TW - Some disturbing themes mentioned.
Two weeks later, Alex appeared at Dario's dorm room.
"Ready for that next step?" he asked when Dario opened the door.
"What next step?"
"Meeting the others. I've arranged a gathering. Five people like us, including you and me. It's time you understood what you're part of."
Dario glanced back at George, who was engrossed in his biology textbook and wearing noise-canceling headphones.
"When?"
"Tonight. Off campus. I'll drive."
"I should tell Sarah—"
"No." Alex's voice carried a sharp edge. "This is for our kind only. Humans wouldn't understand."
"Sarah's not just human to me."
"She's not one of us. That makes her a liability."
Dario felt Cassius stir at the implicit threat. "She's not a threat to anyone."
"Isn't she? She's studying people like us for her research. What happens when she decides we're too dangerous to be allowed to roam free?"
"Sarah would never—"
"Sarah is human. Humans fear what they don't understand, and they destroy what they fear. It's their nature."
Alex stepped closer, and Dario could see Lucian looking out through his eyes.
"You're going to have to choose eventually," Lucian said. "Them or us. The life you've been pretending to live, or the truth of what you are."
"I don't want to choose."
"You don't have to. Not yet. But tonight, you're going to see what's possible when people like us work together."
Against his better judgment, Dario found himself nodding. "Okay. But I'm telling Sarah where I'm going."
"Fine. But she doesn't come with us."
An hour later, Dario was sitting in the passenger seat of Alex's car, watching the city lights blur past the windows. He'd texted Sarah, telling her he was going out with Alex and would be back late. She'd responded with a simple "be safe" and a heart emoji.
I have a bad feeling about this, Cassius said.
You have a bad feeling about everything lately.
With good reason. Lucian is dangerous. These people he's taking us to meet—we don't know anything about them.
We don't know anything about anyone. That's the point.
Dario, promise me something.
What?
If things go wrong tonight, if you feel threatened or unsafe, you'll let me take control. No arguments, no trying to handle it yourself.
I promise.
They drove for almost an hour, leaving the city behind for a stretch of rural highway. Alex finally turned onto a dirt road that led to what looked like an abandoned warehouse.
"Here we are," he said, parking beside three other cars.
The warehouse was lit from within, casting long shadows across the empty parking lot. Dario could hear voices from inside—laughter, conversation, music playing softly.
"Relax," Alex said, noticing his tension. "These are good people. Complicated, but good."
They walked through the entrance into a space that had been converted into something resembling a living room. Comfortable furniture was arranged in a circle, candles provided warm lighting, and the concrete floor was covered with expensive-looking rugs.
Three people were already there, and they all looked up as Alex and Dario entered.
"Everyone," Alex said, "this is Dario. And Cassius."
A woman with silver hair and ageless features stood up. "Welcome, Dario. I'm Elena, and this is Nyx." She gestured to herself as she spoke, and Dario realized she was introducing both her human identity and her passenger.
"Maya and Kali," said a girl who looked to be about twenty, with intricate tattoos covering her arms. "Nice to finally meet you."
The third person was a man in his thirties, wearing a expensive suit despite the casual setting. "David," he said simply. "And Mammon."
Dario nodded to each of them, trying to process the implications of what he was seeing. These weren't just people with psychological conditions—they were all claiming to host ancient entities, gods and demons from various mythologies.
"Sit," Elena said, gesturing to an empty chair. "We have much to discuss."
As Dario sat down, he noticed that each of the others carried themselves with a subtle confidence that reminded him of Cassius. They were all dangerous, he realized. All of them had access to power that ordinary humans couldn't comprehend.
"First meeting?" Maya asked, noticing his expression.
"First meeting," Dario confirmed.
"It's overwhelming at first," David said. "Learning that you're not alone, that there are others who understand what it's like to share consciousness with something beyond human experience."
"How long have you all known each other?"
"I've been gathering people like us for about five years," Elena said. "We're not the only group, but we're one of the largest. There are others scattered around the world, most of them unaware of their true nature."
"True nature?"
"Vessels," Alex said, settling into the chair beside Dario. "Chosen to carry the consciousness of beings that exist outside normal reality."
"Chosen by who?"
"That's the question, isn't it?" Elena smiled. "Some of us believe we were chosen by the entities themselves. Others think it's random chance, a quirk of genetics or psychology that makes us compatible hosts."
