Chapter 6: A Friend in Need

The abandoned movie lot in Burbank felt like a graveyard of dreams—crumbling soundstages and rusted equipment scattered across acres of weeds and broken asphalt. Kaelen crouched behind the skeletal remains of what had once been a Wild West saloon, his phone pressed to his ear as he listened to Mateo's terrified whispers.

"It's been following me for two days, K. At first I thought it was just paranoia, you know? Like maybe seeing you blow up the Hollywood sign messed with my head. But this thing..." Mateo's voice cracked. "It's not human. It smiles too wide, and its eyes... God, its eyes are like black holes."

Three hours had passed since the confrontation with Valerius, and dawn was creeping closer with each passing minute. Lyra had insisted they needed rest, time to plan, but Kaelen couldn't shake the feeling that time was running out faster than either of them realized.

"Where are you now?" he asked, keeping his voice low.

"Hiding in the 24-hour laundromat on Sunset. It's been circling the building for an hour, but it won't come inside. I think the fluorescent lights are keeping it away, but I can't stay here forever."

Kaelen's blood ran cold. A creature afraid of artificial light—that matched Lyra's description of a Remnant, one of the shadow-feeders that had been bound beneath the Hollywood Ward. But this one was different, more patient than the mindless hunger they'd faced at school.

"Mateo, listen to me very carefully. Whatever you do, don't go outside. Don't even go near the windows. We're coming to get you."

"We?"

"I'll explain everything when I see you. Just... stay alive until then, okay?"

He ended the call and turned to find Lyra watching him with those ancient violet eyes, her expression unreadable in the pre-dawn darkness.

"It's hunting your friend specifically," she said. It wasn't a question.

"How did you know?"

"Because it's what I'd do." Her voice was clinical, detached. "The Remnants aren't mindless creatures, Kaelen. They're strategic. This one has identified your emotional vulnerabilities and is exploiting them."

The words hit him like a slap. "You're talking about my best friend like he's collateral damage."

"From the Remnant's perspective, that's exactly what he is." Lyra moved closer, her pale face serious. "It can't attack you directly—the Keystone's power makes you too dangerous. But it can make you come to it by threatening someone you care about."

"Then what do you suggest? Let it kill Mateo to avoid a trap?"

Something flickered across her features—an emotion too quick to identify. "No. But we go in knowing it's a trap, and we plan accordingly."

"Fine. What's the plan?"

"Simple. I create a distraction while you get your friend to safety. Once he's clear, we eliminate the Remnant before it can call for reinforcements."

The plan was straightforward, logical, and completely ignored one crucial factor: Mateo was going to see everything. The moment Kaelen used his powers in front of his best friend, there would be no going back to their old life. No more pretending to be normal.

But the alternative was letting Mateo die, and that wasn't an option.

They reached the laundromat just as the sky began to lighten in the east. The building squatted between a closed tattoo parlor and a check-cashing place, its windows blazing white in the darkness. And there, pacing back and forth in the parking lot like a caged animal, was the Remnant.

In the harsh light spilling from the laundromat, it looked almost human—a tall, thin man in a rumpled suit, his dark hair slicked back with what might have been pomade. But there was something wrong with the proportions, as if someone had tried to build a person from memory and gotten the details slightly off.

"There," Lyra whispered, pointing to a figure hunched over one of the washing machines inside the building. "Your friend."

Mateo sat with his back to the wall, his eyes fixed on the creature outside. Even from this distance, Kaelen could see the terror written across his face.

"On my signal," Lyra said, her hands beginning to glow with contained light. "Get him out through the back exit. I'll keep the Remnant busy."

She stepped out of concealment, power crackling around her like bottled lightning. The effect on the Remnant was immediate—its too-wide smile faltered, and it spun to face this new threat.

"Hello, shadow-spawn," Lyra called out, her voice carrying impossible authority. "Looking for someone?"

The Remnant's response was a sound like grinding glass mixed with dying screams. It abandoned its patrol and rushed toward her, its human disguise beginning to fray at the edges. Darkness bled from its fingertips, and its smile stretched wider than any human jaw should allow.

Kaelen used the distraction to slip around to the laundromat's rear entrance. The door was locked, but the glyph on his hand flared in response to his urgency, and the metal simply... bent. Not melted or broken, but reshaped as if it were clay.

Inside, the air reeked of detergent and human fear. Mateo looked up as Kaelen entered, his eyes wide with relief and confusion.

"K? How did you—" The words died as he saw the silver light emanating from Kaelen's hand. "What the hell is that?"

"Long story. We need to go, now."

"Not until you tell me what's happening!" Mateo's voice cracked. "That thing outside—it's been hunting me for days. And now you show up with... with whatever that is, and you expect me to just follow you?"

