It had been only minutes since Danaël activated his machine, but minutes was all he needed for each and every person to disappear from the face of the earth. Content with his victory, he didn't think about anything else. He didn't even think about the only other people in the world that were like him. Different, immune.
Chapter 1
"Hi, Conner…" Adrien said waking up at the Ridgeworth Orphanage, once again. When no response came, he looked around, surprised, letting his blond hair flop in front of his eyes. No one was in their beds. He was the only one in the boy's dormitory. 'Are they in the cafeteria? Already in class? Outside?!' Adrien asked himself in disbelief. 'It was true, no one was there but then, what was he doing here?' he kept trying to find a way to understand this. After seven seconds he gave up and went downstairs, into the common room.
"Alya! Alya, wake up!" Alexine whisper-screamed into Alya's ear. She was very quiet, and never raised her voice up to a shout.
'Apparently, this is an emergency if she is whisper-screaming into my ear' Alya thought.
"Gimme a second," she groaned. "It's not even time to wake up."
"That's the problem," Alexine said nervously. "It's not time to wake up and we are the only ones in the dormitory!"
Alya was fully awake now, aware of everything around her and realized that Alexine was telling the truth. The beds of every other person were made but looked as if there was still someone inside. Alya slowly got out of bed and lifted up the covers off a bed. No one. It was as if they had disappeared but there figure was still in bed, stuck between reality and… 'And what?' Alya wondered.
"Where did they go?" she turned to Alexine, and this time it was Alya that looked nervous.
"We should go down to the common room, you know, just to make sure." Alexine gestured for Alya to follow her.
Chapter 2
"Kahtia!" Chase screamed at the top of his lungs.
"Chase!" Kahtia screeched at the exact same time. She was tired, grumpy and had no idea what was going on. Which was the exact same case as Chase.
"Kahtia! I found Alec but nobody else. Did you see anyone?" Chase panted, hands of him knees followed by Alec. Alec was tall, with dark hair and tanned skin and a mischievous grin that attracted all the girls in their orphanage. Including Kahtia.
"I looked everywhere and no one seems to be here but us," Kahtia said letting her eyes train on Alec. Chase rolled his eyes at Kahtia. His sister was fierce but with Alec around, she loses everything.
"Okay, then let's get out of here and maybe find someone else… somewhere else!" Chase exclaimed trying to get Kahtia's attention back on track.
"We could check the other orphanage," Alec said.
"Ridgeworth? Are you sure we want to go there?" Chase said. The three trouble-makers looked at each other.
"Of course we do!" Kahtia opened the door, and they ran off.
Chapter 3
"We're lost," Alya stated. "I mean, really lost."
"No, we aren't, we just don't know where we are," Adrien said, but his voice hinted the opposite.
"So in other words, we are lost!" Alexine finished. They had all met up in the common room and explain each of their stories. After coming to the conclusion that they had the same problem, they decided to search for more people, if they could find them.
"Creeaarck…" a noise sounded in the distance.
"Ahhhh!" all three teenagers screamed (though Alexine's scream was more of an "Ahh.") and ran the other way, as fast as they could. They were running for quite a long time until they bombed into what seemed like three poles.
"More children!"
"I can't believe it."
"I thought we were alone."
"Where did you come from?"
The questions overlapped each other and in the middle of all the confusion, Alexine finally, for once in her life, shouted.
"Everybody, shut up!" Alexine looked over the five people staring at her. "Okay. Who are you three?" she asked the newcomers.
"Who are you?" the girl said.
"I'm Alexine. This is my best friend Alya and my friend Adrien," she introduced. "Now, who are you?"
Chase stepped up, taking the lead of his group. "I'm Chase, this is my sister Kahtia and my best friend Alec. Just a crazy question, is everybody from where you came from gone?" he asked.
This time Adrien spoke up. "Yes! Same for you I suppose," he added, looking at Alec. Alec smiled at him. He knew they were going to become friends easily.
"Yeah." he answered.
Chapter 4
"Chase, they can't be trusted, we barely know them and—" Kahtia was cut off.
"Kahtia, you're over-reacting. Calm down." Chase replied, but his thoughts were elsewhere. He was focused on Alexine, her white-blond hair, how her pale skin shone out against her black clothes, he wanted to reach out, touch her hair. 'What am I thinking?' he thought to himself. 'Calm down.'