"What do you think?" Dario asked.
"I think," Elena said, her voice taking on older, more resonant tones as Nyx surfaced, "that we are what we've always been. The bridge between worlds, the guardians of ancient knowledge, the keepers of powers that most humans have forgotten ever existed."
Maya laughed, but there was darkness in the sound. "Nyx always gets philosophical when she's been drinking wine. What she means is that we're freaks of nature who got lucky enough to bond with something that keeps us from going completely insane."
"Speak for yourself," David said dryly. "Mammon and I have a very practical arrangement. He provides certain... advantages, and I provide him with experiences he can't access in his natural state."
"What kind of advantages?" Dario asked, though he wasn't sure he wanted to know.
"Wealth. Influence. The ability to make people do what I want." David's smile was cold. "Mammon is, among other things, a demon of greed and material success. Very useful in the business world."
"And what does he get in return?"
"The pleasures of human existence. Food, wine, sex, the simple satisfaction of a well-executed plan. Demons are sensory creatures, but they exist in a realm where physical sensation is limited."
Dario felt sick. "You're talking about possession."
"Partnership," David corrected. "Possession implies an unwilling host. We're all here by choice."
"Are we?" Dario looked around the circle. "Did any of you actually choose this, or did it just happen to you?"
"I chose," Maya said firmly. "When I was sixteen, I tried to kill myself. Pills, razor blades, hanging—nothing worked. Every time I got close to death, something pulled me back. Finally, I realized it wasn't something external keeping me alive. It was Kali, waiting for me to stop fighting her and start working with her."
"What changed?"
"I stopped trying to die and started trying to live. Really live, not just exist. Kali showed me how to be strong, how to fight back against the people who'd hurt me, how to make them pay."
"Pay how?"
Maya's tattoos seemed to shift in the candlelight, and Dario caught glimpses of symbols that hurt to look at directly.
"Let's just say my stepfather won't be bothering any more little girls."
The casual way she said it made Dario's blood run cold.
These people are killers, Cassius said urgently. We need to leave.
I can't just walk out. They'll know something's wrong.
Better they know something's wrong than we end up complicit in whatever they're planning.
"You look uncomfortable," Elena observed. "Having second thoughts?"
"I'm just... processing. This is a lot to take in."
"Of course it is. But you need to understand, Dario—we're not the monsters here. We're the ones cleaning up the mess that ordinary humans make. We're the ones with the power to actually make a difference."
"By killing people?"
"By removing threats," Alex said. "By protecting the innocent and punishing the guilty."
"Who decides who's guilty?"
"We do," David said simply. "Who else has the wisdom and power to make such judgments?"
Dario stood up abruptly. "I need some air."
"Of course," Elena said graciously. "Alex, why don't you show him around outside? Give him a chance to adjust."
Alex followed Dario out of the warehouse into the cool night air. They walked in silence for a few minutes before Alex spoke.
"They're good people," he said. "They've just been through things that most humans couldn't survive with their sanity intact."
"They're vigilantes."
"They're survivors who decided to fight back instead of just enduring."
"And what about you? What's your story?"
Alex was quiet for a long moment. "I was seventeen when Lucian first spoke to me. I'd been hearing voices for years, doctors thought I was schizophrenic. I was in and out of psychiatric hospitals, heavily medicated, barely functional."
"What happened?"
"I tried to kill myself. Jumped off a bridge, should have died on impact. Instead, I woke up in the hospital without a scratch on me. That's when Lucian explained what I was, what we were together."
"And you've been together ever since?"
"Partners. He gives me purpose, power, understanding. I give him a way to exist in this world, to experience things he can't access from his native realm."
"Do you love him?"
The question seemed to surprise Alex. "Love him? I... that's not how I'd describe it."
"How would you describe it?"
"Completion. He's the part of me that was always missing. The part that makes me whole."
They'd reached the edge of the parking lot, where the asphalt gave way to scraggly grass and wildflowers. Alex turned to face Dario, his expression serious.
"I know this is overwhelming. I know it's not what you expected. But these people, this group—we're your family now. The only family that will ever truly understand you."
"What about Sarah?"
"What about her? She's human, Dario. She'll age and die while you and Cassius continue existing. She'll never understand what it's like to share consciousness with a being that remembers the fall of Rome, the birth of Christianity, the rise and fall of civilizations."
