"I'm so glad you're alive!" Harmony was thrilled, hugging us three.

  "Indigo!" Scarlet gasped. "What happened to you?"

  My friends greeted us at Biringan's tiled lobby. I hugged everyone in my arm's reach. My dorm mates. My fellow haunteds. It's only been a day but I can't help but tear up a bit.

  "How'd you manage to survive a night on your own?" Cato said. He was standing a distance from the guys crowding us.

  "Yo! You're on TV!" Leo asked. "You burned the mall?"

  "Well..." I started. I looked back at Cana and Indigo. It was decided that the news should come from us. Especially the news that we, the haunteds, are supposed to be teaming up with the very cultists who'd been trying to kill us. They gave me the nod.

  "We have something to tell you guys," I said. "What we're about to tell you will be hard to hear. You will have questions, but you must listen to the end. Let us finish first. Then we will start answering questions."

  Somehow, the air-conditioned room got colder as those words left my mouth. Our friends agreed to our request. The smiles and excitement quickly died down as Cana, Indigo, and I took turns telling our story. Their faces contorted into horror as we explained who these guests were. As we went on, some sat down on the steps of the grand split staircase in the center of the lobby. Some remained standing down. I conveniently left out the part where Cana and I abandoned Indigo to her death.

  To their credit, my friends never said anything. They listened to the end, never interrupting. I was expecting a barrage of questions now that we've finished but instead we were met with a moment of silence.

  "So you're telling me," Leo said, breaking the silence. "That these people"--he stabbed an accusatory finger at our companion--"these people are the ones who killed Eris..."Leo said. His voice controlled. Measured. Like a volcano, bubbling, waiting to erupt anytime.

  "Yes..." Cana said.

  "They killed Eris!" Leo exploded. "Why would you bring them here! Why show our faces to them?"

  "I don't trust them, Major," Scarlet growled. "I will never trust these murderers!"

  "I'm with them, sir," Caprice said. If she was feeling angry or confused, it didn't show in her voice. "Are we to pretend that the last couple of weeks didn't happen and just work with them? I've been reliving my friends' death each night for the past days. Some of us see fresh horror just by closing our eyes. We will never be the same, Major. And you want us to work with the people who caused this?"

  "Believe me, this isn't my first choice either," Major Coleman said. "Unless anyone has any idea on how to reseal the seal Vergil opened?"

  Unsurprisingly, any further arguments had not been vocalized.

  He turned to Leo.

  "You want to get even? You want to make them pay for what they did to Eris?" Major Coleman said. "Then this is how. You may not like it. But this is the way. So hold onto that anger, Leo. It will sustain you in our fight with the cultists. The right ones."

  Leo glared at the cultists but said nothing.

  "Major, if I may?" Dr. Yap said.

  Major Coleman gave her the nod.

  "As these three explained," Dr. Yap said. "We can no longer use Azgarmoth's power. And we are not under the delusion that once we've stopped Luca, Major Coleman will let us go and continue our activities," Dr. Yap looked back at Major Coleman. "Isn't that right, Major?"

  But Major Coleman remained silent.

  "So if we are successful, then we would be defenseless, at the mercy of Major Coleman. Of you. Of the people of Bastillio. But knowing so, knowing that by showing ourselves to you, we are giving up any hope of freedom or future, we still come to you. Why? Because if Luca is not stopped, there will be not a future either way. We simply wished to avoid that."

  Leo stepped up. "If I saw your friends, I will kill them."

  "I wouldn't have it any other way," Dr. Yap replied coldy. "Show no mercy. Hesitate, and they win."

  "If there are no more objections," Major Coleman said. "Then let's proceed." He turned to Dr. Yap. "This Luca," Major Coleman said. "What does he want?"

  "They are trying to open the door, let Azgarmoth in," Dr. Yap replied.

  A sudden silence envelops the room. There was an immediate effect on everyone's faces. Ranging from shock to confusion. Well, except Major Coleman's. Who looks as stoic as ever. He looked at me.

  "Why do you three look so surprised?" Major Coleman asked. "Didn't they tell you that? Otherwise, there is no reason for you to vouch for them, right?"

