He looked at the young woman and nearly forgot who he was when he saw her. She had strawberry-blonde hair, a fine complexion, and hazel eyes. She looked back at the place she stood only moments ago and breathlessly thanked him. "I'm so sorry. I didn't even see that car."

"Uh...don't worry about it." He couldn't think of what to say next. His heart raced and he felt numb too, but held her tight and tried to focus on the flight without looking away from her.

"So what do they call you?"

"Um...Voltage," he said while his ears reddened, suddenly realizing how childish it seemed to have a super hero's ident.i.ty.

She wrapped her arms around his neck after she glanced down. "Thanks again," she said. "I'm Emily by the way."

1:10 PM.

Both.e.l.l, Washington Vladimir followed an employee into the Calming Wake. The employee held the door open for him, Vladimir thanked him, and quickly found his seat at the table of a robust young Russian.

A cup of water stood on the table, which Pyotr indicated was for Vladimir. The Romanian greeted his friend casually as the Russian took a drink from his own cup of water.

"Where's Rachel?" Pyotr asked.

"School. And she plans to spend the afternoon with her friends should that be acceptable." He locked eyes with his comrade and asked if they were needed.

Pyotr shook his head and said it was only a question. "I feel that I must apologize for the task I set upon you and Rachel last weekend." He swirled his drink counterclockwise for a moment before he said it was unfair to set them up for such a task so prematurely. "I would have accompanied you had I been able to."

"And what you hindered Pyotr?"

Pyotr kept his mouth shut. He left Vladimir to order a cocoa with cream which he returned with in hand as well as a small black straw to stir it. He took a sip and offered Vladimir some, who refused it. "You really should try this sometime. They're marvelous."

"It would be a waste as I could not taste it," Vladimir reminded him.

"Yes, of course..." Pyotr stirred his drink a bit before he spoke again, "Joshua is dead."

Vladimir looked him in the eye and asked how it happened. "I thought you did not know where he was?"

"I didn't but suddenly he was no longer cloaked from me."

"Then you killed him?"

Pyotr shook his head. "He was burnt to death by a third party. But I was able to see the ash and verify that it is true. He is dead."

Vladimir sat back in his seat and let out a small sigh of relief. He then continued, "That leaves Raphael and Constantine."

Pyotr nodded and mentioned how they'd caught a stroke of luck.

Vladimir let a smile come upon him, "I remember you saying there is no such thing as luck."

Pyotr grinned, "There isn't."

Vladimir finished his water while Pyotr drank his cocoa. Vladimir then asked, "Do you know where Raphael might be?"

Pyotr remained quiet and shook his head. "Not at the moment. I've heard whispers about events that could very possibly lead us to him in Honduras; however none of them feel substantial enough for me to ask you to investigate."

Vladimir frowned, "Then we are still in the dark about everything..."

"It would seem so."

Vladimir set his plastic cup away from himself before he offered a sigh of relief, "Then our journey is nearly complete."

Pyotr smiled, "It's getting there."

Vladimir studied him and asked, "What are you plotting Pyotr?"

His Russian companion took a sip of his water and shook his head. "I believe we've been through this, old friend. None of this is my plan."

"Well then, what of it?"

Pyotr grew solemn in an instant and regrettably denied Vladimir a concrete answer. "Constantine's journey, his tyranny is at an end, yes, but I fear there is much more afterwards Vladimir."

Vladimir studied his eyes and frowned. "Pyotr, what is it?"

He shook his head and sighed, "I truly wish I could tell you, but there are matters beyond my control. I am, as you know limited in what I can do here, as impossible as that might seem." Pyotr took a deep breath to compose himself and continued on another note, "But Constantine's demise is ever so close; it is all we need to focus on for now."

"And what of these events you have mentioned Pyotr?" Vladimir stopped him. "Our agreement"

"I know Vladimir, I know. And this very well may not concern you in the end, but not all of our party will be exempt."

"Rachel?"

He nodded. "Her story is not going to end once Constantine is felled my friend."

Vladimir rubbed his eyes and pushed his water away from him. "Can you tell me anything Pyotr?"

The angel smiled and simply said, "We're almost done Vladimir. Let that be enough for now."

Author's note:.

I started this novel near the tail end of my senior year of high school back in 2007. I had a creative writing teacher who mentioned one day that if someone ever wanted to be a writer that the best time to start was in high school, as high school students are generally unproductive with their ma.s.sive amounts of free time. What my teacher said resonated with me and I started to examine just how much time I had that I failed to utilize, and I realized he was right. I went home, bought a notebook, and started writing.

But this book hasn't been easy for me to write. Writing itself comes easy enough, but I can spend an entire day writing something wonderful, something I'm genuinely proud of, and the very next day I'll reread it and want to tear it to shreds. Regenesis has always been a source of anguish and melancholy for me. I have high hopes for it and I have great fears that this book is absolutely terrible. And after five years of writing, editing, rewriting, rearranging, and even more rewriting, I sincerely worry that this book is pure garbage. So if it is, I apologize.

