I stood next to Miguel in the alley where we were attacked last night. I wasn't fond of this dark alley at all; it was simply far too narrow for almost everything. And no, the dead end was not the safest place to be here at all. My paranoia—which I neglected—had proven to be the better of us that night.

Miguel seemed a bit more like himself today. But earlier this morning, he seemed incredibly different. Anomalous. He wasn't himself. I could've only guessed what other matters he ussually attended to on his own. Where was he going—and most importantly—why?

'He even made an entire rule to cover up the fact,' I thought. 'The fact that he won't always be there for us and so we shouldn't depend on him.'

Miguel was suspicious. Whatever he was doing, he had a good reason to hide it from us — I was sure of it. But until he disclosed, I couldn't help

but suspect him. I did have trust issues after all. But pretty much still an arsehole through and through despite having a great academic standing. 

"So ... are you okay?" I asked, looking at Miguel. 

He seemed okay. In fact, he looked okay. I just needed something to drive a conversation with.

He looked at me, jamming his hands in his pockets. "I'm fine. I just got back here. What about you? You okay?"

I smiled at him. "Yeah, a few broken ribs, a hungry stomach, and a billion life threatening suicide missions to complete—of course I'm okay." 

Miguel smiled back. "Glad—I'm glad to hear that. No longer a vomit boy, I see."

I put my hands on my waist. "Why of course, I'm not. I've evolved, man. But honestly, I'd rather be a vomit boy; maybe in this way I'll be avoided. My appearance isn't gonna do anything to help scare people away."

"You can be a vomit boy again anytime you want," Miguel said, "we'll just need a corpse—yeah?"

I hated ghastly images of the dead. I couldn't get them out of my head for some reason—definetly something that spelled nightmares.

"Heck yeah. I hate corpses—I haven't seen many. But I'll do everything in my power to be a vomit boy again. I must be avoided."

Miguel snorted. "Just know that I won't be around. Not around as in away from vomit boy, mind you. There is no way I can cope with that scent. I still remember it like yesterday."

I gave him a serious look. "About that ... where would you go? To that other place go head off to every so often?"

Miguel averted his eyes. "I don't know—maybe, I would."

I heaved, looking down at the floor. "Can I ask you something else?"

"Sure," he said, brusquely. I had a feeling he knew what was coming.

I looked up at him again. "Where do you go when you leave us for some time?" I didn't want to ask about this yet, but I didn't want to stay suspicious of him forever either. 

Simply put, I didn't want to be meddlesome; but it had to be done! 

Miguel sighed. "That place I go to—it's better it remains my only little dirty secret for now—I'm sorry but I can't tell you anything about it. For now. But I promise I will at a later date, assuming our friendship lingers."

My heart sank. I wished he hadn't said that. It was even more suspicious of him after having heard the words 'dirty secret'. Sure, I wasn't done any harm stemmed by this dirty secret of his yet; so maybe it was best not to pry—get involved with his own personal affairs. 

"I understand," I said, plastering a smile. "I have a huge secret myself. I don't think I can tell you guys about it yet; but maybe I will. And you should to. But take your time, Miguel. There is no rush. There's no rush but just remember that I don't have forever."

Miguel didn't smile. He just averted his eyes in what seemed much like guilt. It went completely silent for a bit. There were only mild sounds—like the talking citizens, and the little gusts of wind. 

"We got food," I said, showing my red backpack to him. "A whole bag full. Want anything?"

"Haha," he uttered, "I'll maybe take something later. Where'd you get all that food? And oh—I almost forgot to ask—where's Hanso? Did you guys go looting or something?"

"Yeah, we actually did," I said. "Hanso and his new girlfriend isn't here yet. We decided to get the loot here in rounds instead of carrying a massive lot in one go. But I still don't think this alley is safe for us. We're only coming back here for you."

"Hanso," Miguel said, "has a new girlfriend? In couple of hours alone? When the hell did that happen?"

I cackled. "Yeah; he has a new girlfriend. Her name is Claudia, and a perfect replication ability is in her possession. But she's nuts. Crazy in the headz Hanso started flirting with her from the time she showed her ability to him."

Miguel folded his arms. "Oh, I see what's going on there."

"Yup, Hanso knows what he is doing. Whereas she doesn't. Again, she's a little messed up in the head; so she doesn't know that she's being used."

Miguel laughed. "We'll, played. And wait-" his eyes widened, "am I crazy, or did you just say she has a Perfect Replication ability?"

"Yeah, your'e right. I just said she has a Perfect Replication ability. But there is one little problem. It's apparently not functioning as it should. Hanso took her to some place to sort it out, and now we just have to wait about a month at most for her ability to work properly."

Miguel was shocked. "That's insane. Do you not know how game changing this is for us? The food in your backpack can be turned into ten times as much, or even more; depending on her competence." 

"I know," I said brusquely. "This truly is a game changer. We would even be able to give free food to the starving people around here. Food will no longer be a problem; unless, of course, we somehow lose Claudia."

"I'm not sure about giving the food to the people free of charge, but I get what you meant," he said. "Hanso needs to keep a good relationship with that girl, and we definitely should to. This is not only a game changer when it comes to food. It's also game changing when it comes to weapons and many ther things I cannot think about right now because of how utterly excited I am."

I smiled. "I was excited too." Though, nowhere near his excitement. 

"I'm here hungry as hell, when we're gonna be eating to full stomachs in a bit."

I scratched behind my head. "Yeah ... but we still just have to be mindful of how much we eat until Claudia's ability is functioning well."

Miguel slowlt turned to me, his body pivoting like an opening tap. "Ash," he said, "give that bag of food to me."

***

Hanso and—that crazy girl—Claudia had taken quite some time to get to the alley in which me and Miguel waited. I wasn't keeping a track of time, but I just knew it was past the planned fifteen minutes. The sun was beginning to fall; its overshining withdrawal conjuring an orange reddish hue upon the world. They were supposed to be here hours ago.

What was taking them so long?

We slumped against the alley walls, relaxing with slit eyes. We had eaten a bit while we awaited their arrival. I knew they would ultimately arrive; but I was getting mortally worried. 

'If they don't get back before eight,' I thought, 'I'll go looking for them.' 

For now ... I relaxed.

"Hey, Miguel," I called. 

Miguel looked at me. "Mhm? What's that, buddy?"

"I forgot to tell you about Andrew," I scratched my head, "I had quite the interesting encounter today."

"Shut up," Miguel said, "no way. You're kidding me, right? If that were true, you would have told me about him first—instead of this 'Claudia'."

I looked him in the eyes. "I swear—I saw him today. In fact, he punched me today. It hurt a lot. Like, haven't you seen my face? He was really powerful. His aura alone bothered my skin."

"Did he give you his name?" Miguel asked, intrigued. 

"Unfortunately—no," I said, "but I just knew it was him. I felt an attraction to him—I don't know if it was related to the old man's curse but it was there.He smelled like blood, but there was the scent of Maynard on him too. And the same energy as well. The same energy, Miguel! You have to believe me when I say I know it's him," I furrowed my brows, "because I know it's him."

Miguel sighed. "You got my hopes up real high there, Ash. It's just a gut feeling, but in that case," he looked at me, smiling, "I trust your gut. I believe you."

My lips parted as I gazed at him. But then the corners of them perked up to form a soft smile. "Thanks, Migue—"

"Hey guys!" exclaimed someone from behind. 

I turned around only to see Claudia and Hanso. 

"Missed us?"

"We had sex!"