The Other Side
Cezille07
What would happen when Elena left Zick? How did he handle it? Read the decade before "Ten Years" happened, from Zick's side.
Disclaimer: As goes for all other of my stories here, Monster Allergy does not belong to me.
Chapter 1. The Day She Left.
He woke up to the sound of a car engine, and that familiar ticklish feeling in his chest—the Empathy—which told him Elena was within a mile's distance. No, she was closer, judging by the intensity of the throbbing.
Creeping down the stairs, all he needed was the slightest movement outside the window for any indication she was there. And there it was. A ray of sunlight reflecting against metal. It flashed across the ceiling, stopping at his eyes.
She's here.
It was about time too. Yesterday, the Tutors hadn't been easy on them. He couldn't blame her if she was in any way upset about what they said. They said the two of them were irresponsible for attempting to stop the Tulkamans while Timothy was hunting down the Gaiga monsters. They said the two of them ought to be distanced. Zick would be confined to his house for a hundred years, a sentence they delightedly called the Centennial Punishment. No big deal. No going out but for school. Just a hundred years' house arrest. What distance was that? They were neighbors, schoolmates, and, would he dare use the term "best friends"?
So where was she? So she spent the rest of yesterday avoiding him, and even slept over at Lonzo's for the night. She didn't seem to want to come back by the amount of extra clothes she lugged along. And now this. The reality of seven in the morning on a lazy Sunday only began to sink in. Zick blinked the sleepiness off and tried to focus on the gathering commotion outside...the car engine still humming, muffled cries from inside the house, Harvey rushing in and out of the house.
Do it. Go. Just take a look. He shook his head. It was too risky. He had to focus harder. Empathy. Empathy. Connect with Elena.
There was a small area filled with boxes. Boxes, full to the brim with clothes and other objects. They were all cramped to one corner while a steady stream of items was being thrown into them. The space flashed into a more vivid vision—a room. A pink room. A desk with a mirror. A study table. A girl with flaming hair was shoving her cat out the door with one hand as her other hand continued emptying her closet.
Zick took a gulp and several deep breaths before he fully understood what he just saw. He had to focus harder....
I don't get what's with me! Why did I decide, even think, that I wanted to go in the first place? Silence. Pressure. Weight on both arms. I hate it. Always leaving me out, but when I finally get involved he blames me. An upwelling of anger in the chest. And a sharp pain on the right fist, as if a blow against cement. I hate you, Zick! I hate you! We'll see how you like your Centennial Punishment alone. I'm not a Tamer, I'm not part of this. I won't suffer it with you!
Enough, enough focusing!
Zick looked up. Two Bursties were watching him tremble. "Get away from me!" he cried. The watchers popped one at a time; when they reformed, they flew at top speed toward the kitchen. But he was more worried about what he heard. Why would Elena think that? If he left her out it was usually for her good...though when she came anyway, it was for his....
No, he wasn't going to sit there anymore.
"Elena! Elena!" He stepped out of the door and withdrew himself. The wind was still chilly. "Elena!" he called, ignoring the numbness it gave. "Elena!" His voice sounded less than a whisper.
Julie emerged for the first time, carrying one twin in each arm. "You!" she said at the sight of him approaching. She put down the infants in the back seat of the car and returned to him, driven by some force—anger? Impatience?—that she threw a sharp look at him. And he got it. Stay. Away. From. Her.
He felt small and powerless. Julie stomped back inside the house to fetch something else; meanwhile Harvey came out with more boxes. He let them fall on the pavement when he spotted Zick standing in front of the car.
"What are you doing here?" he asked.
And Zick knew his answer. It was just that he couldn't tell the truth now.
"Excuse me," Harvey went on, picking up the boxes. He put those in the trunk and rushed back inside.
It hit him: They weren't talking to him, they were angry with him. They were hiding Elena from him. They were going away. Now it sank in. And that was more painful.
He turned at the sound of a baby's cry. He peered inside the car. It was Charlie, who had just awoken. He was crying. "Ma! Ma! Mama!" His first word! "Mama! Mama!" Was he worthy enough to be the first to hear it? "Mama!" Charlie repeated, "Mama!" His voice was loud enough to send Julie running outside, tears lining her cheeks and a large beam on her lips. "Oh Charlie!" she said, as happy as she was surprised. "Harvey, come and see this! Harvey!" She paused. She wouldn't dare call Elena in front of Zick.
He had a sinking feeling in his chest that had nothing to do with this scene. He looked up at Elena's room, tried to look through the closed, dusty window. Elena, where are you? Why are you hiding? He dragged his feet back home, trying his best not to glance back where he came from. Once she left, his whole life would be over. He would have nothing to live for, nothing to die for. His existence would fall into nothing, to the cradle of worthless memories and endeavors.
Something beeped on his clothing.
It was a small band with a sensor, tied around his ankle. He had forgotten about it until now, now that it flashed red on and off, beeping like there was no tomorrow. He had forgotten, the Centennial Punishment—
Three Tutors he didn't recognize came toward him, grabbed him, held him down on the ground. While this took place Julie and Harvey quietly ushered Elena into the car. But of course he knew it. Empathy.
"Elena!" he yelled. "Let me go, let me go!"
The Tutors covered his mouth with a think cord, oddly sweet-smelling, as of a flower....
As of lavender.
Lavender concentrate, their new weapon.
"Elena...." It was odd. The plant had never affected him this way. His vision blurred, his entire body weakened. He felt the Tutors' weight crushing his lungs, but he couldn't fight back, much less resist. "Elena...." was the last word he spoke.