Abel, with a relaxed hand on the wheel, gently pressed on the gas as he slowly pulled out of the lot to enter the nightly traffic. Along for the ride, Dawn, in the passenger seat, rolled down her window like she tended to do.

  Flicking on his blinker, Abel carefully checked his rearview mirror before switching lanes. The space was empty except for the grotesque mass of fleshy, deformed arms that dragged its many-faced core across the asphalt.

  "You sure you're ight with us leaving so early? It sorta seemed like your band wanted you to stick around for the other shows," Dawn cut through the relaxing, alt-rock song as they passed the mundane, glistening city of man-made lights.

  "Yeah," Abel shrugged, his eyes on the road so he could focus not only on the road but also on discerning traffic from any paranormal activity between it all. "It just feels weird to have Jen and Rose around without Baron there," he finished, before bringing them to a stop at a red light.

  "I don't know; I actually really like Rose. It's been nice to see our innocent, little Baron get out of his shell and live a little," Dawn said, her hair gently flapping in the city breeze—a long, wispy spirit flowing past her while she spoke.

  "She seems nice," Abel agreed, though he sounded more hesitant than his passenger. "And it's nice seeing him so happy…I just feel Jen is taking advantage of them to talk to me."

  "Yeah…" Dawn dragged her voice out in agreement. "She's kind of the worst. I'm not sure how someone sweet like Rose could keep a desperate, spoiled witch like Jen around," she ranted with an aggravated tone.

  Shrugging again without a good answer as to why people acted the way they did, he turned at the light.

  "God, she's the worst, not even knowing the name of your band. Like, what was she thinking? That she was going to impress you without doing the bare minimum?" Dawn rolled her eyes in a huff. "Maybe, just maybe, she could get your attention by not being such a rude ass bitch all the time!" Riled up, she let out an annoyed groan through gritted teeth and tight fists.

  Nodding, Abel agreed with an amused smirk. "You said it best," he responded as they cut into another lane, the two of them ignoring the honks from the car behind them.

  "Okay, let's move on from her annoying ass and talk about how damn impressive you were, dude!" Dawn said, chilled from her rage a moment ago.

  "I appreciate that," Abel said, filled with grateful joy, though he wasn't sure how to express it any further than those few words.

  "It was so badass seeing you perform; it felt like you were a rock star up there," Dawn smiled as she hit his arm on the middle console, though it was soft enough not to hurt. "You're really talented, dude."

  "Hopefully that's true," Abel said, and while grateful, he wasn't sure if he had the same faith in himself or Schism as Dawn seemed to have—even if he did a good job of faking it.

  "It is, you'll blow up in no time; these things just take time to get going," she said with a supportive confidence. "And he didn't get the chance to say it, but Baron would agree; he seemed to be having the time of his life before running off."

  "Did he say anything about where he went?" Abel asked, curious, since Dawn only vaguely mentioned him having an emergency in front of the others.

  "He said something about a Cognizant danger in the city or something like that, but whatever it was, it had to have been something important to him, because I swear he and Rose were about to kiss before he ran off," Dawn said before pulling out her phone to momentarily check her notifications.

  "They almost kissed?" Filled with shock, his eyes widened as he asked. "And Baron ran off?" With the added context of Baron's early departure, Abel felt a gnawing anxiety chew at him, especially since Abel knew how much their friend liked Rose and how he had been asking them advice on finding the courage to make the first move.

  "Yeah…" Dawn seemed unsure what to say. "It's obvious how lovestruck Baron is, so it really must have been important."

  "Kind of worrying, isn't it?" Abel asked, the two of them getting closer to the Juilliard Dorms.

  "Well, not much we can do right now. You'll just have to text me when he makes it back to your place," Dawn said, clearly still tense despite her attempts to relax. "At least it gave us an excuse to split from Rose and Jen without being rude… It also seemed Rose needed some space," she said, Abel only now recalling the subdued look of sadness on her face before they got into Jen's car.

  Needing to suddenly stop for a crosswalk filled with Noncognizants, and invisible corpses in a range of conditions, the two of them patiently waited for them to pass, though Abel was too worried to think of anything except their missing friend.

  "Do you ever wonder what's wrong with Baron?" Abel suddenly asked, his face remaining neutral as the gory remains of a traffic accident passed through his car.

  Softly laughing until his serious tone settled on her, Dawn looked at him, confused. "You think there's something wrong with Baron? What do you mean?" She sounded curious as she asked.

  "His Spriggan stuff, I don't really get it," Abel elaborated as they slowly worked through the less busy night transit.

