Later at Night, They met again at a small bar not far from the store. The lighting was low and warm, the kind that blurred the edges of everything. The TV in the corner played a muted baseball game, casting flickering shadows across their table.
Aaron nursed a bottle of beer, eyes fixed on the table as if trying to decide how much of himself to reveal.
He leaned in and spoke so softly, Lucas almost didn't catch it.
"I'm not... entirely human."
Lucas blinked, heart beat fast smiled slowly. "Alright. I'm listening."
Aaron looked around the bar, scanning for prying eyes or wandering ears. Then he spoke again.
"I come from a family line with... let's call them 'gifts.' Abilities. We don't talk about them. They're kept secret. Passed down like heirlooms no one wants to admit they own."
Lucas raised an eyebrow. "Abilities? Like what?"
Aaron exhaled, half-smiling, grinned hide behind his smile, He was tasting the water if his friends take his nonsense. "It's subtle. But when I'm stressed... things change. Around me. Inside me. I can manipulate certain elements."
Lucas's eyes widened, and Aaron couldn't help but laugh.
"I'm joking," he said, shaking his head. "Abilities, my foot.hahaha"
Lucas relaxed, chuckling. "You had me for a second there. Be serious, dude".
Aaron's expression grew quiet again. "The truth is... I don't know if I was even related to them by blood. I always felt... foreign. Like I was placed there. Not born."
"You've never told anyone this before?"
Aaron shook his head. "You're the first. I left Crestfall almost three years ago. I still send money back every month. But only Aunt Colleen ever replies. She never mentions the others. I don't know if they even get it."
Colleen Mondragon is Aaron maternal aunt — a stern but nurturing woman in her late 50s who helped Aaron after departure in his famil. Living in Crestfall her entire life, Coleen embodies the city's quiet resilience. She resides in a weathered, two-story stone house on the edge of the forest, where the mist never fully clears. Though she rarely speaks of the past, it's clear she knows more than she lets on — both about Aaron's family history and the strange happenings in Crestfall.
Every month, Aaron sends part of his earnings from Velmont City to Coleen, a gesture rooted in gratitude, guilt, and an unspoken debt. She never complain for it, but she always receives it.
Aunt Coleen sometimes sends him a message, hinting at "unfinished matters" and reminding him to "stay in good health." She is one of the few people Aaron still trusts, but never mentioned about his family though even she seems to be holding something back — something that might difficult to explain.
Lucas put a hand on his shoulder. "That's a lot, Aaron."
Aaron's fingers tightened around the bottle. "I miss them. Even after everything. But I couldn't stay. I was afraid I'd hurt them — or they'd hurt me.