"Ellis." Daniel turned after organizing the rope one last time, coiling it with precise movements. "I'm going for a walk. I need to take care of something."
Ellis, leaning against the doorframe, made an unreadable expression. Curiosity mixed with caution, as if he were trying to read between the lines of what Daniel was not saying. In the end, he only nodded.
"The ceremony is in an hour. Don't be late."
"I won't."
Daniel went down the stairs, his boots striking the old wood in a steady rhythm. Each step creaked beneath his weight, creating the familiar melody of worn timber. Colony House was busier now that the work had stopped. Low conversations echoed through the corridors, punctuated by occasional laughter.
Wherever he passed, people stopped talking. Some nodded at him with cautious respect. Others simply watched with that strange mixture of admiration and poorly hidden fear.
The guy who saved a girl and broke another man's arm on the same day.
Hero or psychopath? People were still deciding.
As he stepped outside, he spotted Julie and Fatima on the porch, talking near the worn wooden railing.
Daniel paused for half a second. His eyes met hers.
Julie froze mid-sentence, her mouth still slightly open. The smile on her lips faltered, her hand instinctively rising to tuck her hair behind her ear in an unconscious display of nervousness.
He did not approach. Did not wave. He only held her gaze for another second long enough to register her confused expression before looking away, walking down the porch steps and heading straight for the motorhome.
He did not know how she was processing the incident with Rick. Whether she saw him as a protector or as someone too violent to stay close to.
"It's better to give her space. Let her decide on her own what to think of me."
[The classic strategy of "ignore it until the problem fixes itself." Always works. Especially with teenagers. Who are famously patient and excellent communicators.]
"I'm not ignoring her. I'm giving her time."
[Sure. Keep repeating that. Maybe it'll become true.]
Inside the motorhome, the silence was absolute. Daniel locked the door and let out a breath he had not realized he was holding.
He went straight to the bathroom. The shower water came out cold at first, then lukewarm. He let it run over his head, eyes closed, as the dirt and sweat of the day washed down the drain. The sensation of cleanliness was almost therapeutic. He needed that mental reset before facing Sara.
Steam filled the small space, fogging up the mirror. Daniel stayed there for a full five minutes, letting the water work the tension out of his shoulders.
When he stepped out, drying himself with a soft towel, he grabbed clean clothes from the built-in cabinet. Black pants. A gray shirt. And since it was no longer as warm as it had been in the morning, he put on a black leather jacket over it.
The Glock went straight to his waistband.
He went to the kitchen and made a quick snack. Bread, cheese, ham, a glass of cold milk. Simple food. Fuel. While chewing, he opened the System menu with a thought.
He still had two attribute points left. He distributed them without hesitation. One into Intelligence, the other into Speed.
Status: Alive [For now]
Life Level: 1 – Peak Human
Strength: 12
Endurance: 15 (MAX)
Intelligence: 11 → 12
Speed: 14 → 15 (MAX)
He watched the numbers change, feeling a subtle tingling run through his nerves as the points were allocated. His muscles contracted involuntarily, fibers reorganizing themselves. The world around him seemed to slow for a moment, then returned to normal.
He picked up a spoon from the sink and tossed it into the air. It spun twice, metal catching the light, and before gravity could pull it back down, his hand was already there. His fingers closed around the handle with surgical precision.
"Speed and reflexes at the maximum a human can reach," he murmured, putting the spoon away with a satisfied smile.
Now only Strength and Intelligence remained to be maxed out. And then he could move on to the next level.
[Congratulations. You are now officially faster than 99% of humanity. Too bad you can still be shot.]
"Details. I'll work on that eventually."
Daniel finished eating, washed his hands, started the vehicle, and headed toward the clinic.
---
On the porch of Colony House, Julie had frozen the moment she saw him.
He had looked straight at her. Directly into her eyes. For two full seconds.
And then he had simply looked away. Got into the vehicle without a word. Without that familiar crooked smile. Without teasing. Without anything.
The emptiness of that absence weighed more than it should have. As if something she had been expecting, without even knowing she was expecting it, had not happened.
She stood there, watching the vehicle.
Thoughts began to collide inside her head, each more anxious than the last.
Did my parents tell him to stay away from me?
The idea sounded absurd as soon as it formed. Daniel never seemed like the type to accept orders like that.
Even so, the thought would not leave. Maybe he thought she had frozen. That she needed protecting. That she was weak.
Maybe he was disappointed.
"Julie? Earth to Julie."
She blinked, turning sharply toward Fatima. The woman was watching her with a gentle smile, but her dark eyes were far too perceptive.
"Are you okay?" Fatima asked, tilting her head slightly, curls swaying with the movement. "You went pale all of a sudden."
"I'm... I'm fine." The lie came out automatically, but weak. "Just thinking."
"Thinking about him?" Fatima pointed her chin toward the motorhome, her smile widening.
Julie opened her mouth to deny it, but the words died before they could come out. What was the point of lying when Fatima had seen everything?
In a burst of teenage honesty, the kind that only appears when you are desperate for answers and can no longer keep everything bottled up, she told her.
She talked about Daniel ignoring her. About the thoughts that made no sense but still hurt. About not knowing if she had done something wrong. About the fear that he thought she was weak.
The words spilled out in a disorganized rush, tripping over one another. Fatima listened patiently. She did not interrupt. Did not judge. She simply listened.
Then she started laughing.
It was not cruel. It was genuine. Amused. The kind of laughter from someone watching a simple problem being overcomplicated for no reason.
Julie frowned, offended. "What are you laughing at?"
"At how adorable you are." Fatima placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Seriously, Julie. You're torturing yourself for nothing."
