Saturday night concluded uneventfully. After the shock from seeing Sophie on TV, Jacob had gone up to bed. He tried to look for the strange light again—still nothing. Eventually, he fell asleep.

  The next morning, Jacob woke up feeling full of energy. He felt like he could run around the entire Earth. So, he decided to get up and go for a jog. He got dressed, laced up his running shoes, and headed for the door. But before stepping out, he stopped by to see Grandma.

  “Grandma, I’m going out for a run. I’ll be gone for a little bit.”

  Grandma looked up from her chair. “Okay, don’t be gone for too long, Jacob.”

  Jacob nodded. “Okay, Grandma.”

  Then he headed toward the other house and beyond. Soon enough, he was jogging down the beach.

  He was running—and much faster than he was used to. It was like he could keep a full sprint going for an extended period of time. He was actually having fun, leaping from one spot to the next, and his jump strides were massive. It shocked him. It was like he was bursting with energy and strength.

  He started thinking to himself—Could this be part of the mark? Is it giving me all this extra power? Is that why Grandma called it divine?

  Deep in thought, Jacob just kept running. He ran for a good stretch before finally turning back to head home.

  On the way back, something happened.

  There was a flash—a burst of light in the sky. It startled him. He stopped in his tracks. At first, he thought maybe it was lightning, but the sky was clear. Not a cloud in sight. It confused him. Maybe it was just a plane, he reasoned, and the sun reflected off its windows. Shrugging it off, he went back inside.

  Grandma had breakfast already waiting. Jacob sat down at the table and dug in.

  During breakfast, Jacob told Grandma all about his roommates—how Sam always had his back, even though they hadn’t known each other that long.

  “He’s a good guy,” Jacob said between bites. “Always seems to care, like genuinely.”

  Grandma smiled warmly at this.

  Then Jacob moved on to Corey. “He’s always trying to stay up to date with everything going on around campus. He’s super helpful too, always trying to help us out.”

  That made Grandma smile even more.

  Then, without even realizing it, he started talking about Skye. He unknowingly described her in detail. He even mentioned the song she sang at the karaoke bar—though he left out the drinking. He also talked about how sharply she had responded to some of his comments.

  This definitely caught Grandma’s attention.

  She chuckled. “Maybe this girl has a crush on you. Maybe that’s why she sang that love song.”

  Jacob just shook his head, laughing. “No way. I doubt that.”

  After breakfast, Jacob told Grandma he was going to play some video games. Grandma simply nodded. “Okay, have fun.”

  Jacob went into his room, booted up his PC, and loaded up the latest racing game he had. Full setup—steering wheel, pedals, shifter, all the works. He used to love doing this back in high school. It brought back a lot of good memories. There was even a time when he thought about becoming a professional racecar driver. But that dream had drifted far into the background.

  He ran a few races, won some, lost more, then exited the game and turned off his PC.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  By now, it was lunchtime.

  Grandma had lunch ready on the table. Jacob grabbed a plate and started eating. He was having a great day—no problems, no stress, just old-fashioned fun.

  A little later, Jacob told Grandma it was probably time for him to head back to college.

  Grandma got up, started gathering some snacks from around the house, some from the local goods store, and even a few homemade ones. She packed them into Jacob’s backpack and handed it back to him.

  “Give these to your roommates,” she said. “That way, maybe they’ll like you even more.”

  Jacob laughed. “I don’t think they’ll like me more, but they’ll definitely start to love you.”

  Grandma smiled. “You silly boy. Now get going. You’ve got a bus to catch.”

  “Thanks, Grandma.”

  Jacob gave her a smooch on the cheek and headed out the door.

  It was about a half-hour walk to the bus stop. When the bus arrived, he got on, found a seat, and opened the window. The warm breeze and salty air brushed across his face, making him feel so relaxed that he actually fell asleep on the ride back.

  By the time he opened his eyes, he was already back in the city. The sounds of cars, horns, and people filled the air. He woke fully just a few stops later and got off at the university.

  But as he approached the campus gates—something unexpected happened.

