Mirror Soul

Chapter Twenty: Night on the Town

Bruce tossed a comic on his bedroom floor. He had read it a dozen times, and if he even saw the cover of it again he was afraid he'd rip it up. It was Friday night, and Bruce sat in his room, grounded. His mother had taken his games, T.V, and was only allowed to use his phone outside of the house.

Leaving him with his endless collection of comics and manga, all of which he had read cover to cover more times than he could count. His mother always worked late, so he had a few hours with his phone before she got back. He had texted Clover about how Kai's first week of training went. She didn't reply before his mother arrived and confiscated it from him.

He had asked Kai about it during school, but since they only saw each other at lunch and gym, both of which were filled with non Horizon Guards, they hadn't had much time to talk. I guess the whole secret society thing doesn't work well if you're a blabber box.

He had done all of his homework, chores, and made dinner. He looked at the digital clock on his nightstand. It read nine o'clock. Bruce screamed into his pillow. I thought my only punishment for commiting murder was eteranal guilt and damnnation, but this is way worse!

Bruce was faintly aware of a tapping sound outside of his window.

It's not all bad, he thought. He didn't have to do soul training with Layva all week. It felt great to not be stiff every day. Bruce tried to think on the bright side.

I needed this! I've caught up on all my school work, sleep, and now I can finally relax. The tapping sound outside of his window got louder. Bruce got under the covers and closed his eyes. No kidnappings, no deadly animal fighting, and no sword swinging luni-

Bruce jumped awake as the tapping noise got louder and louder. "What is that!" Bruce jumped out of bed and stalked towards his window. Probably a branch bumping the glass. Bruce threw the curtains back. "Can a man get some peace and qu-" The boy shrieked and fell to his rear as he was greeted by a pair of glowing red eyes, peering at him from the darkness of the night.

"What the hell are you doing? Let me in already." Said Layva, from the large tree branch near his window. Bruce slowly stood to his feet, clutching at his chest. He stared at Layva blankly for a second before closing the curtains, blocking her from view.

... Crap!

Bruce quickly scrambled around his room, picking up his dirty underwear and socks, and tossing them under his bed. "You know, I tried to be nice and knock." Layva said from outside. "I wanted to throw a brick."

Bruce hurriedly put on some shorts before opening his window. "The drive-thru closed at eight." Layva ignored him and leapt from the branch into the room. "You can hide your dirty underwear all you want." She said as she kicked a dirty sock Bruce had missed. "But it won't hide the smell."

Bruce coughed away his slight embarrassment. "I wasn't expecting guests in the middle of the night." Layva raised an eyebrow before glancing at the clock on his nightstand. It read 9:02. Bruce sighed before taking a seat at his desk. "You scared the mystic out of me, Klevher. You couldn't have talked to me at school?" Layva walked around his room, looking at its contents.

"What fun is that?" She picked up one of his action figures and examined it. "Look, I was taking care of some nadirs in the area so I decided to stop by, see if you were slacking on your training." Now that Bruce looked at her, he could see that under her clothes she wore her white Horizon gear.

"How do you know where I live anyway?" Layva flashed him a grin.

"The Horizon Core has existed for centuries, and has a member in every important organization on the planet. Do you really think it's beyond us to find out where you li-"