Adam awoke from the vision in a cold sweat, the sun shining brightly on his face.
"SHIT!! SHIT!!" Adam screamed as he frantically looked down at his clothes, making sure there was no blood. He gave himself one quick scan, and then, satisfied with that hasty search he ran out of the apartment.
As he ran down the street, he barely noticed that he had somehow become much faster. However, that was something he would have to check on later. First, he had to sneak into his room.
The sound of feet pounding on cement harmonized with the beating of his heart as he sprinted back home, paying no mind to all of the awkward glances as he sped past them faster than a car. He also didn't notice any of their blank expressions immediately after, as his arm wiped their memory of the last few seconds.
Running through the streets, Adam couldn't keep two thoughts out of his head. First, his mom was going to kill him. Second, if he survived, he had to find all of the inheritors now.
There was something big coming, something far worse than a simple apocalypse or anything else he had seen in the last ten years of his life. Just that thought sent sweat trickling down his spine, but he tried to push aside his worries as he continued darting down the streets.
Soon, his house was in sight. Additionally, it appeared that today would be his lucky day as nobody was sitting outside. All he'd have to do was climb the back of his house, open his window, and act as if he had been sleeping all this time.
Then, after their pestering stopped, he would instantly begin searching for any strange phenomena. Missing people, sudden craters in the ground, erratic weather, etc.
The first was what he was currently causing, and the latter two signs were things he remembered from an Exalted's meditation.
He would be searching soon, as he finally reached the back of the house. All he needed to do now was climb to his window, plop inside, and then—
'Damn it!' Adam lamented as he looked through the window. His sister was sitting on his bed, picking at her nails as she occasionally looked around the room.
He began lowering himself, now hoping that he could somehow go through the front door unnoticed. However, the opening of his window, followed by a small and soft voice, stopped him.
"Uh, idiot brother. You should probably get inside before mom notices."
Adam hung suspended in the air for a second as he took a deep breath. Either his sister was setting him up, or for some reason, she wasn't going to rat him out.
Then he pulled himself up while trying to predict the 'favor' she was going to try and impose on him.
Sliding through the window with a simple grace, his feet landed softly on the floor, creating almost no sound.
His sister noticed this, of course. Nosy sisters always knew every time their brother breathed.
However, she didn't make a big deal out of it and instead said, "You've been sneaking around a lot lately, huh?"
Adam blinked as the question stunned him, and he tried to find some kind of excuse. The last thing he wanted was for her to follow him and—
"I guess that car accident was good for you then! Here I was, consoling mom and telling her, 'Hey, he's gonna ask Faye out someday!!!' Eh, if all you needed was this, I would've asked you to take me driving sometime." Cynthia interjected with a quick outburst followed by a soft laugh.
Adam looked at her for a second, completely bewildered and not knowing exactly what to say. Therefore, he defaulted to simply picking on her as well.
"You're not old enough to drive, dummy." Adam explained in a matter-of-fact tone, expecting his sister to rebel and punch him in the arm or something.
Instead, she shrugged and said, "Hey, if you're old enough to go around and fuck Faye, then—"
"Cynthia!" Adam hissed in a low tone, quieting her instantly as he looked to the door, praying it was shut.
Luckily it was, so he turned back to her. However, he was unable to come up with any words. A fact Cynthia seemed to especially enjoy as a wide smirk enveloped her face.
"I'm getting old too, idiot brother. I know things now!" She said, smugly shaking her head as that stupid but pretty smile grew wider.
She really wasn't getting older, as she was only turning 14 this year and wasn't even in high school yet. Also, this really wasn't like her to try and act mature.
As far as he could recall, both of them were nuisances to their parents until after the apocalypse.
'Right.' Adam thought as that impending doom ended the current peace he felt, bantering with his sister.
He went over to his computer and turned it on, then turned to his sister and said, "Keep this between us, okay?"
"Haha! It's not like they're going to be upset—" Cynthia began energetically before she saw the earnest look on his face. Then she calmed herself down before solemnly nodding.
"Okay."
Adam flashed a smile and said, "Thanks," and then nodded to the door.
Taking the cue to leave, Cynthia sighed as she jumped off his bed and went to the door. However, once she reached it, she stopped for a second before turning to her brother and saying, "Hey, I know I pick on you a lot, but I do love you. I—I look up to you a lot."
Then she nodded and left a stunned Adam alone with his research.
...
It only took a few hours for Adam to find what he needed. After spending a decade learning research skills from a prestigious college as he earned his master's, he was very proficient.
Also, as he looked out to the farm field, he felt more secure.
Because of the way his quests worked, it was impossible for even him to find a correlation between missing people and his location. Even if someone found out the exact seven people he killed from the thousands that go missing every day, New York City itself was fucking huge.
His targets ranged from all around the area and even into the suburbs, so basically, the only spot they would be able to triangulate is 'Somewhere in a city with millions of people.'
However, some of the other inheritors weren't so lucky, especially someone like him who knew the signs of lengthy meditation from someone with a heavy amount of Qi.
Erratic weather, sudden appearances of craters, and a flocking of animals were common occurrences.
So, when he saw an area that suddenly had many craters, he knew two things. There was another Inheritor here, and he or she wasn't very good at hiding their tracks.
A fact proven right now, as a man who seemed only slightly older than Adam walked into the middle of the field, sat down, and began meditating.
"I got you," a low voice said from behind him.