“Are you coming for breakfast?” came the call from downstairs.

“Yeah.” replied Zack Lyons, watching the fires from outside fade, revealing a perfectly ordinary city that was not in the throes of meteorite-based destruction. “Can you give me five minutes?”

“Alright. Be down shortly!” replied his dad.

Confident that the meteors had been fake, he extended a hand towards his phone, and it hovered through the air from his bedside table until he could grab it. The first thing he did was reply to Raziel; a conversation he was not sure he wanted to have.

OK, I’m bored of this now. Explain it. ZL 

 Ra Finally

 Ra What you’ve been seeing for the last few weeks are psychic visions

What? ZL 

 Ra You’re a psychically inclined kid, right? You have telekinesis if I remember correctly

Well, yeah. Sort of. ZL 

 Ra Because you have this psychic power you see visions

Zack also decided to respond to Lola as he saw the picture that she’d sent him, with seemingly no context whatsoever.

Cute picture of your floor. Was there a reason for it? ZL 

He crossed the room, talking to both Raziel and Lola, and flopped in the beanbag next to the clown doll and headphones. His dark hair flopped over his eyes and he pushed it out of the way, deciding to take the headphones and catch up on some of his videos. The videos he liked to watch, mostly playthroughs of video games or musical compositions, were usually what distracted him from his work in the evenings, but on this particular Saturday he did not have a lot to do, and so took the time to relax.

I see. So, what do you want with me? ZL 

 Ra You and your five friends have a critical role in our plan to save the universe

Oh my god. ZL 

I hope you realise how fucking stupid this sounds. ZL 

 Ra I know

 Ra I’m not saying you have to like it, but you have to believe me

As his dad called upstairs once again, Zack pocketed his phone and made his way out of his room. Raziel’s claim had been very strange. Zack and five of his friends had unexplained psychic powers, and over the last few weeks, they had been experiencing horrific visions, much like the meteors he had seen or the body that Lola had reported.

When they realised that they had all been having these visions, they’d started to wonder what the point of them was; that was when Mizar and Raziel had started to message them. They claim to come from mysterious worlds and predicted that the universe was going to be destroyed. Though it sounded completely ridiculous, somehow Mizar and Raziel had access to the children’s numbers, and that was concerning. They had knowledge of their private lives too, knowing things that only the children themselves should know.

These weren’t coincidences. And it made Zack nervous.

Can you give me a while to think about it? ZL 

 Ra I suppose

Thanks. ZL 

Zack knew exactly who to talk to about this. If anyone could genuinely confirm whether Raziel was telling the truth or not, and whether he should be trusted, it would be Cass. Even as he thought this, his phone buzzed as he walked into the dining room, and it was indeed Cass who had messaged him. She had a habit of predicting what times he would want to talk to her. His father and mother smiled as he walked in.

“Good morning.” his mother said.

“Sleep well?” asked his father.

“Yeah, I did, thanks.” Zack replied, walking into the adjoining kitchen to make cereal. “You?”

“Indeed we did.” his mother responded. Zack nodded as he checked Cassie’s message.

 CJ You wanted to talk to me?

Uh, yeah, actually. It’s still so weird how you do that, you know. ZL 

 CJ I suppose. You know me, though.

That’s true. Anyway, I did want to ask you something. ZL 

You’ve been getting messages from someone called Raziel, right? ZL 

 CJ No. But I have had similar messages from the one called Mizar. You mean the ones discussing the end of the universe?

“Just wanted to let you know, I’m going shopping this morning so you’ll be in on your own until lunch.” Zack’s mother said. Zack poured milk on his cereal and walked over to the table.

“Yeah, that’s fine.” he said. “I’ll get some work done or something.”

“That’s our boy.” beamed his father. Zack felt a pang of guilt, knowing full well he would not get any work done. He ate his cereal in relative silence whilst his parents talked amongst themselves. Eventually, they stood up and vacated the dining room area, presumably to watch the morning news.

Yes, exactly. I was wondering if your powers have told you whether they’re lying or not? ZL 

Like, are we going to be helping them in the near future? ZL 

 CJ From what I can tell, yes. We will be crucial to their plan, and to some extent, they are being genuine.

I’ll let the rest of the group know. ZL 

 CJ Sounds like a plan.

Feeling more confident about Raziel’s claims now, Zack took his bowl to the kitchen on autopilot, ending up back inside his room within a minute or two, without really recalling how he had got there. He decided to shower and get dressed.

Once showered, he returned to his room where he saw that Cassie had replied.

 CJ Incidentally, it is nice that you have such faith in my abilities. Thank you for that.

Oh come on, how could I not? You predicted every one of my birthday presents last year before I’d even opened them. ZL 

It was fucking mind-blowing. ZL 

He got dressed quickly whilst he chatted. It was the usual affair: dark blue jeans and a grey top, picked up from the floor. They’d only been worn yesterday – they would be fine for another day.

 CJ Ahahah, it was nothing. I can’t really control what I see, and I only get glimpses.

It’s incredible, really. ZL 

Anyway, I should let the group know and reply to Raziel already. Thanks for your wise counsel, as usual. ZL 

 CJ That’s perfectly fine, Zack. Um, just before you go…

 CJ Have you heard from Geoffrey today?

Not today; at least, not this morning. ZL 

Want me to message him? ZL 

 CJ It’s fine. It’s not too important, but if he does message you, tell him to talk to me. He’s supposed to be discussing something with me.

Will do. ZL 

As he heard the rumble of his parents’ car leaving the house and driving away, Zack put his headphones back on and basked in the warmth of the morning, continuing the video that he had been watching before breakfast. The group and Raziel could stand to wait another ten to fifteen minutes, surely?