.

Baltimore, Maryland Jenna Bell woke to a relentless clamor at her front door. She chose to ignore it and hoped whoever tried to wake her would leave until she heard them faintly tell her they were a part of the Baltimore Police Department. Jenna donned a bathrobe hastily and started for the door.

A lone man waited outside her apartment. He flashed a badge and quickly apologized, "Sorry to wake you at this hour. I'm Detective Ryuzaki Miyaza of the Baltimore P.D. I have a few questions for you about the man you met last week named Mario Evanston, the man in the accident involving his taxi and another woman."

"What is this about? Can't this wait until the morning?" she asked wearily.

"Again, I'm sorry, but it's absolutely necessary that I ask these questions now."

She rubbed her eyes and asked to see his badge once more. Ryuzaki complied and repeated his question. Jenna relented and told him, "I only met the guy there at the accident, so I don't really know him."

"He's dead. He died in police custody last Friday."