But anyway, I wanted to make a bit of a note as to what spurred this book. I was fascinated by super heroes and the supernatural throughout my adolescence (and I admit I'm still enthralled to this day) and originally I wanted nothing more than a super hero novel that was simply something fun and interesting. But as I wrote, the characters I thought were the main characters stepped aside for others, and one in particular (Mizuno) went from having nothing more than a single page in my book to transforming into one of the most important figures in the novel (if not the most important one). Pretty soon I realized that Regenesis wasn't a joke anymore, at least not in my eyes.

I've done my best to focus on the people in the book rather than the super heroes, mainly because as I've finished this book and begun my work on the sequel, I've regretted using super heroes as a literary tool because a lot of people don't believe super heroes can be a serious thing. And I don't think they are either, but Regenesis is supposed to be.

Let me take a moment to add that I take this book seriously and I believe it's translated into the text and it can be seen therein. But if not, I never intended to make these characters a laughing matter.

Regenesis is really about melancholy and isolation and abandonment (intentional or otherwise) and I didn't realize what that meant to me until I was married and I wasn't depressed or alone anymore. This novel is basically a compilation of the emotions of a downtrodden and socially awkward young man who only had this one outlet to expunge his rage, frustration, melancholy, and hatred. I know a good portion of the readers are going to be from my high school and college days and they may have even known me fairly well back then, and I just want to apologize for failing to open myself up more. I didn't know how and I doubt I could have then even if I had tried. Social settings were a painful and an eternal nightmare, which is why I never attended social events outside of hanging around with my absolutely closest friends. In retrospect, I'm not sure why I was so neurotic, but I was (and I imagine I still am to some extent). It ruined my primary education years as well as some of my years though college, but at the same time I might have never written this novel without that constant need to remain distant from others. So if you knew me at all in high school and were put off by me, or if I seemed distant or short or curt or rude, I'm sorry.

In any case, Regenesis was also a personal aid that managed to help slowly break me out of my own little world by creating another one. I've only ever shared this book with a select few people, mainly out of fear that others would not receive it well (and also that I have always felt the book is incomplete or unpolished), but now I'm tired and I know I need to move on to the next work. So finally this book is available to anyone interested in it, or interested in what I've spent about a fourth of my life on.

Acknowledgments:.

There are a lot of people who helped shape this novel, as well as future novels of mine. I would have loved to dedicate this novel to each of them, but this will have to suffice for now.

First, I would like to thank Taylor Wilson, Helen Pemberton, Emily Ferguson, Leslie Ferguson, Libby Kronstedt and her mother Maureen Lytle (for their exemplary a.s.sistance with editing this book), and J.C. Rainier, all of whom not only read my work in its various early and incomplete forms, but also gave me the criticism I needed to better shape Regenesis. Without their support I might have simply let this project fall to the wayside. Also, a very special thank you to "Mythological" Daniel Schue, who helped me work out many of the theoretical and nonsensical elements of this book (specifically with time manipulation). And a very, very special thank you to Julian Weaver who designed the cover art for this book. And I cannot forget to (eternally) thank my wife Kendra, who has not only suffered through my brooding and constant concern over this work (and innumerable other matters), but who held nothing back and helped me shape some of the weakest parts of Regenesis into what I feel are its strongest points.

Second, to the following musical artists for their works that inspired me so very much. Special thanks to the Silversun Pickups (specifically for Carnavas and Swoon), Sparta (for Threes), the Deftones (for Sat.u.r.day Night Wrist and Diamond Eyes), Tool (for 10,000 Days), the Smashing Pumpkins (for Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness and all of Teargarden by Kaleidyscope), Barcelona (for Absolutes), Brand New (for The Devil and G.o.d Are Raging Inside Me), Evanescence (for Fallen), Soundgarden (for Badmotorfinger, Superunknown, and Down on the Upside), Nirvana (for Bleach and In Utero mostly, as well as the demo versions of Do Re Mi and You Know You're Right), Alice in Chains (for Black Gives Way to Blue mostly), and Company of Thieves (for their self-t.i.tled alb.u.m).

Third, I just wanted to acknowledge the following books, short stories, and graphic novels that inspired me and influenced this book: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ordinary People by Judith Guest, The Sun Also Rises, The End of Something, and Hills Like White Elephants by Ernest Hemingway, Watchmen by Alan Moore, Secret Ident.i.ty by Kurt Busiek, The Question series by Denny O'Neil, , Norwegian Wood, Hear the Wind Sing, and After Dark by Haruki Murakami, The Catcher in the Rye and Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger, Dracula by Bram Stoker, The Body s.n.a.t.c.her by Robert Louis Stevenson, and The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde.

Fourth, I want to recognize a few films and television series that have helped shape this novel: The Fountain, The Prestige, The Darjeeling Limited, Supernatural, The 400 Blows, American Beauty, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Donnie Darko, Batman: The Animated Series, and Primer.

And finally, thank you to my family for the support through the years.

Harrison Pierce was born in Seattle in 1989 and continues to live in the Pacific Northwest with his wife Kendra. He is currently working on the sequel to Regenesis, tentatively t.i.tled Melancholia.

end.