FLAW: FIFTY-ONE

**ALEX POV**

Having dinner with tension and a heavy atmosphere was difficult. I couldn't enjoy the food Sky made because of this atmosphere. I can't blame them, especially Maica, if she's feeling this way. It's normal for us, who lost someone, to be sad and grieving. But we couldn't just stay like this forever. If Tita were here, she would crack a joke to loosen this tight tension between us.

Spoon clashing on the plates.

Mouth chewing.

And runny nose.

Those were just the sounds that filled the room. No voice. Just those.

"Can we just get over it?" Trisha suddenly said, breaking the silence. Sky and I looked at her while Maica stopped what she was doing with her head still down.

"Do you think it's that easy?" Maica questioned in a shaking voice as if at any moment she'd be erupting into tears.

"I know it's hard, Maica, pero hindi natin maibabalik si Tita sa pagluluksa natin,” Trisha replied. We were all surprised when Maica suddenly slammed the utensils she was holding on the table, roaring through the entire house. We just stared at her as she started crying.

I noticed Trisha stood and walked towards Maica. She started comforting her until Maica hugged her. Trisha started crying too, and soon enough, even I couldn't hold back the tears. I bowed my head as I cried. I thought I was done crying. I thought there were no more tears left in my eyes. But when I saw the two of them crying, my seemingly exhausted tears flowed once again.

******

We're in the living room now discussing our plans for tomorrow. Maica decided to come with us because she wouldn't have anyone to stay with at home. Sky was busy searching the net for answers to defeat those creatures. While I attempted to open my clairvoyance, Trisha and Maica opted to watch a Netflix movie.

According to my alter, clairvoyance is similar to clairaudience, but instead of using brainwaves and soundwaves, it utilizes light energy waves to refract objects that couldn't be seen. I found it challenging. Unlike in clairaudience, visualizing brainwaves was easy. However, I had no intention of giving up.

I closed my eyes once again and visualized an energy wave emanating from my eyes. It's kind of funny when I'm picturing it in my mind as if I'm shooting lasers with my eyes. I decided to open my eyes, but nothing happened. Nothing appeared unusual or strange.

"What are you doing?" Trisha asked. She probably noticed that my eyes were closed.

"Trying to activate my clairvoyance. I think I might need it," I replied. Trisha nodded in response and returned to watching the movie. I glanced at Sky, who was still focused on his laptop. I approached him and leaned my head on his shoulder. I looked at his laptop, where he was reading a website containing information about the creatures they discussed earlier with the Enigma Club.

"Can you share with me what you've learned?" I asked Sky, and he agreed. He scrolled through the website, revealing the word "Leprechaun" on the screen.

"Leprechauns are fascinated with gold," Sky showed me a picture of a small man dressed in green with pointed shoes, standing next to a pot of gold. "While goblins are just powerless tiny green creatures, they have tools believed to be used for combat." Sky then showed me a photo of a green-skinned dwarf with a large pointy nose and ears, sharp teeth, and eyes with bad intentions.

"Imps are babies with horns. They are called the 'children of the devil' and believed to be mischievous," Sky narrated, displaying a picture of a baby with devil horns, wings, and a tail. It looked frightening. This was the first time that I got scared by babies. "Lastly, bogies are the difficult ones to defeat. They lurk in the shadows and can use our shadows as their portal for a surprise attack."

"Can my force field stop them?"

"I don't know, Alex, but if they are using our shadows, they can breach your barrier, especially if the shadow is inside the field," he explained. I nodded in response, understanding what he meant.

"So, how are you going to defeat them?" I asked as I sat straight to face him.

"Each one of them needs a different approach," Sky scrolled the webpage up, showing the photo of the leprechaun again. "but facing them in a battle all at once is not a bad idea." Sky continued. I glanced at the two girls still engrossed in watching the movie. I couldn't help but think that these two were too vulnerable.

All of us were interrupted when we heard three knocks on the door. We wondered who it might be until Trisha stood and walked towards it. I used my endar to know who it was and saw three human energy signatures standing just outside the door. Their height told me that they were not kids but adults. Maybe in their 30s, I think.

I deactivated my endar and watched Trisha open the door. The moment she opened it, I instantly felt this feeling, telling me something bad would happen.

"Shit. Alex, get Trisha!" Sky suddenly ordered, and I used my telekinesis to pull Trisha back to us. I noticed Sky pointing his gun at the door as if someone was threatening him.

Maica and Trisha were in a state of shock about Sky's sudden action. Whoever it was, Sky hated them. I gestured for the two to stay close to me, and they immediately followed. As three men in black suits entered the house, I conjured a force field around us.

The frontman had this smile on his face, while the other two at his back, who I believed were his guards, had this serious look opposite from him. The three faced us until I noticed this familiar insignia tattooed on both bodyguards' necks.

"Glias," I said, remembering our arch-nemesis symbol. Hate and disgust poured over me as I recalled the time when they took away from me the family that I had before. Brought by anger, I unconsciously summoned three psi balls, but when I noticed them, I held back from releasing them. I couldn't just kill them without asking where they put Lola Vemine.

"Alex," Trisha called after noticing the psi balls I conjured.

"I know, Trisha. Just preparing," I informed. I could feel the tension right now given off by the three. I finally saw what they looked like in person. And as expected, they were irritating.