"So Alec, what do you even do at your school?" Adrien was asking Alec.
"Really, my bro and I are the trouble-makers in our school. We barely learn and… it's fun!" Alec exclaimed, filling him in with more details about what he and Chase had done.
"Alex, I think that Chase guy is or stalking you," Alya whispered into her ear. Self-consciously, Alexine turned around to see Chase gazing at her. He quickly looked away.
"Don't be silly, he might have been looking at something else." Alex didn't care anyway. She wasn't going to fall in love with him or anyone. Her heart had been broken before and since then she had never fallen in love.
"Uh-huh," Alya nodded, a devilish smirk on her face. "Let's see if I can change that."
"Alya, I'm warning you if you try anyth—" Alya pushed her back a bit and she fell, straight into Chase.
"Oh my god, NO!" Alex exclaimed. "I am going to pound your heart out Alya!" she screeched full voice. Being out of school was really acting up on her. But as she chased Alya around, she realized that there had never been a time when she was happier.
Chapter 5
Danaël screamed internally in fury and rage. Those six pests were immune to his magic! He just couldn't believe it. Pacing around, he thought and thought for an idea to come up. His plan, it couldn't have been as fragile as this. 'It had been tampered with.' he thought.
"Ila, I need to change my appearance back to my 15-year-old self," Danaël commanded his robotic helper. "And it has to be soon, I can't change the world with six idiots in my way."
"Of course, Master," Ila responded, and went into his lab to get a vial of purple mist, a concoction that could turn someone into the person they want to look like.
"Here you go, Master" Ila backed away as soon as Danaël had the vial in his possession. She didn't want to risk being turned into something else!
Danaël eyed the vial. Was it the correct one? Yes. The purple mist floated around slowly, reaching for the top, as if desperate to get out. Danaël uncorked the lid and the mist blew out of the vial.
"No! I have to get a piece! Just a strip…" Danaël reached out and caught a strand of mist in his hands. He was amazed at the purple strip lying in his fingers, wiggling to break free. And quickly popped the thing in his mouth.
He had forgotten about the pain. It felt as if every part of his body was being torn apart, ripped into pieces, and glued back together again into a different person. Seconds felt like minutes, minutes like hours until Danaël couldn't take it anymore.
"Auughhh!" he gurgled, and without warning fainted.
"Well, that was quite a show, Master." Ila had been looking at the whole thing from a distance.
Danaël woke up to see Ila with a pail of water in her hands.
"Ila, put that thing awa—EEEK!" Ila poured the water on him anyway.
"Dearest excuses, Master," Ila said, but her neutral tone hid a huge smile.
"Humph," Danaël glared at her. "So, what do I look like?" He went to check his reflection and saw someone he never thought he'd see again. His hair was charcoal black, his eyes bright green and piercing. He looked exactly like himself before he left his family three months ago. Before he had changed himself with that same mist. Strong jawline, but pale skin. He turned to his master machine and saw the red markers that pointed where the six kids were. He knew they had to be immune but he needed to see them. What they looked like. Just in case one of them was... It didn't matter anyway. He just had to find them.
Chapter 6
Alya was tired and in a horrid mood. The fun stopped after Alex had stopped chasing her and now she was dead. In battery. And in fun. And in everything. Okay, so she might be overreacting.
"I want to rest. We have been walking for 5 hours!" Alya groaned.
"It's been 30 minutes, Alya," Alec said. "Calm down we are are stopping for the night."
"We are?" Alya danced around in joy.
"Looks like you aren't tired anymore." muttered Kahtia.
They set up a fire and laid down near it, waiting for Alex to come back from the store with supplies.
"Guys! I found a tent. Three tents actually." Alex said, carrying three fold-out tents over her shoulder.
"Great! We can finally sleep safely!" Chase helped Alex open the tents and they popped up in front of them.
"Ouch." Chase flinched at the contact of the tent to his forehead.
"Did you... steal that?" Adrien asked, turning an interesting shade of green. Stealing did not cope well with him. Alex ignored his question, as did the rest of the 'team'.
