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Stranger Danger

*WARNING: this is an EXTREMELY long chapter so beware*

Josh groaned as he opened his eyes. Since when had he fallen asleep? Memories slowly filtered back into his mind and he suddenly snapped awake. The box. Josh struggled to his feet and found he was in a big warehouse he had never seen before. Something blinked at the edge of his vision and he turned to see red and blue flashes coming from outside the window. Why were the police here?

Josh turned in a full circle until he spotted the green cube sitting a few feet away. Josh scrambled over to it and picked it up. He didn't know why he felt such a strong connection to it. He didn't know why it mattered so much to him. It just... felt right to keep it in his possession.

Josh remembered one night when he was walking back to his house, or should I say shack, when a strange man in a white hoodie pasted by him. Josh would have paid him no attention if the man didn't shove something into his hands. It was a small box. Josh had been confused and turned to Give it back but the man had disappeared. Ever since that encounter, Josh had not been able to put the thing down. He had to have it with him at all times.

A loud banging pulled him out of his thoughts and Joshes head whipped to the side as he stared at the door. Someone was trying to get in. Someone was trying to get his box. Josh couldn't let them get the box.

He stood to his feet and backed away from the door, clutching the small object close to his chest. His breath quickened and sweat trickled down his face.

They're here to take it. They're are here to take the power. Your power. Protect it. Don't let anything near. They will take it. Trust no one. Kill them if they try to take it. Murder them.... Josh had no idea where those thoughts had come from but he didn't like them. He understood the part about no one taking his box, but power? Murder? Those defiantly weren't his thoughts.

CRASH!

The door burst open and light flooded the room. The sound of yelling and sirens filled his sensitive ears and he covered them in an attempt to block out the noise. He was panicking and suddenly had a strange urge to open the box. To see what was inside. To finally find out what was so special about it and end the confusion....

Josh lifted the lid off of the green object and his world went white.

____*

Derek woke with a jolt. He sat up and wondered why he was on the ground in the middle of a shopping mall. Derek remembered running here to get away from a few cops but he never remembered passing out. He knew he was tired from running but he didn't think he was that worn out.

People walked past him but paid him no notice as if people randomly passing out in the middle of a mall was totally normal.

Derek got to his feet a bit slower than usual as his earlier exertion finally caught up to him. He painfully made his way to a bench and sat down with a sigh. His hand was still firmly clasped around the white box in his grip.

Derek suddenly started to feel claustrophobic, his eyes nervously flicked across the crowd. Derek didn't know what he was searching for but he knew it was a threat to him. To his box.