  "I..." was all I could get out. My mind immediately replayed the events of the last night, starting with waking up at their penthouse. But to my surprise, I couldn't recall a single memory of them telling me this. The only thing that come to mind was that they promised to help us get back here.

  "They...didn't," Cana said, coming to the same realization as I just had. "They told us that the cult split and that they're trying to stop the new leader and for that, we need to get back here so they promised to get us back."

  "And we did," Dr. Yap said. "Didn't we?"

  Major Coleman looked at Cana, prompting Cana to answer.

  "I--I guess...at that moment," she stammered. "It was good enough for us."

  "It didn't really even cross my mind until now," I said in a low voice.

  "Indigo?" Major Coleman said.

  The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  "I was unconscious most of the time," Indigo said. "When I woke up, they just bombarded me with all these facts that were friends with the cultists now and that they left me to die and—and I...I don't know what was going on. I just don't know..."

  My body jolts up from the shock.

  Immediately, I heard murmuring from my friends.

  I was so occupied with the current tense situation that I forgot about that. No. More accurately, I thought we got past that. That that shameful act or ours was never getting the light of day because of the more pressing matter at hand.

  "Vergil," Leo said. "What does she mean?"

  "I—we had no choice!" I screamed. "Our car crashed! She was bleeding from the head, knocked out. Then we had this cultist kill the other cultists! He told us to trust him but he was a cultist I didn't know what to do, okay!"

  I looked down the tiled floor, gritting my teeth.

  "It wasn't the kid's fault," Rustia said in my defense. "For what it's worth, he shot me. But couldn't kill me. So they ran away. It was very confusing, very scary, for a kid who has no idea what was going on or what to do. So cut the kid some slack. It's not like any of you would do any better in that situation."

  "Rustia," Dr. Yap said with authority.

  "I'm just saying," Rustia shrugged.

  "You three did your best to survive, given the situation you found yourselves into, if any of your friends have any problem with that, they can talk to me" Major Coleman said.

  "I don't have a problem with that," Cato said, starting a series of supportive words from my friends.

  "Me too," Scarlet said.

  "I'm so sorry," Harmony said to Indigo. Then she hugs her. "That was terrible."

  "By the way," Indigo said with her chin on Harmony's shoulder. "We talked about it, they were very apologetic. And I understood. Really."

  "That's good to hear," Major Coleman said. Then she turned to Dr. Yap again. "But I would like to get back on track. You said they plan on opening the door? To what purpose?"

  "The end of the world, "Dr. Yap said. "Well, end of OUR world, anyways." She added, putting great emphasis on the word: our.

  "Because in this new world they are making," Dr. Yap continued. "They will have the power to subjugate every living things in this world, in this dimension, to their will, with Azgarmoth as their master, of course."

  A silence fell over.

  "But to do that," Major Coleman said, breaking the silence. "They need all twelve, yes?"

  "Correct."

  "But as you can see," Major Coleman looked at our huddled group. "It would be difficult to get all twelve."

  "I assure you," Dr. Yap said. "The cult will stop at nothing to get their blood. All twelve of them."

  "Do blood from a deceased haunted work?" Major Coleman said.

  Dr. Yap raised an eyebrow. "Deceased?"

  "Your surprise attack with the New Shade did its job," Major Coleman said in a steel voice. "It got three haunteds, civilians, and a lot of my men."

  "What are you talking about?" Rustia said. "Three haunteds are dead?"

  He looked at our group then back to Major Coleman. "You're not just hiding them from us?"

  "Seriously?" Leo said. Anger was vibrating in his voice. "You got the files, right? When you raided that base. You really expect us to believe that you don't know anything?"

  "The files they've got only recorded things up until October of last year," Dr. Yap said. "Nothing about the events of October 1 this year up to now was recorded."

  "Mission reports are only filed after each mission," Major Coleman explained. "Meaning, since this month, this mission, isn't over yet, then there is nothing to send except for the files of this year's haunteds. But they've got the specs of the defenses of last year. And it's not like we've made a lot of changes for this year so the report they've got is still pretty accurate. Except for the few alterations I've called in last night."

  "Do you mean the new barricades and everything?" Cana said.

  "It was for the cult," Major Coleman said. "Should they be foolish enough to attack us here."