  "I guess it is pretty odd that he has a secret identity; it's not like we're in a comic where he needs to hide his magic from some villain in The Haven. I mean, he's clearly a prodigy in magic; I could only imagine that he'd probably make a killing as a professional mage," Dawn added. And while Abel agreed, he wasn't sure that was what bothered him.

  "Maybe, but I guess I'm more confused why he does it," Abel said, his rapid thoughts gathering. "Why would he give up a first kiss to go help people he doesn't know?"

  "I mean, it probably was the right thing to do, right?" Dawn asked with a shrug, as a pale, ghastly woman in a white wedding dress phased through their moving vehicle.

  "Sure, maybe in a comic like you mentioned, but realistically, why would anyone do that? Throw away an important moment you've waited for to get involved in the life of strangers that'll probably never repay, or care the same as you. Isn't that a little crazy?" Abel finished, his tone increasingly worried.

  "Yeah, when you put it that way, Baron does sound a little insane, but maybe that's what makes him so unique and lovable," Dawn said with a fond smirk, Abel believing she was just trying to think positively.

  "Maybe, but it's kind of stupid to be so caring in such a selfish world," Abel added with a casual cynicism.

  "Well, there's not much we can do about that…" Interrupting her, Dawn's attention was drawn to her phone—Abel's vibrating in his pocket at the same time.

  "That the group chat?" Abel, not wanting to check it while he drove, asked as he slowed the vehicle to a stop.

  Without a response, they sat silently at the light, Abel not thinking much of it as he enjoyed the cozy music of his soft-rock playlist.

  Finally turning to see the serious look on Dawn's face, Abel tilted his head, confused. "Holy shit, I think Baron needs us," she said as her fingers began rapidly typing. "We need to hit a gateway; he sent the message 'help' with his location in the Haven." As she spoke, the thought of their overly-friendly Baron made Abel's stomach sink, and with that insurmountable worry sharpening, he floored it through the red light holding them.

  "I know one close; any other info?" Abel asked in a rush, as worry filled his naturally nonchalant voice.

  "I don't know, he's not responding!" Dawn, as she spoke, quickly searched for the location within the Haven's map app, which was disguised as a cheap, location-based mobile game. "Just get us to the city; I've got the directions once we're in."

  Tearing through the stop light, Abel recklessly weaved through the traffic coming from both sides, as he silently drew from his mana pool, until it was released through a rhythmic call of magic inaudible to the living's ears - the spirit of the swarm buzzing through the car's roof at his command.

  "Keep our path clear," Abel commanded, and despite barely being able to interact without him summoning them, the spirit quickly flew ahead of them.

  Not acknowledging him talking to something unseen, Dawn seemed to pull up to the sent location as Abel jerked the wheel to swerve past a slow car, the horn blaring as they passed.

  Barely fitting through the tight line of cars, Abel laid on the gas, the old car pushing forward as he cut between the two nearing vehicles.

  Carelessly driving forward, his Camry managed to slip past a near collision, Abel's speed increasing as he just barely avoided grinding against the other cars.

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  Speeding, Abel charged toward a yellow light, and despite his willingness to run the red, the spirit of swarms enraptured the light - their ethereal presence causing it to short out and remain unchanged.

  Barreling through the temporarily glitched light, Abel's car hit a bump as they ran through the extended opening. He and Dawn bounced into the air before his bumper grounded out, loudly scraping against the asphalt.

  "We almost there?" Dawn asked with an increasingly worried tone, though she remained unbothered while Abel nearly drifted around the block, his brakes screeching, as he swung around the turn without colliding into anything—the swarm, empowered by Abel's mana, gently tugging on a pedestrian to keep them from stepping into the vehicle's unpredictable path.

  Not slowing, despite nearly hitting someone, Abel kept going, relieved that they managed to avoid hitting them, though it was more due to it not becoming an obstacle, and not because they avoided harming someone.

  "Close," Abel said quietly, while he focused not only on driving but on feeding the spirit mana through the intangible tether between them as well.

  Abel, after traveling past a set of blocks, came to a harsh stop, his brakes grinding as the inertia carried them forward against their seatbelts. And with a pull on the wheel, Abel made a sharp turn before driving into a tall parking garage – his partnered spirit interfering with the barrier's electronics, its wooden, yellow arm rising for them to drive through, unstopped.

  "God damn it! He's still not responding!" Dawn said, her fingers moving to call him again as Abel drove a level downward.

  "We're almost in the city," Abel responded with forced reassurance. As his white-knuckled grip on the wheel tightened, he rushed down the dark, concrete ramp past tightly aligned cars on each side of them—the transition starting, evident from the subtle tugging sensation as they spun around the corner.