"Cassius has those memories?"
"Doesn't he? Haven't you ever caught glimpses of things you've never experienced, knowledge you've never learned?"
Dario thought about it. There had been moments, flashes of images and sensations that didn't belong to his life. Ancient cities, languages he'd never studied, faces from centuries past.
"Sometimes," he admitted.
"That's because Cassius is older than human civilization. He's seen empires rise and fall, watched species evolve and go extinct. Sarah, for all her intelligence and compassion, is a mayfly compared to beings like us."
"Beings like us," Dario repeated. "What are we, exactly?"
"We're the next step in human evolution. The bridge between mortal and divine. We're what humanity could become if they stopped being afraid of their own potential."
Alex stepped closer, and in the moonlight, his features seemed sharper, more angular.
"I can show you things, Dario. Teach you to access powers you didn't know you had. Help you understand what Cassius is really capable of."
"And in return?"
"In return, you help us. We're building something here, something important. A community of people who don't have to hide what they are, who can use their gifts to make the world better."
"By killing people."
"By removing obstacles to progress. By protecting those who can't protect themselves. By ensuring that people like us can exist without fear of persecution or exploitation."
Dario was quiet for a long moment, weighing his options. The rational part of his mind was screaming at him to run, to get as far away from these people as possible. But another part—the part that had always felt different, isolated, alone—was drawn to the idea of belonging somewhere.
Don't do it, Cassius said. Whatever you're thinking, don't do it.
Why not? They're like us. They understand.
They're nothing like us. We've never killed innocent people.
How do you know those people were innocent?
Because everyone is innocent until proven otherwise. That's the difference between justice and vengeance.
What if you're wrong? What if they really are making the world better?
Then we'll find our own way to help people. But not like this. Not by joining a group of vigilantes who think they have the right to decide who lives and dies.
"I need time to think," Dario said aloud.
"Of course," Alex said, though disappointment flickered across his features. "Take all the time you need. But don't take too long. There are other groups out there, and not all of them are as benevolent as we are."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean there are people hunting us, Dario. Government agencies, religious organizations, even other supernatural entities who see us as threats to the natural order. The only way to survive is to band together."
"And if I decide not to join?"
"Then you're on your own. And being alone in our world is very dangerous."
They walked back to the warehouse in silence. Inside, the others were deep in conversation about something that involved maps and newspaper clippings. They looked up as Alex and Dario entered.
"How are you feeling?" Elena asked.
"Overwhelmed," Dario said honestly.
"That's normal. Would you like to stay for dinner? We were just about to order pizza."
"Actually, I should get back. Early class tomorrow."
"Of course. Alex, why don't you drive him back to campus?"
The ride back to Northwestern was quiet. Alex seemed lost in thought, and Dario was grateful for the silence. He needed time to process what he'd seen and heard.
As they pulled up to his dorm, Alex turned to him.
"I meant what I said earlier. About caring about you. Both of you."
"I know."
"I also meant what I said about the danger. Whether you join us or not, there are people who will try to hurt you simply because of what you are. Promise me you'll be careful."
"I will."
"And Dario? If you ever need help, if you ever feel threatened or scared, call me. Day or night. I'll come."
"Why?"
Alex was quiet for a moment. "Because I've been alone for a long time. And meeting you... it's made me remember what it feels like to care about someone."
"Alex—"
"I know. You're with Sarah. I'm not asking you to choose me over her. I'm just asking you to remember that I'm here if you need me."
Dario nodded and got out of the car. He watched Alex drive away, then stood in the parking lot for a long moment, trying to make sense of everything he'd learned.
When he finally went inside, George was already asleep. Dario lay in bed staring at the ceiling, Cassius's warnings echoing in his mind.
What do you think I should do? he asked silently.
I think you should stay as far away from those people as possible.
But what if Alex is right? What if there really are people hunting us?
Then we'll deal with that when it happens. But we won't deal with it by becoming killers ourselves.
What if we don't have a choice?
We always have a choice, Dario. That's what makes us different from them.
Different how?
They've given up their humanity in exchange for power. We haven't. Not yet.
Not yet?
There will come a time when you have to choose between being human and being something else. When that time comes, I hope you choose wisely.
Dario closed his eyes, but sleep was a long time coming.