  "They got us the first time only because we didn't expect there to be multiple Shades. They pull something like that again, they will lose." Major Coleman said. The way he said it wasn't even as a threat, but as if simply stating an obvious indisputable fact.

  "But if what you said is true," Indigo asked Dr. Yap. "If they need all twelve, then their plan is already doomed, right?"

  That makes sense. It's been already what? Two-three weeks since their deaths. As horrible as it is to say, but the bodies of my friends must have already rotten. There is no more blood for them to get. Unless of course, Major Coleman had decided to preserve their blood without telling us, without our consent. It was not wishful thinking. It was just literally impossible. I was actually feeling hopeful about the situation.

  "Unfortunately, no," Dr. Yap said.

  My heart sank. "But why? How else are they going to open the door without all twelve of us?" I said. My voice was rising but my anger was not directed at Dr. Yap.

  "There's a reason why haunteds' blood is used in all our rituals," Reina continued.

  "This is Reina," Dr. Yap introduced. "High Priestess of the Church of the Primordial Void."

  "Priestess?" Major Coleman raised an eyebrow at the introduction. "She's just a kid."

  "My father had been training me in my duties since I was little," Reina said.

  "Believe me," Dr. Yap said. "You wouldn't find any better expert about Azgarmoth in this world."

  Major Coleman scoffed. But still he told Reina to continue.

  "As I was saying," Reina said. "The "The door was made with Celestial Energy. And only with the same energy can it be opened. Haunteds' carry this energy in their blood."

  "Celestial energy?" Major Coleman said.

  "To put it simply," Reina said. "It is the energy from the stars."

  "You mean solar?" Cato said.

  "Not quite," Reina said. "This is energies coming from the celestials themselves."

  "The celestials?" Major Coleman said.

  "Twelve beings of pure starlight," Reina said. "The ones who made the door and sealed Azgarmoth away from this dimension."

  Twelve beings of pure starlight. I repeated in my head. My mind immediately went back to the list of birthdays of us twelve. Each were born in a different constellation.

  "Wait," I said when everything clicked. "You mean to tell me that the constellations are...what, alive?"

  "The constellations are based on the twelve," Reina said. "But they are not them. These celestials had created the stars, which in turn, birthed life on earth."

  "Okay," Major Coleman said. "So they need these twelve kids to open the door. But they are not twelve anymore. But you said there is still a way. How?"

  Reina looked at Dr. Yap. "Dr. Yap?"

  "Luca, the current cult leader, announces a new discovery," Dr. Yap began. "He said that haunteds' blood may not be necessary after all."

  You can hear a pin drop in the room as we all fell silent, hanging on the every word of Dr. Yap.

  "He found out that ordinary people have trace amount of this celestial energy flowing through them."

  "Wait," Caprice to us. "Didn't the Shade, Daniel—she turned to the cultists—"your boss"—she turned back to us—"said something similar?"

  My mind immediately replayed Daniel's words in his voice:

  You zodiac borns are like battery cells for the Celestials' power. The light within you, in your blood, in your flesh, no matter how strong, lies dormant. By consuming you, I can tap into the celestial energies inside. In its dormant state, it wouldn't harm me. In fact, by merely exposing it to the void energies in my body, I can corrupt it, transform it into void energies, and use it to strengthen power, hence, my control. My body is that of the Void so it should work.

  "Battery cells," Reina said, lost in thought. "But really, they are more like nuclear power plants. Ordinary people are the batteries."

  "I see," Major Coleman said. "So how much juice is needed to match the energy output of all twelve?"

  "Well," Dr. Yap said. "According to Luca's plans, at least 200000 thousand individuals per zodiac sign."

  "2.4 million," Cato said. "And how many are there living in Bastillio right now?

  "At least triple that," Caprice said.

  "How are they supposed to abduct all these people in a single night?" Scarlet asked.

  "They don't have to," Dr. Yap said. "They just have to do the ritual on a much larger scale, one encompassing the entire city."

  This is the very first time I saw shock register on Major Coleman's face. "What happens to the people extracted out of their celestial energies?"

  "Well, the specifics aren't passed down by his 12 Aekolyktein," Dr. Yap said. "But what do you call a battery that can no longer charge devices?"

  "A dead battery..." I muttered.

  Reina did the worst thing she could do in response to my statement.

  She nodded.