"Such an unfriendly welcome you have there, Alex," the man in the front remarked. He was grinning as if he had malicious intentions towards us. "That's not how you should welcome your guests," he teased, further annoying me. Sorry, but this is how I welcome my enemies. I threatened them until they pissed themselves.

"Guests? More like pests," Maica mocked them, which was a good one. I couldn't help but smile at Maica's insult to the man. But he smiled as well, pretending he wasn't insulted, although I could feel he was getting annoyed.

"That was a good one, Maica. He's pissed," Trisha reported. She probably noticed the irritated aura around him. I secretly linked my strings to the guns they had on their backs and started unscrewing their parts. It's better to act early than too late. As Sky said, attack while they're open.

"Why are you here?" Sky asked, still pointing his gun towards them. I could feel how he was holding back his anger by the way he gripped the gun. I heard his gritted teeth as anger poured over him.

"We are here as per the director's order. We're here to discuss what is happening right now." The man's words immediately caught my attention. He was probably referring to the strange occurrences due to the destruction of the sheet. It seemed like they knew about it. "We discovered that the sheet separating us from the other world had been severed. And the only cause is you, Alex Rischon, or let's say One."

I was surprised when he mentioned my old name. Sky and I exchanged glances, both widening our eyes. His smile grew wider as he noticed our reaction.

"Our humble scientists did their best to recreate the sheet. And just yesterday, they successfully created a machine that can restore the sheet,” the man informed us, leaving us puzzled. A machine capable of restoring the sheet was indeed a brilliant idea. However, I guessed that sacrifices would be necessary to achieve this.

"Why are you telling us this?” Sky asked.

"Because we still have one more part missing. We need you, Alex, to power up the machine." Sky and I were not surprised by his statement, except for the two concerned women staring at me. He was smiling more mischievously than before as if he wanted me dead. It seemed like my suspicion was correct. They were after me from the beginning, so I wouldn't be surprised why they needed me. "Only you can power that machine and restore the sheet. This is what you wanted, right, Alex? To close the sheet and stop those monsters from rampaging in our world?" he asked, trying to convince me. Persuading me to help them with their sugarcoated plan.

Yes. That's what I wanted even if it cost me my life.

"Through this, Alex, we can prevent the worst. And everyone will live unharmed,” the man continued. A smile escaped from my lips as he said those words.

"That is indeed a brilliant idea, mister,” I said, giving my companions a reason to be surprised. The psi balls that I conjured earlier disappeared. The man smiled back as if he had already convinced me to help them. But they were mistaken. "The sheet will be restored, and everyone will live peacefully."

"Exactly, Alex!" the man agreed, making him smile even more. However, the moment I changed my expression to a serious one, his smile slowly faded.

"But you forgot one thing,” I said, grabbing some knives from the kitchen using my ability. Two of his bodyguards immediately grabbed their guns, but they were surprised when every part of the guns fell and shattered on the floor. "You took something important from me, and you almost killed my family,” I continued, then threw the two knives at them, levitating them in the air. However, we were surprised when something deflected the knives, stopping them from killing the three.

"A force field?" Sky guessed.

"Sky is right. I saw it,” Trisha commented as she stared intensively at the three as if observing something we couldn't see.

"How foolish of you, Alex. I thought you would help us,” he muttered, giving me a reason to get angrier.

"Do you think I'll help people like you? You don't care for the people! All you think about is yourselves! You only care about gaining power!" I growled as I released all my anger towards them. I conjured three psi balls and was about to release them when Sky stopped me. I looked at him in surprise.

"The house,” he pointed out. If I released these explosive orbs, the house would be damaged. And I couldn't afford to lose this house too. So, I deactivated the psi balls and tried to regain my composure.

"Looks like this negotiation is a failure. Well, let this be a warning, Alex. Time will come, and you will surrender yourself to us,” he mumbled, signaling the two behind him to leave. The three left the house while we just stood and watched them walk towards the exit.

When they finally left, Maica let out a big sigh. "That was intense!" she remarked, then sat on the sofa and leaned against the backrest. Trisha sat as well, and then I did. Sky grabbed the knives and put them back in the kitchen. All of us still couldn't believe that Glias just invaded our house.

"You okay?" Sky asked as he sat next to me.

"Fine,” I answered, and he hugged me. Being in his arms was such a wonderful feeling. Knowing that you're protected when he hugs you. All of my worries and fears the three earlier brought instantly vanished as if his arm is like a vacuum that sucked all of my negative thoughts and feelings away.

It's almost past midnight, but the four of us were still awake, unable to sleep due to the trauma caused by Glias. Even Sky couldn't seem to relax himself. He paced back and forth before me, thinking about something I didn't know. I had no intention of reading his mind; he might scold me.

After a few hours, the two women fell asleep on the couch. Sky and I were still wide awake.

"Can't sleep?" I asked as he sat down. Sky shook his head. "Me neither. I'm scared,” I confessed. I felt Sky's hand on mine and squeezed it tight. He leaned towards me and gave me a kiss on my lips.

I missed this.

“Me too,” Sky said telepathically. I just smiled and kissed him back. Through that kiss, we both felt sleepy. Sky leaned on the backrest while I rested my head on his shoulder. He intertwined our fingers as he leaned his head on mine. We didn't take long to be visited by sleep.