"So, who is sleeping with who? Since Alex only found three tents we have to sleep with pairs. Just so you know, I am going with Adrien." Alec announced, dragging Adrien with him in front of the first tent. Alya and Alex quickly held hands. Chase was left to sleep with his sister.
"Alec, you betrayed me!" Chase whined playfully. "Now I'm stuck with the monster." He added in a whisper.
"I heard that!" Kahtia called from their tent.
"Not only a monster but a physio too." Chase wiggled his eyebrows.
"I heard that too!" Kahtia called out from inside the tent.
Chapter 7
Danaël spent all of his night walking. On and on, following the trackers light that was bringing him closer to the unmoving pinpoints of light. He was drenched in sweat and now regretted his decision to make his whole scene look 'true'. Why wouldn't he of been a rich kid with an airplane that came down because he decided to run away from home?
"I will have my payback on you," he panted throughout his sentence. "For making me go through all of this!"
"Master?" Ila's voice peeped out from the tracker.
"Ila, haven't I told you to shut up already?"
"Yes, 249 times to be precise, Master." Danaël groaned. He was definitely going to have Ila re-programmed when he got back. If he got back. The thought lingered in his head a while but was brushed away when Danaël saw the lights on the tracker move. Towards him!
"Shoot, this isn't good," Danaël whispered to himself. "What am I thinking I want to find them," he said, a little louder to convince himself. Luckily for him, they were 7 miles away. He had time to plan.
"Ila, I need you to deactivate your voice from the tracker pad." he said.
"But Master, you know I won't talk!" she responded in a whiny tone.
"I know you too well," Danaël muttered under his breath. "I'm taking precautions."
2 miles. Danaël gritted his teeth and forced himself to keep walking. He was nearing a town, and he had hope that this town was the one. The sun was rising on the horizon, letting his shadow trail behind, like a long cape. Danaël quickened his pace. 1 mile. He was so close but at the same time so exhausted that he could have slept 5 days straight if he had the chance.
"Ila, approximately how many more minutes until our destination?" he asked, waiting for a response. But there was none.
"Of course, I deactivated you…" Danaël murmured. He regretted turning her off now, wishing she could maybe come back to life. One-fourth of a mile left. Danaël squinted, seeing figures in the distance, near the edges of town. He broke into a run, with more strength than ever, at seeing these kids so close. One-eighth. One sixteenth.
"Hey, are you alone too?" a familiar voice asked.
"Yes, yes I am!" he responded looking up. They both gasped, one in shock, the other in heartbreak once again.
Chapter 8
Alexine gaped. She was staring at the one person she wanted to forget, the one person that left her—well, technically, the whole school had left her. Them. So it wasn't the same thing. But he didn't just leave her. He left his friends and family. So that also isn't the same thing. Alexine shook her head before it all got too complicated in her head.
"How dare you come here?" she screeched. "How come you aren't gone!"
Danaël looked white as a sheet as he racked his brain for a lie.
"Don't lie to me!" Alexine added after a second of thought. Danaël looked startled after that comment. Had she read his mind?
"I also woke up alone." he finally managed to get out.
"Normal, you live alone." Alexine rolled her eyes and walked back toward her friends.
"Who is he?" Chase whispered to her.
"Oh, you know, a friend!" she responded, voice dripping with sarcasm. Alya stood on the other side of Alexine.
"I'm with her. If she knows this guy and doesn't accept him a bit, I won't either." she stoically stood by, glaring at an uncomfortable Danaël.
"I don't understand the problem. She'll learn to accept him again!" Adrien said with a shrug. "Anyway, I'm against you." he turned around and stood near Danaël. But he didn't notice. Danaël was too busy noticing exactly how close Chase was to Alexine. Approximately 3 inches… and he didn't like it.
Alec joined Adrien. "I don't see why not. We barely met him, just give… what's your name?" he asked.
"Danaël."
"Danaël. Just give Danaël a second chance or something." his words were directed at only Alexine this time. They all looked toward Kahtia. She could of make it even so they would 'keep' Danaël, or make Alexine's choice win and leave him behind.
"Sorry little brother," Kahtia pointed at Alec's side. "I'm with them." but of course, she didn't look sorry at all.