  But as they cleared the turn, it was evident they had returned to the base level of another parking garage. While less packed, it was brighter than before, illuminated with magically infused balls of light that hovered through the air. Wasting no time, Abel sped up before he shot through the gateless exit, the bottom of his car scraping against the exit's ramp.

  "Go left! The map says we need to get to the Harbor!" Dawn quickly said. Almost immediately, Abel cut into the road as she told him; the swarm spirit flying beside him as he pressed on the gas, their speed increasing past the limit in the less densely populated Haven streets.

  Swerving around a group of slow mopeds, Abel continued past modern, glass skyscrapers, and official, up-to-date city facilities. Abel, judging from Baron's previous tour of the city, assumed they were in Capital Avenue; the district in charge of The Haven's 'government'.

  "Go straight for a minute," Dawn vaguely said, her fingers zoomed out on the silly, game-like map as her calls remained unanswered in the background.

  Doing as instructed, Abel kept his foot on the pedal, while his spirit of swarm flew ahead of him to phase into a parked cop cruiser.

  Passing the officer far above the legal limit, Abel was sure they'd get pulled over, except in that moment, the swarm interfered with the car's battery, its lights and engine shutting off as they zoomed by.

  "Take a left up here, then immediately take a right on the roundabout!" Dawn warned in advance while pointing to the upcoming street.

  Without flicking on his blinker, Abel made the turn, an incoming car nearly side-swiping them, but luckily, they slammed on their brakes as Abel accelerated past them.

  "Fucking hell, Baron, please be okay!" she said through gritted teeth, her helplessness growing into a palpable frustration, though she remained unflinching through the near accidents and brash driving.

  Ignoring the yield sign, Abel cut someone off as he zoomed through the roundabout, until he exited onto a long street, where he could see the flashing lights of police and ambulances further into the neighboring district of warehouses.

  "Alright, we're almost there." Undoing her seatbelt as she spoke, Abel could see Dawn's eyes become reflective from the corner of his vision. "He's in the alley ahead!"

  Not letting up on the gas, they flew down the empty lane, Abel trusting that Dawn would give him directions when it was time.

  "There!" Dawn called out as she pointed toward a dark corridor between rundown buildings, at the border where Capital Avenue met Aegir Harbor.

  Abel's brakes again loudly grinded as they came to a harsh stop, Dawn vanishing from her seat before suddenly appearing in the middle of the alley. Whipping her head back and forth with loud sirens only a few blocks away, Dawn began to run down the path while calling out Baron's name.

  Unable to see her the further she went, Abel slowly followed her in his wide car that barely fit. The windows were rolled down so he could hear Dawn as she searched through the darkness and bags of garbage for their friend.

  "Baron?!" She worriedly yelled out, though there was no response from the lifeless, trash-filled hall.

  Abel's heart raced with worry, though it was a familiar anxiety he had for the few people he kept around him. Subdued as that feeling tended to be, the mental image of Baron, one of his two closest friends, dead tormented him with fear. And though he didn't see any spirits resembling him yet, there was no way to be sure.

  Slowly drifting toward Dawn, who frantically ran between the tight spaces as she continued the search for their lost friend, she began searching a disheveled pile of litter and junk.

  Visible from a distance, Abel could see Dawn's jaw drop, the look of horrified shock apparent on her speechless face.

  Quickly shifting the gear into park only a few paces behind Dawn, Abel jumped out of the car to catch up with her. There, he saw the mangled body and quickly recognized their unconscious friend.

  His beaten, nearly unrecognizable state made Abel's stomach turn with fear over his friend's mortality. As he stared at Baron's deformed face, his body remained frozen, while leech-like scavenger spirits crawled over him.

  The unsightly state of Baron's face was scarred into Abel's memory: the way Baron's lip gashed open to reveal the inside of his bloodied mouth, the way his red, blood-covered face inflated enough to cover any of his soft features, the way his skin and flesh had been torn away by deep cuts scattered across his swollen features, or the way the bridge of his nose had been flattened and broken in half—all of it was seared into Abel's mind.

  But despite Baron's grim condition, Abel couldn't sense or see any spirit resembling their friend. Snapping back to reality, the chances of him still being alive became apparent, and even if he wasn't, Abel was willing to do whatever it took to keep him from passing to the other side.

  Do something before he ends up as another restless soul; the reality of the situation became clear as he spoke to himself.

  "Get him in the back of the car!" Breaking the silence, Abel spoke with a feigned certainty he'd often use when his bandmates needed support—though he was sure no one picked up on the fake assurances in his facade.