Outside, the sounds of battle grew louder. Lyra's constructs of light clashed with the Remnant's darkness, creating a light show that would have been beautiful if it weren't so deadly.

"The night we blew up the sign," Kaelen said urgently, "something happened to me. Something I didn't understand until a few days ago. That explosion—it wasn't just vandalism. We broke something important, and now there are monsters hunting through LA."

Mateo stared at him like he'd started speaking in tongues. "Monsters? K, you're scaring me."

"Good. You should be scared." Kaelen grabbed his friend's arm, pulling him toward the back door. "That thing outside? It feeds on human souls. And it's using you as bait to get to me."

They emerged into the alley behind the laundromat just as something crashed through the front window. Glass exploded outward in a shower of sparkling fragments, followed by Lyra's body. She hit the pavement hard, rolling to absorb the impact, but Kaelen could see blood on her pale skin.

The Remnant flowed through the broken window like liquid shadow, its human disguise completely abandoned now. What emerged was a nightmare of too many limbs and burning red eyes, a creature that belonged in the deepest circles of hell.

"Run," Lyra gasped, struggling to her feet. "I can't hold it much longer."

But Kaelen wasn't running. Not this time. The silver glyph blazed to life along his entire arm, and he felt the vast ocean of celestial power stirring in response to his determination.

"Mateo, get behind me."

"K, what are you—"

"Just do it!"

The Remnant let out that glass-grinding shriek again and lunged toward them. But this time, Kaelen was ready. Power flowed through him like liquid starlight, and instead of fighting to control it, he let it flow. The energy shaped itself into a barrier of pure force, and the Remnant slammed into it with bone-jarring impact.

"Impossible," the creature hissed, its voice like nails on a chalkboard. "The boy-child wields star-fire."

"Yeah," Kaelen said, his voice steady despite the power burning through his veins. "And you're about to find out what that means."

He pushed more energy into the barrier, transforming it from defense to offense. Silver spears of light erupted from the construct, each one aimed at the Remnant's center mass. The creature dodged with inhuman speed, but it couldn't avoid them all. When the first spear struck, it screamed—a sound of genuine agony that seemed to shake the very air.

"You cannot destroy what feeds on shadow," the Remnant snarled, even as more of Kaelen's attacks found their mark. "We are eternal. We are—"

"Loud and annoying," Kaelen interrupted, pouring everything he had into one final assault.

The silver fire that erupted from his hands wasn't the controlled precision Lyra had taught him—it was raw, primal, and utterly devastating. The Remnant's scream cut off abruptly as the celestial energy tore through its essence, unraveling the bonds that held its form together.

In seconds, there was nothing left but wisps of dissipating shadow.

Kaelen swayed on his feet, the sudden absence of power leaving him feeling hollow and drained. The glyph on his hand had dimmed to barely visible, and he could taste copper in his mouth.

"Holy shit," Mateo whispered. "Holy actual shit. You just... that thing... how?"

Kaelen turned to face his oldest friend, seeing his own reflection in Mateo's wide eyes. There was no going back now. No pretending this was all a bad dream or a prank gone wrong.

"The short version? I'm apparently some kind of magical lightning rod for supernatural nasties." He wiped blood from his nose, trying for his old cocky grin and only managing exhausted. "The long version is gonna take a while."

"Are there more of them? More of those... Remnants?"

"Yeah. And they're all coming for me."

Mateo was quiet for a long moment, processing everything he'd just witnessed. When he finally spoke, his voice was steadier than Kaelen had expected.

"Okay. What do we do?"

The simple acceptance in those words hit Kaelen harder than any of the night's revelations. Despite everything—the monsters, the danger, the complete upheaval of everything they'd thought they knew about the world—Mateo was still with him.

"We figure out how to fix this," Kaelen said. "Before it gets worse."

But even as he spoke, he could feel something changing. The Remnant's death had sent ripples through whatever supernatural network connected these creatures, and now other things were stirring in response. Bigger things. Hungrier things.

And somewhere in the growing dawn light, Kaelen caught a glimpse of something that made his blood freeze. A mark on Mateo's forehead—barely visible, like a brand made of shadow—that pulsed in rhythm with his heartbeat.

The Remnant's final gift. Even in death, it had marked its prey.

Mateo was safe for now, but he was also changed. Connected to the supernatural world in ways that Kaelen was only beginning to understand.

Another friend pulled into his mess. Another person whose life would never be the same because of his mistakes.

The weight of responsibility settled on his shoulders like lead, but this time, Kaelen didn't buckle under it. He'd made his choice back in the alley—he wasn't running anymore.

Whatever came next, he'd face it head-on. Even if it killed him.

Especially if it meant protecting the people he cared about.