Chapter 9
The rest of the day was full of walking, carrying and fighting. In other words…
"I've been carrying the bags for three hours now! It should be Chase's turn" Kahtia groaned and forced the team to stop. Again.
"Kahtia, you have been saying that for the past 36 minutes," Alec replied before Chase could start another fight.
"I have not."
"Actually 38 minutes," Danaël said. It was the first thing he'd said in a long time. "But I think I can carry a few."
"A few? All you mean!" Kahtia said indignantly.
"Well, I'm sorry that you were named official bag carrier." Chase shot out.
Kahtia finally had it. She threw all of the bags of the floor and started screaming and cursing at Chase in a very un-ladylike manner. Alex looked at them, picked up all four bags and started walking.
"Um, Alex, what are you doing?" Alya asked her. Alex turned around. Everyone had stopped fighting but confusion reigned on their faces.
"I'm leaving so that you guys will STOP AND FOLLOW ME!" she finished by yelling at them, as if they were disobedient dogs. "Now, stop fighting and walk!" Alex turned on her heel and started walking again, this time faster.
"Hey Alex, I—" Danaël tried to say.
"Nope."
"But I—"
"Nope."
"I just wanted to say that—"
"Nope." Alex was decided not to talk to him until the trip ended or he died. He would need some help with that…
"Listen, just leave Alex alone, we can see that she feels uncomfortable around you." Alya took Alex's hand and shot another sour look Danaël's way. "MOVE." she whipped around, accidentally slapping her own face with her long hair. "Ouch."
Behind them, Alec was looking at Alya as she tripped and stumbled, laughing with Alex at whatever she said.
"She's nice, isn't she?" Alec asked Chase.
"Huh?"
"Alya. She's nice."
"I guess." Chase looked at Alya a second. He found her normal. Sure, she was nice and looked okay but he didn't feel anything special.
"Dude, I just asked you something," Alec said. "What do you think about Danaël?" he looked at Chase expectantly, as if he was really looking for an answer. Like really.
Chase's mind focused as he glanced sideways toward Danaël. "I don't trust him but he hasn't done anything strange yet. You?"
"Think he's okay. But I don't know what happened between him and Alex and I kind of want to know." Alec replied.
So did Chase. Alex was different when he was around, as if it hurt her to be near him. Not that he was complaining. But Danaël always seemed to want Alex's attention. Like now.
"Hey Alex, Dana-something is behind you," Alya told Alex.
Alex turned to see him, hovering above her shoulder. "Bye," she said.
"Wait. Just listen to me," Alex sighed but didn't move away. "I don't understand why you hate me so much," he said.
"You don't? Well, let me remind you how you left your family and friends and ME. You disappeared and left. Bam. You were GONE. And the last thing you did? Steal from me. You took away my trust and my pride and…" Alex was out of breath but the flame in her eyes hadn't died down. "One more thing. I hate you."
Chapter 10
Danaël hadn't slept. He waited in his tent the whole night until everyone was asleep. And then acted. Danaël slowly stepped through the opening to his tent and crawled toward the other three tents.
"Forgive me for this Alexine. Please." He said aloud in the darkness. He thought he was the only one awake.
Chase opened his eyes. He had heard a sound coming from… what?
"Danaël," he whispered. "He's awake."
Chase slowly sat up and looked through the tent that he shared with his sister's window. Danaël was awake but why?
"Danaël, can I know why you are awake?" Chase asked.
"I… I was… I was taking my turn guarding the camp," he replied. "Who knows when someone or something dangerous can come our way!"
"Don't worry, everything seems gone, go to sleep." Chase pushed.
"I'm not taking chances." Danaël continued.
Danaël cursed in his head. the damned boy found out! He could kill him now but… he wasn't going to take the risk. He moved the knife under his shirt in a way that it wouldn't be noticed and gave up.
"Fine, but don't say I didn't warn you." he started walking back into his tent and turned around mid-way, lunging at Chase.
"Don't say I didn't warn you indeed." Danaël took his knife out and plunged it in Chase's stomach. His scream was piercing. The sound covered at least a mile and woke everyone up.
Alex's eyes flew open at the sound of the scream. Scrambling out of the tent, she saw Chase, knife in stomach and Danaël in front of him, doing… nothing.