  Still appearing too shocked to speak, Dawn gently took him into her grip before following Abel as he threw open the rear door. As Dawn carried him with a soft touch, Baron's arm slipped from her grip, its gnarled shape dangling and swinging so loose it looked detached from the inside.

  Snapped from the middle of his bicep, the once-straight bone bobbed with each one of Dawn's slow steps toward the car. Apparent now as they moved him, his forearm, from a few inches above his wrist, broke as well, the bone sticking out of his blood-stained skin.

  Watching Dawn carry Baron to the car with her bloodied hands, Abel could see the tears slip down her face. And as Dawn gently placed their friend down, whose shirt had burned away and melted into his broiled skin, Abel's own dry eyes and comparatively apathetic response made him feel guilty.

  Laid down under the back seat's light, his red, blistered, almost-scorched skin across his exposed body became brutally apparent.

  Dawn jumped into the back with Baron before Abel peeled out of the tight alley. The side of his car loudly scraped against the building's corner as he turned onto the street, his focus preoccupied by their friend's wounds that he saw in his rearview mirror.

  Oozing a stream of aromatic red liquid - Abel had little issue resisting - a protruding piece of rebar implanted itself into the right side of Baron's torso. And, in an attempt to slow the loss of blood, Dawn used her white jacket to keep pressure on the surrounding area.

  Staring back at Baron, who continued to bleed out on the once spotless seats, Abel slowed the car, his mind racing through a potential plan and the controllable variables involved in saving their friend.

  A hospital--there's sure to be one nearby--Abel didn't take long to consider the obvious choice, but then he remembered they weren't just helping anyone. This is Baron, or more specifically, Spriggan, who has to be keeping his real identity a secret for some reason or another, and a hospital will need to officially report on this.

  "What are you doing?!" Dawn shouted from the back, her words falling on deaf ears.

  Judging by his state and the sirens farther into the Harbor, he got in over his head with some potentially dangerous people, and the Haven's, presumably, unsecured records may be exploited, or get him criminally charged with some bullshit. As Abel's mind raced, his grip on the wheel tightened.

  "Abel! Get us to a hospital!" Dawn aggressively repeated, her hands and face now covered in Baron's gore.

  "Shut up and give me a second!" Abel quickly snapped back, as a memory of a previous, random, meaningless conversation he had during a blood-box pick-up—as they so often tended to be— except he recalled a mention of the Tamrat’s Immediate Care, a shady, under-the-counter clinic that was fairly equipped in Chinatown, which was mentioned to be popular with mercs, gangsters, due to rumors of the practicing doctor’s license being removed. "No hospital, I'm pulling up at a clinic's location," he finally said, the car recklessly speeding again, as he pulled up the location on his phone with the Cognizant's fake-game app.

  "What the fuck? Why not a hospital?" Dawn argued with a concerned aggression, while she continued to apply pressure to Baron's wounds.

  "Baron could get arrested or worse, depending on who he ended up messing with," Abel answered, his body being pulled against his seat belt as he turned; Dawn shifted with the momentum to remain by Baron's side.

  "Okay? And how can we trust some random clinic while Baron's in this state?" Dawn continued to question his plan, her worry making Abel start to doubt his own decision.

  "I get it… But what if someone finds Baron?" Abel responded, as he sped through the end of Aegir Harbor, the lights of neon signs in a variety of Eastern Asian languages and Chinese lanterns coming into sight.

  "What else could they possibly do to him?" Dawn said in a near whimper, her tears mixing with the blood all over her.

  "A lot, lot worse…" Abel muttered, as the grim images of what can happen to the human body, or to those a person cares about, lingered at the front of his mind.

  Silent, they passed beneath a series of red Chinese gateways that lined the street. Dawn seemingly needed a moment to think while Baron bled out in her hands.

  "O-okay, fine, just get us there." Finally, Dawn agreed to his plan, and though her tears slowed, she gritted her jaw as she quietly mumbled to their dying friend. "Just hold on a little longer, we're about to get you help," she said, her words barely distinguishable to Abel.

  And with the map saying they're only a corner from the lowly rated clinic, Abel sped through the remaining block until he needed to whip around the road's curve.

  "We're here." Bringing the car to a harsh stop as he spoke, Abel parked on the side of the street in front of an open alley with a busted, no longer glowing sign advertising Tamrat's Immediate Care at the entrance.

  Abel was quick to jump out of his car, so he could open the rear door for Dawn to shimmy out with Baron, who was still gently cradled between her arms. The two of them jogged into the alley, with a few pedestrians stopping to stare, though it didn't seem like they were too surprised or worried by Baron's state.

  But before they could make it to the entrance of the windowless building, the door was thrown outward as a boney face that almost glowed with wide eyes, both far too open popped out