Chapter 26

Alto's POV

I looked at my sister... beautiful. She looks exactly like Lisa from all the pictures I've seen; its like looking at my mother…just darker and more like a superhero than a princess.

Let me explain, Melodia is 6ft tall and has long brown-ish crazy hair. That covers her back completely in curls that looks like wild waves. She has huge green eyes and looks like a queen. I couldn't understand how beautiful she is. Every guy we see stares at her, eats her with his eyes – it is going to be stressfull protecting my sister. I really hope her soulfinder isn't going to be a jealous j***.

As she talk about Elliot Noel, I feel so ashamed to be related to the guy. I know that people hate me around here. I mean the basketball team don't – but I've been here for years and people still don't trust me. They think, I'm going to go crazy on them and kill the entire school or something. Melodia on the other hand doesn't use the Noel name; people probably don't even know, she is a Noel. I'm not going to ruin that by using the Benedict name. I'm Alto Noel and she is Melodia Benedict.

"Can I ask you something? " She suddenly says.

"Sure. " I say, slowly and scared for what's coming.

"What is your gift? I can't read your secrets…" I can't tell if she is lying, she looks serious, and Mel doesn't strike me as the hidden joker.

"What do you mean? Secrets? "

"That's my gift. " She smiles, putting books on a table in front of her.

"I'm a shield. " I whisper. She looks at me for a second before looking at her phone.

"So are you going to tell your father this?" I whisper.

"I am. I need to know that you're telling the truth and aren't a threat to me or Calwall." She says.

"Are you here because of Calwall?" I ask, she has been talking an awful lot about him the past few days.

"Mostly for myself." she whispers and looks at the blackboard. Our conversation is over. Man, she is ice-cold. I'm defiantly the soft one…

I wait next to the phone as she speaks on it. She has soccer practice in half an hour and I had promised to stay close. I can't hear what they are talking about, but it clearly isn't our father she is talking to. She is way to tense for that. Perhaps it's the FBI brother Victor, the one who had sent Calwall here. She talked on the phone for 20 minutes without taking her eyes of me.

"You're clear for now. Vick will be here by tomorrow asking some questions."

"That was fast." I gulp.

"Elliot Noel, doesn't do slow." She says. Again, I can't stop thinking, she is a bad a**. Who taught her this? And why didn't they teach me?

"Touché." I say and follow her to the locker room.

I would be a liar if I said she played bad. She is amazing on the soccer field. This girl is everything: friendly, icecold, brave, probably smart too, angle voice in the music room, beautiful and good at soccer. Did she even have flaws? Lorcan sits down next to me as Mel scores another goal. She is beating the crap out of Wilma and half of the soccer team, which they didn't like. I can't help but smile.

"They are winning." I say.

"Of course, Mel is a natural." Lorcan Calwall says and follows her with his eyes. I didn't know they knew each other that well. Why didn't he hate her? Melodia's ponytail jumps up and down as she passes the ball to a girl on the other side of the field. She is half a head taller than most of the girls and a lot faster than 2/3 of them too.

Another goal was made by a teammate. Mel and the girl hug and yell something unclear. She looks out, for a second I think she looks at me, and then I realize she is looking at Lorcan. Her smile is huge and her eyes shine – is she blushing? Oh dear god no. No.

"I don't know if you know this…. But I've heard that you want to know who placed you here." I say as Mel take the ball from Wilma – who is furious about Mel's play, yet impressed.

"I want to know." Lorcan says, while taken his eyes of Mel.

"Victor Benedict." I say and look back at the field after seeing Lorcan's face change for happy to serious to mad to even more furious than Wilma. He gets up and leaves. I will admit that it was a d***-move, a huge one. But no guy should be messing with my sister – not on my watch.

Lorcan's POV

I leave the soccerfield faster than anyone possible had before. I am furious. Mel must have known why I am here! She must have. She had probably asked for it herself. She hadn't even cared to tell me? What the hell had she been thinking? That he could come here and…

I couldn't stay mad. I sit down on a bench and put my head in my hands. Mel is my soulfinder and I wouldn't have known for sure if I hadn't come here. Mel loves me; I know that, however this is out of line. Even for her. Jesus Mel.

I take a deep breath. Look at the soccerfield, which isn't far away – but too far. I can barely see her face, however, it was still easy to see who of the blue dressed soccer players she was. Alto is still sitting at the bench, following her with his eyes. How did he know Mel? Well, everyone knew the Benedicts, but not Mel. She is only interesting because she has been a secret for the past 16 years. I mean, I would be lying if I said boys don't look at her – they do– all the time. But Alto isn't the type of guy who haunts a girl; I had the feeling that his heart belonged to another girl… someone he'd lost. But I would have to look it up. Soon.

When the game ended he hugged Mel, he was taller than her, the same skin tone and hair colour. What was his last name again? Perhaps they knew each other from home? How long had he been here? I really didn't know anything about anyone here…

"Mel?" I say as they walk pass me. "Can I talk to you?"

"Later OK? My dorm - after practice." She smiles and kisses my cheek. Then she leaves with Alto. Which hurts.

I had to know everything about Alto…but how? I didn't have Mel's gift?

Mel's POV

Lorcan was acting weird. I would have to ask him later - what was all that about? I looked at Alto, he smiled down at me and we went to an empty room with tables and computers – this was probably the homework room.

"Our father Trace is coming tomorrow too." I said as we sat down.

"He is?" Alto nervously asked.

"Yeah. I've only been here a few days, but god I miss him. I hope we can come home soon. All of us."

"What do you mean?" Alto asked as he pulled his history book out of his bag.

"I mean, you, Lorcan and Me. I hope we can go home soon."

"Lorcan Calwall is here because of us, right?" he always used his last name, reminding me of Trace when he was talking about a case. He didn't want to be personal involved with the victim so he always used their full name. I used Calwall, instead of Lorcan Calwall – it made me feel 'far' away from him – which I needed sometimes. If not I would contently miss classes just to watch him – bad idea.

"He is here because of Elliot, not us." I said.

"But how did Elliot find us? " He asks.

"I heard my uncles talk about a Hunter, called Adelaide. She is the reason we are hiding." I'd only heard of the Hunters in stories at the Collins. Vick had explained it all to me. The Hunters had powers almost like Crystal. She could find people by following a thin line, a link. The Hunter's hunted people down, following lines, memory's, personal belongs, names or anything else that could try the Hunter to the victim. They could even follow the victim in a ghostlike form – in the end they were able to teleport and actually hunt the victim. In old days, they killed, kidnapped or found people for powerful savants. Now days, they were rare and the world only three of two. Two of them were protected by the net – but this third Hunter… had been a secret most of it's life until Elliot got his hands on her. Until now, the Benedict's and the rest of the Net, had thought that she was dead. But with Elliot probably knowing that we were alive, no one believed that she had died. Adelaide was alive...