"Chase!" she screamed. "You bitch! You ungrateful bitch! What else are you going to do? Kill me, everyone else here?" Alex's pitch grew higher and higher per second.
"Alex… Take this…" she looked down at Chase, remembering him.
"Oh, no."
He was bleeding but most definitely alive. Alex carefully took the knife out of his stomach but Chase still cried out.
"Alex, I heard a… oh." Alya trembled as she took in the blood, the body, the knife and finally, Danaël. "Wait…" she said. The others ran forward, out of their tents.
"You." a new voice, Kahtia's pierced the night.
"No, I promise…" Danaël backed off.
"You killed my BROTHER!"
"He isn't—"
"He will be! And I swear that you won't be alive to see it happen!" Kahtia finally dropped her gaze to Chase and gasped. Alex opened her closed eyes and blinked. Alya and Adrien's eyes widened and the rest couldn't move.
Danaël looked down to Chase. Was he already dead? Danaël wasn't wrong, but he wasn't right either. Where Chase should have been… there was nothing. Not a trace of blood or mark in the dirt. Nothing. Alex bent down and placed her hands on the ground.
"It can't be… I… he can't just…" Alex felt the ground around her. Her hand brushed something cold. Metal, she thought. She dug out the metal—a pendant. Emerald green with golden lines in it. She stared at it for a few moments until she fastened it around her neck. As she rose back up, she saw everyone staring at her.
"Where did you find that? It belonged to..." Alya didn't finish. She reached out to brush the stone, but the moment it made contact with her, she was thrown back, at least three meters away.
Alex looked down at the stone and picked it up from her chest. The world seemed to fall away, and the last thing she heard was Alec screaming her name.
Chapter 11
Chase was mad, confused, scared and irritated at the same time. He looked around. White, white, white… everything around him was nothing! Like, really. Not even a horizon. Was that even possible, there had to be a horizon somewhere or else…
"Hello?" he asked to the nothing.
Alex woke up with a jolt.
"Huh, who said… who talked to me?" Alex looked around but she was alone in her tent.
"Hello?" a voice asked. A fairly familiar voice.
"What?" Alex said.
"HI? Is anyone in here?" that voice again! It was coming from her head. Her mind, Alex guessed. "Where am I?" Alex finally placed the voice. Chase? she thought.
"Chase?" a voice came out of nowhere. It sounded far away but also so close…
"Who… who are you! Come out. Now," Chase looked around positively scared now, with his hand in front of him. "I'll hurt you!"
"Chase? You are in my head?"
"Your head?" Chase stumbled over his feet. Suddenly, he remembered. Danaël's knife, Alex. Him dying?
"No. No no no. NO!" Chase screamed in horror. He was dead?!
Alex covered her ears, but it wasn't much use. The no's resonated in her head and she felt dizzier after each one.
"NO!" she heard again, and that was enough to let the world black out again.
Chapter 12
Alya awoke in the night, trying to free herself from her dream. She was thinking of Ruby again. Her sister was haunting her thoughts again. Just flashes of her face, her eyes showing true pain as she left her family. No. Alya shook her head. They took her. She had to remember that. It wasn't her fault.
"Thump." Alya groaned. Alex had fallen. Again. She walked up to the tent and saw a light from under her best friend. As she flipped her around, Alya was propelled back, the pendant glowing a vibrant shade of gold around the neck or sleeping Alex. It smelled slightly rusted and…
"Chase? Will you just stop screaming? You are giving me a head—" Alex noticed Alya and cursed herself from not remembering that she had to think to make contact with him.
"Alex, are you okay? You must have hit your head really hard," Alya looked worried.
"I'm not crazy!" Alex yelled. She missed school. No need to use her throat so much. And a much better use of her time.
"I never said you were. Stay in bed though, in case you fall again," she remembered the pendant. "Your… thing…was glowing." she said before she ran back to the tent she now shared with Kahtia. Chase was right about her being a monster.
'My thing?' Alex thought? 'The pendant!' another thought pierced her head. Not her own. 'Chase, I want to rest. So PLEASE leave me alone.' Alex thought, annoyed now. She let herself flop of the bed before a thought crossed paths with her. He propped herself up on her shoulders. 'How does Chase know I have the pendant?'.
'Chase?' Alex thought. But Chase didn't answer.
