Jun slumped against the walls of the alley.

“Uh oh.” Kae rushed to Jun’s side, placing two fingers on his neck.

“No pulse. Ryan, ya got any rift energy left?”

“Just barely. Wait, you can’t be serious…” Ryan replied.

“This kid’s gonna die if we don’t try. Do it now.” Kae stated firmly.

Ryan laid Jun’s body flat on the floor, lifting his shirt, now soaked with blood. Ryan placed his hands carefully; one on Jun’s right chest, another on his left hip. He applied a minimal amount of electricity, mimicking an AED by delivering a current through Jun’s heart.

Jun’s body convulsed. Still no pulse.

Ryan attempted another defibrillation. Again, and again.

“Yep, I feel something.” Kae said, retracting his hand.

It wasn’t until the fifth shock when Jun’s heart began to beat. Ryan sat down in relief.

The sound of screeching tyres reverberated throughout the alley as a car came to a halt at the entrance. Two agents emerged from the sedan.

“Yu Kang, Team Leader Minnie!” Kae shouted.

“Damn, this looks bad.” Yu Kang muttered, as he examined Jun. Yu Kang, a Class 2 agent, was a support-class agent. His prowess, Boost, allowed him to accelerate the rate of organic reactions. In this case, he opted to speed up the clotting process to stop Jun's bleeding.

“Interesting. His clotting factor is much higher than the average person. What’s his prowess?” Yu Kang asked as he continued to heal Jun.

“No idea. He’s an unregistered prowess user.” Kae uttered, equally curious.

Ryan coughed, clearing his throat. “He didn’t have a prowess before this. I couldn’t sense anything from him till he was punched by the Riftwalker. Something could have triggered it.”

“Hm. Alright, the bleeding stopped. We’ll bring him back and patch him up.”

“I’ll start the car. Put him in the back seat.” Minnie suggested, as she pressed the ‘unlock’ button on the key fob. The car beeped in reply.

30 MINUTES LATER

Jun’s eyelids fluttered open as he got up.

“Woah. Take it slow, we don’t wanna reopen the wound, would we?” Yu Kang gestured at Jun to lay back down.

“Where…am I?” Jun asked, taking in his surroundings. He found himself lying on a sofa, in what seemed to be an empty café. The smell of freshly brewed coffee wafted across.

“Welcome to the Château, our base of operations. Hope ya like the look. I designed it!” Kae answered before taking another sip of his espresso.

“Don’t you guys kill…those things? Why in a café?”

“Well, the government prefers if we keep things low-key. Riftwalkers are largely unknown to the people of Singapore, and the government intends on keeping it that way. So, they let us set this up.” Minnie replied, flipping the sign on the door to “CLOSED”.

No wonder Jun had never seen a Riftwalker up until now. He wasn’t supposed to.

“Your turn to answer some questions. How did you obtain your prowess?” Minnie enquired.

Jun proceeded to explain the situation to them in great detail; the elevator, Ox-Head and Horse-Face, the tongues.

“We’re going to have to monitor you for a while. If you experience these again, please inform us. Kae, send him home. He needs to rest.” Minnie ordered.

“Sure thing!” Kae said jubilantly, placing his mug on the table.

Jun felt his stomach ache. To his shock, the wound was mostly gone, leaving behind a small mark. Then again, most of his injuries since young recovered much faster than others, and barely left any scar tissue. His mother always attributed it to his father’s good genes.

“Thank…you everyone.” Jun muttered awkwardly, getting up from the sofa before stumbling out of the Château, where Kae was waiting. In a Lamborghini Aventador.

“Business expenses, paid for by the government.” Kae laughed, revving the engine.

Jun stared in disbelief, but at this point, nothing could surprise him anymore after the incidents that unfolded today. He got into the car. Kae floored the accelerator, and the 700-horsepower supercar sped off into the distance.

After what seemed like forever, the car finally stopped much to Jun's relief. They had reached the main entrance of Jun’s apartment.

“Seeya!” Kae waved, before speeding away again. Jun shook his head and made his way inside the building.

“…Did that just happen?” Jun muttered. The events that conspired today were something out of a fever dream. However, Jun was too tired to think about it; he just wanted to get some sleep. He reached for the seventh-floor button. But instead of the expected tactile 'click', his finger pressed against the cold metal of the elevator wall. There was no button to be found.

“Huh?”

And then the revelation hit him. It felt like a bad joke.

Jun resigned to his fate.

The lift sank downwards.

Ding!

THE COFFEESHOP KILLERS

- END -