"What do you mean?"
"What fault would you have in what happened?" Fatima gestured, emphasizing each word. "You almost died. And he saved you. That part is clear, right? You didn't freeze by choice. It was instinct."
She paused, letting the words settle.
"And about your parents..." Fatima continued, her voice growing more serious. "Even if they begged him on their knees to stay away from you, do you really think he'd listen? With that personality? With that way of doing whatever he wants, whenever he wants?"
Julie thought for a moment. She remembered Daniel's defiant posture, the way he stared down the sheriff without giving an inch.
"No," she admitted at last, exhaling. "He wouldn't listen."
"Then there you go. Case closed."
"But then why did he ignore me?" The frustration leaked into Julie's voice. "If it wasn't my parents, if it wasn't because I froze... why?"
"I don't know." Fatima shrugged with the brutal honesty only more experienced people had. "But if you want to be sure, you have to ask him. Directly."
Julie bit her lip. The idea of confronting Daniel directly made her nervous. What would she say? How would she even start that conversation?
But the alternative was staying stuck in her own head. Creating theories. And that was worse. Much worse.
"You're right," Julie finally said, straightening her shoulders in an attempt to look more confident than she felt.
"I usually am." Fatima winked, amused.
---
Daniel parked the vehicle in front of the clinic. The sound of the engine immediately drew attention.
Kristi stepped out the door. When she saw who it was, she raised an eyebrow.
"Do you need something?" she asked as soon as he stepped down. Her tone was professional, but there was an underlying tension. She probably expected him to be there for some medical issue.
"No. I just came to see how Sara is," Daniel said after closing the door.
"She's fine. She already went home."
"Could you tell me where she lives?"
Kristi's expression changed instantly. Her eyes narrowed slightly, her posture stiffening. "Why?"
Daniel immediately realized the tactical mistake. Sudden interest in Sara, especially coming from him, looked suspicious. She had suffered a mysterious seizure. And now the guy who had just broken someone's arm was asking where she lived.
"I want to check on her," Daniel kept his tone casual, already adjusting his approach. "And I have something to talk about with her brother."
Partial lie. Technically he wanted to talk to both of them, but Nathan was an obstacle, not the objective.
Kristi studied him for three full seconds. The silence stretched, heavy, as she weighed the pros and cons of refusing the information. Finally, her shoulders relaxed.
"They live in the house next to the diner." She gestured vaguely in that direction.
Daniel thanked her as he turned back toward the vehicle.
"I'm coming with you."
He stopped, glancing over his shoulder.
Kristi was already closing the clinic door, locking it with a quick motion. "I need to check on her anyway."
"Fine, if you insist," Daniel said, shrugging with studied indifference. Internally, he would have preferred to go alone. The conversation with Sara would be delicate. Having Kristi there complicated things.
But refusing now would only raise more suspicion.
[Congratulations. You now have a babysitter. This will greatly help with your delicate conversation about murder and supernatural manipulation.]
Kristi approached, and Daniel opened the passenger door for her out of automatic courtesy.
"I heard about what you did," she said as she climbed in, her tone neutral. Not accusatory. Just a statement of fact.
"I figured you would." Daniel closed the door and walked around to the driver's side. "And what's your opinion on it?"
"Of course I don't agree with violence." She fastened her seatbelt, fingers working the mechanism with practiced ease. "I'm a doctor. My job is to fix people, not break them."
She paused, studying his profile.
"But I understand your point of view. Rick could have killed Julie. Consequences were necessary."
"I'm only asking you one thing," Kristi continued, her voice growing more serious. "Don't solve everything with violence when there's a better option. The sheriff already has his eye on you. He won't tolerate many repeats of that. Don't give him more reasons to see you as a threat."
Daniel considered her words as he drove down the street. "Fair. But what if there isn't a better option?"
"Then you do what you have to do." Kristi shrugged, surprisingly pragmatic for someone who had started the conversation defending nonviolence. "Just make sure there really wasn't another choice first. Think. Evaluate. Then act."
"Deal."
The drive was short. When Daniel parked beside Sara's house, a notification appeared.
He blinked, surprised.
[New mission available. Choose one of the two below]
[MISSION 1: The Purge]
Cause the death or exile of Sara Myers indirectly.
Requirement: You cannot kill or exile her with your own hands. You must manipulate events so that the town does it for you.
Difficulty: Easy
Reward: 10 attribute points, 10 skill points, 1000 silver coins, 1 skill.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[MISSION 2: Devil's Advocate]
Do not allow Sara Myers to die or be exiled because of the deaths she caused.
Requirement: You must reveal the truth, that she caused the deaths of Gina and Tobey, to two influential people who do not yet know and convince them not to kill or exile her.
Difficulty: Easy
Reward: 3 attribute points, 5 skill points, 1000 silver coins.
[Fun. Executioner or public defender. Choose wisely. Or don't. Entertainment guaranteed either way.]
Daniel analyzed the options as he turned off the engine.
Mission 1 was tempting. Bigger rewards. And technically "easy," according to the system. Which he knew very well it was not.
In the series, even after Sara caused the death of Kenny's father, she was neither sent to the Box nor exiled. If he manipulated the townspeople, maybe with great difficulty he could complete the mission. But Boyd already had his eye on him. That could easily blow up in his face.
Mission 2 was riskier in theory. Convincing two people to protect a murderer sounded absurd to anyone. But for him, it was already half done. He knew someone who, once aware of the details, would help without hesitation.
"I accept Mission 2."
[Mission accepted: Devil's Advocate]
Daniel stepped out of the vehicle, his mind already laying out the mental chessboard ahead.
He needed to choose the other person carefully.
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