Danaël was scared. He didn't want to admit it, but he was scared. Alex had the power to beat anyone at anything before, and he was sure that she could do it again. Stuck inside his small tent, guarded by a sleeping Alec and ruthless Kahtia (who kept punching him each time he opened his mouth) he was scared.
"And you didn't think about that earlier?" Kahtia's voice pierced the air, followed by a torrent of curses coming out from Alya. He blinked.
"It is your fault!" Alya's said. "If you had kept an eye on him, he wouldn't be sick!" Sick? Danaël thought of Ila, who was a master in everything, doctor included.
"Who's sick?" he risked. He earned a punch in the side.
"Alec," Alya hissed. "And it's all Kahtia's fault! I told her not to leave him outside." So Alec wasn't sleeping, he was… what? Unconscious? Dead? Danaël gulped at the thought. They would all blame him later. Somehow.
"Ila… I activate you again. Please come out." he tried. A buzzing could be heard from his arm and Ila appeared on his arm guard, quickly materializing in front of him.
"You said please." she said, a curious look on her face.
"Yes, I did. And I need you to help Alec. He's sick." Danaël said.
"Aye-aye!" Ila responded the cheery tone back in her voice.
Chapter 13
Ruby smiled. She had finally mastered the first skill. Invading dreams. And it was NOT easy! Her sister had a strong mind, and being in the pendant was slowly killing her. And taking her memories. At least she could remember that she had a sister. But her name was lost to Ruby. Ally? Lia? She couldn't grasp it. But Ruby knew one thing. She had to get out.
"Hi!" Ila smiled cheekily at Alya and Kahtia, doctor coat and hat on. They blinked. Hard.
"Um... Can I know who you are?" Alya asked, Kahtia still staring.
"No," Ila said. Her Master had given her instructions and this time she was going to try and follow them.
Kahtia finally broke out of her trance and looked at Ila suspiciously. She had noted that she came out of Danaël's tent and from what she knew, Danaël was supposed to be in there alone.
"DANAËL!" Kahtia shouted, making poor Alya cringe in pain. At least Danaël heard, coming out immediately.
"I can explain," he said. "Ila masters every skill that you can think of, I am absolutely sure that she can help Alec." He continued on for a few more minutes, trying to ignore the glares that came from the two girls in front of him. Suddenly, he stopped. Why was he helping them? He should be glad that he would soon be able to get rid of that useless bunch of kids. 'I have to gain their trust first.' Danaël thought. 'That is the only reason I am helping.'
Adrien was sulking in his tent. He had nothing to do, the store didn't have any good books and he felt as if his friends weren't paying attention to him. Maybe they really weren't. He stepped outside, and once again felt the weight of silence around him. No cars on the road, no people on the sidewalk... It all just felt like has to him.
"Adrien, I need your help," Alya gasped, catching her breath.
"Were you running? What's wrong?" Adrien truly felt concerned, but even sweating, he noticed how natural Alya looked. He scolded himself internally. Adrien knew that Alec had feelings for her and he was not going to get in his way.
"We have a doctor helping Alec but I don't trust her," Alya said. Confusion was clear on Adrien's face so Alya filled him in on more details. "She, Ila I think, is a robot. Danaël's helper," Adrien recoiled at his name but let Alya continue.
"She is a professional doctor but... I need a friend there to help. Plus, your parents are doctors, right? You should know a few things."
Alya was right, Adrien did know some things, so he followed Alya out, as tired as he was.
Chapter 14
Alex lay still in her bed, thinking about her past adventures. This week had been one full of surprises for her and some were too complicated to wrap her head around. She fingered the pendant, thinking back to the time she found it. Tears threatened to fall as she remembered Chase's dying body. But he wasn't really dead, she reminded herself. Everyone had looked so surprised when she found it, mostly Alya. Alya! She knew something! Alex sat up but then had to fall back down, a wave of dizziness overwhelming her. She rose back up, slower this time and walked around the camp trying to find her friend.
Chase woke up with a jolt. He had fallen asleep, which to his was quite remarkable; the 'floor' was rock hard. There was nothing around him for miles, or maybe even forever, so the only thing that could have woken him up was Alex's voice. Again. He was starting to think that Alex didn't remember that everything she thought, went straight to him.
