The living room television cast a warm glow across Katie’s face as she watched the broadcast with both fists raised, practically vibrating off the sofa.

On screen, Nicholas was fighting.

"Did you see that?! Did you see that?! Big brother punched right through it!" Katie leaped to her feet, demonstrating the punch with her whole arm.

"And then he went like this and then the monster went like that—" She mimed the zombie king collapsing with considerably more drama than the actual event required.

Marina watched from the armchair with a quiet smile.

She’d been watching both the screen and Katie for the past twenty minutes.

The screen showed something genuinely frightening—creatures that shouldn’t exist, a town trapped beneath a veil, her brother bleeding, struggling, and still moving forward. And Katie was describing it like a highlight reel of her favorite sporting event.

’He looked fine, so I guess everything is fine...’ Marina thought, still worried about Nicholas, but she pushed it to the back of her mind. She saw the ease with which he defeated the monsters.

"When Katie gets to the academy, Katie will learn how to give big brother an army! Then the monsters won’t even get close to him!" Katie declared, turning to Marina with complete certainty.

"That sounds like a plan," Marina said.

"Big sister, when bad guys come for big brother, Katie will give you powers too and you can fight with us!"

Marina chuckled. "I’ll leave the fighting to you two."

"No! Big sister has to fight too! We’re a team!"

The doorbell rang.

Marina pushed herself up. "Go get the door, I’ll get lunch from the kitchen."

"Okay!" Katie bounded toward the entrance, still humming what appeared to be a self-composed theme song about her future heroics.

Katie opened the door excitedly, but her excitement faded almost instantly when she saw the two unfamiliar faces.

Two men in suits, stood composed and stoic.

She closed the door slightly, peering through the narrow gap she had left open.

"Who are you?" she asked, her hand staying on the door frame.

One of the men forced a smile, "Hey there. Your brother sent us to take you to school. You’re starting at the Hero Academy today."

Katie looked at them.

’Big brother said he would take her himself.’

Nicholas had said that specifically. She remembered because she’d made him promise twice.

"Big brother said he’d take me," she said carefully.

"He got held up with work," the taller one said. "He asked us to come instead. He’ll meet you there."

’That’s a lie, big brother keeps his promises’ Katie didn’t move.

She kept her hand on the door frame and looked at the two men, unwilling to let them in.

"What’s going on?" Marina’s voice came from behind her.

Marina appeared in the hallway, wiping her hands on a cloth. She quickly noticed Katie had taken longer than usual at the door and hurried over to check.

The moment they heard Marina’s voice, the two men moved, kicking the door.

The door burst open violently.

Katie stumbled backward, but Marina caught her before she hit the floor, and then the two men were inside and there was no more time to process anything because one of them was already reaching for Katie.

"Let go of me!" Katie twisted and kicked and grabbed the man’s wrist with both hands. "Let go!"

The other moved toward Marina. She stepped between them instinctively, and the shove she received for it sent her into the wall hard enough to knock the breath from her lungs.

Katie screamed.

"Don’t touch big sister! Don’t touch her!"

The man holding Katie yanked her toward the door. She dug her heels in. Bit his wrist.

"Stubborn little twerp!" He swore and tightened his grip.

Marina straightened from the wall.

Her vision was still clearing.

She saw Katie’s face—scared, furious, tears starting and something moved through her that she didn’t have a name for. Not anger exactly. Something older and more absolute than anger.

’No one touches her.’

She felt it like heat moving through her arms before she understood what was happening.

She moved.

Her fist connected with the man’s jaw. He didn’t just stumble—he left the ground entirely. Slamming straight into the wall, like a bull.

She stared at her hand.

The second man came at her.

She hit him too, an unusual force pulled the man off his feet as well, sending him crashing into the other side of the room.

Both men on the floor. The room was silent except for the television still playing the broadcast in the background.

Katie stared at Marina with wide eyes.

"Katie gave big sister powers!" Katie said with a small smile seeing what Marina had done.

"Apparently," Marina said, staring at her own hand like she’d never seen it before.

"Let’s go," Marina said quickly, picking up Katie and moving toward the door. "We’ll wait outside for Nicholas."

She made it exactly three steps past the door, before her steps halted.

A car was parked directly in front of the house. A smooth black AMX G 63.

They obviously couldn’t afford a car like that. So it made her pause for a second, surprised to see it parked in front of the house.

The man standing beside it wore a brown coat and carried a walking stick with a handle carved like a dragon.

His hat was tilted at an angle as he looked at the scene in the doorway, two men groaning inside, Marina holding Katie, both of them disheveled.

Slowly, a smile spread across his face.

"So his siblings have abilities as well," Ronald said pleasantly. "Interesting."

Marina pulled Katie closer. "Who are you?"

"Someone who wants to speak with your brother." He tilted his walking stick slightly. "I just need something to ensure he shows up for the conversation."

Marina’s eyes moved to the girl standing just behind Ronald’s shoulder. She hadn’t noticed her before.

She stood quietly beside Ronald, watching the two.

One of the men from inside appeared in the doorway behind Marina, unsteady but upright.

"Come back here!" He roared.

Marina turned.

"Celine," Ronald said.

The girl by his side moved.

She was faster than she looked. Marina noticed movement from the side of her vision and turned back toward Ronald.

But Celine’s fingers already touched the back of her neck.

It wasn’t painful.

That was almost the worst part of it.

Marina felt her muscles unlock from her bones simultaneously, a wave of complete physical surrender moving from her skull downward, and she was going down before she understood she was falling.

She hit the ground still holding onto the last thought she’d managed to form.

’Nicholas...’

Katie knelt beside her, hands on Marina’s face, voice cracking.

"Big sister? Big sister, wake up!"

Ronald walked forward slowly, using his walking stick on the path.

He looked down at the little girl crouched over her sister with a cold and detached gaze.

"Don’t worry," he said. "Your brother will come for you soon."

Celine stepped past Marina’s unconscious form.

Katie’s eyes widened.

"Don’t—"

The fingers touched the back of her neck.

And the last thing Katherine heard before the warmth pulled her under was the television in the living room, still playing the broadcast.

Somewhere behind her, the front door swung quietly on its hinges.

’Big brother...’ her thoughts drifted.

[A/N: Special thanks to AuraNova for the castle!]