"I...I...But you...I thought you were..."​

​     "Dead?" Adam's voice reminded Trevor of hard cement being dragged across gravel. "You thought I was dead?" The thing chuckled, or at least Trevor thought it was a chuckle. "Just like everyone else. Even I thought I was dead for awhile."

     "Yeah, well, how...uh..."

     "You hungry at all?" Gramps asked. 

​     "Well, uh, I..." Trevor hadn't even thought about food until that moment, and all he'd had for breakfast were two slices of buttered toast. "Uh, yeah, I guess I am hungry."

     "Subways?"

​     "Perfect."

     Gramps shot a look in Adam's direction. "I'll be back as soon as I can, then."

     He went to open the door.

     "Wait!" Trevor shouted, his voice coming out louder than he'd intended it to.

     Gramps turned back around. "Yes?" 

     "You just...You haven't said a word about..." Everything that had happened to him so far that morning swirled around in his head like a frantic cyclone. So much of it was impossible. Like, so what in the hell was Gramps doing in that basement, anyway? And then there was so much of it that seemed impossible but was just plain fact. He'd all but lost his virginity that morning. He'd murdered a man that morning. Trevor's breath caught. He panted. Damn it, he'd actually killed a man. He shivered.  

     "Oh. Of course. You must be losing your mind right about now, huh, my new young friend, Trevor? You wouldn't be human if you weren't. Our problem is, we're on a bit of a tight schedule. Adam will explain everything while I'm gone. Let me start the ball rolling, though, by saying that I am a member of the Azure."

     "I thought you retired," Adam said. 

     "I was just taking a couple decades off. You're the one who retired." 

​     "And who are the Azure?" Trevor asked.

     "We are warriors who battle all across time and space against a menace called The Fours." 

     "Sounds like a snap. And what, exactly, are the Fours? Look, you..."

     "The bottom line is, we need you with us, Trevor, Adam and me and everyone in Infini. But, listen, I really do have to go. We need to eat now. We've got a real busy day ahead of us. Talk to Adam. Subways and back?" 

​     "No," Adam corrected. "Subways and Starbucks and then back."

​     "Coffee and sandwiches it is."

​     Adam nodded, and then Gramps was gone, or at least Trevor thought Adam nodded. It was really hard to tell. In the motel room, in the shades-drawn darkness, Adam looked, more than anything else, like a chunk of rotting garbage sitting in a chair. He shivered constantly, so a nod...

CONTINUE