  There was a figure standing there.

  A young girl.

  Jacob squinted, trying to make her out as he walked closer—and then he recognized her.

  Sophie.

  His heart skipped.

  Why is she here? Is she looking for me?

  A million thoughts raced through his head.

  Sophie spotted him first.

  “Hey! You! Stop!” she called.

  “Me?”

  “Yes, you. You have it, don’t you?”

  Jacob stared. “I have what?”

  Sophie walked up to him with intensity in her eyes. “My essence.”

  Jacob’s eyes widened.

  Is this what Grandma meant? Is this what she passed on to me by accident?

  “What do you mean?” he asked. “How could I have essence from you? I don’t have anything.”

  She started patting him down—aggressively.

  “Hey—stop that!” Jacob stepped back. “That’s inappropriate!”

  “Oh, please,” Sophie shot back. “Like you know what appropriate is. That day you caught me wasn’t very appropriate either.”

  Jacob sighed. “I didn’t mean to do that. You crashed into me. I did my best to catch you.”

  She glared. “Like I needed catching.”

  Frustrated, Jacob threw up his hands. “Look—I seriously don’t know what you’re talking about!”

  Sophie yanked up his sleeve—and saw it.

  The mark.

  “I told you. You have it. If you didn’t, why would you have this mark?”

  “I have no idea,” Jacob muttered. “It’s as big a mystery to me as it is to anyone else.”

  She gasped. “How many people have you told?”

  “Three,” Jacob said. “A doctor, my roommate… and my Grandma. Why? What’s the big deal?”

  “You need to give it back,” Sophie snapped. “You need to return what you took from me. Give back my essence—or else.”

  Jacob narrowed his eyes. “Or else what? I don’t even know how to give something back. If I did, I would! Please believe me—I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

  “I bet you don’t,” she said through gritted teeth. “But you better figure it out. Otherwise, my dad will send for you. And then you’ll be really sorry.”

  Jacob blinked. “You mean your dad… Drakon? The owner of MTX Group?”

  Sophie flinched. “Yes. How did you know?”

  “I saw the news last night. You were on TV.”

  Sophie stared for a moment—then growled. “Yeah, that’s who. So do you really want to press your luck? Or do you want to hand it over now?”

  Jacob could only shake his head. “If I could hand something over, I would. But I don’t know how—or what.”

  “Fine,” she huffed, puffing her cheeks in frustration. “Then you’ll have to deal with my dad. Good luck with that.”

  She spun around and ran off.

  Jacob just stood there, dumbfounded.

  Why is she always running away? Why can’t she just give me some answers? The least she could’ve done is left me her phone number or something…

  But there was nothing left to do. Jacob headed back to his dorm.

  Inside, Sam, Corey, and Skye were gathered around the table playing cards.

  They looked up as he walked in.

  “Hey! Welcome back. How was your weekend?” Sam asked.

  “Oh man,” Jacob said, dropping his backpack. “If I had a book to write, I’d definitely have one now.”

  He told them about Sophie waiting outside the gate and patting him down, looking for something called “essence.” He admitted he had no idea what she meant.

  Skye’s eyes widened.

  She looked visibly shaken.

  Jacob noticed. “Skye? Do you know something?”

  Skye just shook her head and turned away, avoiding the subject for the rest of the night.

  Jacob, still puzzled, unzipped his backpack and poured out a big bag of snacks onto the table.

  Everyone’s eyes lit up.

  “Oooh, awesome!” Corey said. “Thanks, Jacob!”

  Jacob smiled. “Wasn’t me. That was Grandma. She wanted you guys to have these.”

  Sam grinned. “Next time you see her, tell her I said thank you very much.”

  “Will do. She was happy to share.”

  The four of them sat together playing cards, using the snacks as poker chips, laughing and enjoying the night.

  Eventually, the sky grew darker.

  Jacob stood up. “Alright, we’ve got an early morning. Classes start tomorrow.”

  Everyone groaned and agreed.

  They turned off the lights and headed to bed.