"Alex?" he dared to ask.
"What? What do you want now? I am on an important mission right now," Alex replied, in an irritated fashion.
"Woah, Alex, calm down..." Chase was mildly scared at the moment.
"Kidding! What's up?" she asked, her voice had changed to a totally different tone.
"Nothing, you just woke me up," Chase replied.
"Ohhh, sorry, I was just thinking... where did you get the pendant that I have now?"
"My little sister gave it to me before I left to the orphanage. I had three sisters you know, well, that's what my mother told me. I never had a chance to see Alyanna before... my parents were divorced, she was with my father and I stayed with my mother and Kahtia. Ruby was the only one that came and went between houses." Chase stopped talking, thinking back to the days when he played with her. "My parents died before my seventh birthday, Ruby was only three at the time." Why was he telling her this, Chase asked himself, hoping Alex couldn't hear.
"What, what did you say their names were?" Alex dared to ask.
"Alyanna, Ruby, and Kahtia."
Kahtia could tell that Alec was not getting any better. Then again, Ila started working only eight minutes ago. Alya on the other hand, was full on helping Ila. She was handing her the tools Ila needed, filling up buckets of water and checking Alec's temperature every few minutes. Kahtia couldn't believe that this girl that had only known Alec for a few days was so willingly helping him get better. Kahtia had known him for years and yet she was doing absolutely nothing. Kahtia sighed and stepped forward, grabbing a damp towel and plunging it into the water, placing in on Alec's forehead. At least now she could say that she helped him get better.
"Thank you for helping, Kahtia! I really appreciate extra help," Ila said, shooting an appreciative look at Alya. Alya smiled back turning back to Alec a fraction of a second later.
"Whaemydoin'ere" Alec grumbled, his words slurred. Kahtia bounced back, surprise plain on her face.
"Alec!" Alya dropped the towel that was in her hands and bounced off the ground, wrapping her arms around him. Suprised but not at all mad, Alec squeezed her back.
"Hey, I got a first aid kit at the..." Adrien called, stopping when he saw Alya and Alec. He stepped back a step, swallowing as he went. He felt... Jealous. He didn't know why but he felt a wave of anger for Alya. It should have been him there when Alec woke up, not... Adrien stopped himself before he could think up any more stupid thoughts. Instead, he walked up to the group and smiled, patting Alec on the back, congratulating him on getting better.
"Adrien," Alec said, "Alya told me how much you helped. For that, I have to thank you. I was not sure I would be awake right now without you." Alec trailed on for some time, but Adrien already heard what he wanted. He gave Alya a smile and tuned back in with Alec just in time for him to finish talking.
"Yeah, well, um… Take care of, um, of yourself," Adrien fumbled with words and Kahtia looked at him funny for a few seconds. Realization dawned on her face when Adrien blushed again at Alec's praises. She smirked. Kahtia knew how to use this against him.
"Ila, I need your help. You are an expert on every topic, aren't you? So you might know what I am going through…" Adrien stopped talking, looking at Ila. She smiled, then nodded.
"I can try, what is the problem?" she asked.
"I, I think that I am in love. You see, I thought that I liked a friend of mine at the orphanage but this is so much stronger. That person makes my heart beat faster when they are near. They make me stutter when I want to talk to them. I really need your help, Ila." Adrien took a breath in. He hadn't breathed through his whole text.
"Aww, that does sound like a true love. Who is the lucky girl?" Ila asked, leaning forward.
"Well, that's the thing. It's not a girl. It's Alec." Adrien rushed out the last sentence as fast as he could, shutting his eyes to avoid whatever look Ila might be giving him. But Ila, on the other hand, was happy. She clapped her hands excitedly, almost squealing in delight.
"Oh, this is amazing! I knew this was going to happen at one point. But you guys are friends, are you sure you want to ruin that?" Ila was preoccupied but it didn't dampen her excitement. Adrien wasn't sure and he didn't want Alec to be disgusted by him but he really did want to tell Alec.
"I don't know," Adrien confessed. "I'll have to think about it for a while. Thank you, Ila." He walked away, Ila's gaze trailing on him. Little did Adrien know that Ila had feelings, too. Pain, sadness and... Love.