Chapter #8

"Hey," Andy said as she shook my shoulder, "wake up."

I opened my eyes slightly as Andy smiled down at me. At first, I could hardly recognize her; my vision was a bit blurred. It took a few moments before it cleared up. This happened to me a lot when I woke up when I was still tired. She was wearing an over-sized kangaroo sweatshirt and a pair of baggy jeans. She rarely dressed like that. Normally, she would stick with her short, sleeveless, red top that she loved so much. It didn't occur to me how cold it was until Mason walked by and snatched my blankets from on top of me and walked away casually.

"Mason!" I shrieked as the cold air stung my skin. I was only wearing an oversized T-shirt and shorts. Goosebumps covered my skin and I hugged myself tightly, shivering. "Give that back!" I shouted as he walked out of the room with his arms filled with blankets.

I could hear Carol giggling from behind me. I looked back to see her sitting on her bed all dressed in her regular clothing—but with a sweatshirt over it all. It appeared much too big, for the sleeves covered her hands and it went down to her knees. "Mason has to clean our blankets." She said, "Some of us got some blood on them from yesterday, so he's taking them out to get cleaned."

"Oh" I sighed as I got up. Andy was sitting down at the main table. She had a grin on her face while looking at me—probably amused by the way I was waken up that morning. I didn't say anything as I got out some warm clothes and got changed.


As the day went by, our home became colder and colder. Carol, Andy, Victoria and I spent almost the whole day in the small TV room, crowded together on the couch with an extra blanket covering our freezing legs. Several TV stations mentioned the fight that took place the previous day. Fortunately, they were unable to get any pictures or video of us. Still, we were in more danger than ever.

When Mason finally got back, he brought with him a tin can filled with hot chocolate mix. With help from Andy's Ninetales, we were able to boil some water.

"Mason," I started as I took a sip of hot chocolate from my mug, "why is it so cold in here today?" I asked as I put it down on the small table in the TV room. We were all sharing the small couch to share body heat to keep warm.

Mason looked over to me; I was sitting beside him. I hadn't realized how short I was compared to him until we were crowded so close to each other. Victoria sat to my right; he was on my left. Beside Victoria, Andy—Carol was sitting in their laps. We were so close, it was a bit uncomfortabe. Mainly because of our injuries.

He sighed as he drank some coffee Mason had gotten for himself from the nearby McDonald's. "The whole building's heating was cut off" He said as he put his mug down beside my hot chocolate. "It should be back up by tomorrow." He explained.

I nodded. I wasn't paying much attention to the TV, until I overheard a news reporter mentioning Rukonians. We all stopped talking and paid our attention straight to the TV screen.

"Earlier today in response to the finding of a group of four Rukonians, civilians gathered at City Hall and declared war against them. People from all the anti-Rukonian groups joined forces to create the Kilinda Clan, lead by Austin Reef and Keith Roloc."

I paused—Austin Reef? My father? Could it be? Was it him who started this clan? My eyes went wide and my face went cold and pale. The others looked at me strangely.

"Seadra?" Mason asked, "What is it?"

I spent a few moments not saying or listening to anything. I was shocked—my father was so against Rukonians that he got all the anti-Rukonian groups to team up to create the Kilinda Clan. Andy shook my shoulder, "Seadra?"

I blinked and shook off my strange trance of shock. "Uh Sorry" I sighed as I ran a hand through my long hair. Mason had turned the TV off and was looking at me strangely. I didn't know why, but I didn't ask. All the girls were looking at me with the same expression.

Finally, after a few moments, Victoria broke the silence. "Seadra That man's last name was Reef Is he your father?" She asked as Mason put his arms around me in a comforting way. I didn't know it then, but I was shaking uncontrollably.

They all seemed so concerned over me, and I didn't totally know why. I guess it was because of when I got kicked in the head the previous day or something. Perhaps they thought I was losing my mind Andy repeated Victoria's question and I nodded. There was another long silence. Finally, I got up and walked out of the room. For the first time—I truly hated my father.


Though I was well aware of the dangers, I went outside. I made sure to wear a heavy jacket—it was really cold outside that day, not to mention it was pouring rain. I didn't say anything to the others when I left, and I didn't even bring Raichu with me. I needed time to think to myself. I mainly thought about how my parents used to love me more than anything in the world. I almost cried thinking about how much my father hated me now, and how my mother lied about me. Again, I wondered how my father discovered I was a Rukonian. I tried to think of explanations, but none of them made enough sense to be correct.

A few people looked at me strangely as I walked down the cold city streets. Either they were involved in the fight that took place the previous day and they recognized me, or they thought it was odd to see a 13 year-old girl walking around with her hands stuffed into her pockets and close to tears. Fortunately, there weren't enough anti-Rukonists around to start up a fight.

I didn't want to go back—I didn't want to see Andy, Carol, Victoria or Mason. They were the only people left that could ever help me, but I didn't want to go back to them. I never felt so lost and confused. I wished I could just vanish and leave this world. I didn't know what to do I just didn't know I didn't even know exactly why I felt the way I did.

"Seadra!" I heard a call from across the street. I didn't bother to look; I just kept on walking. "Seadra!" The person repeated—but louder. I sighed and stopped walking. My jacket didn't have a hood so my hair was soaked. I could hear the sound of shoes splashing through some puddles on the road, running over to me. I began to hope the person was an anti-Rukonist, or someone from the Kilinda Clan so I could just be killed or something. "What are you doing out here alone?" I recognized the voice when it was beside me—it was Chris, Mason's friend that helped me after the fight.

I looked back up at Chris. My vision was blurred from the tears that formed in my eyes and my long, soaked bangs blocked most of my view. He just looked at me with a concerned expression. I finally broke out to tears and clung to him tightly, soaking his shirt. He didn't say anything to this; he just hugged me comfortingly and rubbed my back. I didn't bother to fight back the tears—I felt I had to just let them out.

"What's wrong?" Chris asked as he brushed away my bangs that covered my face. I wiped the tears from my eyes with my hands, and sniffled. I felt horrible, I was soaked from head to toe and I was absolutely freezing—but I wasn't shivering at all. "Seadra?" Chris whispered softly.

I looked up to Chris' soft eyes and finally replied, "N-nothing."

From the expression Chris gave me, I knew he knew I was lying. But, he shrugged it off and smiles down at me kindly. "Come on," he said, "I'll give you a ride back home, okay?"

I had finally stopped crying and I felt a bit better knowing Chris was there. I nodded and he led me across the street where his black car was parked. It wasn't the cleanest thing in the world, but the rain would clear off some of the layers of dried mud all over it. I was surprised to find that driving back home took over half an hour—I hadn't realized how long I was gone. Driving is a lot faster than walking, so I figured I was out for more than three hours. I wondered if the others were worried about me at all.


When we entered Mason's place, everyone was at the main table. They all looked tense, tapping their fingers on the surface of the table and resting their faces in their palms. When they saw me enter, they all jumped out of their seats and ran over to me.

Andy jumped over one of the beds and knocked over a chair before reaching me and hugging me tightly. "Seadra!" She cried, she sounded and looked like she was close to a nervous breakdown. She pulled away from the hug and looked me over. My clothes were soaked and my hair was a wreak from drying with rainwater in it. My eyes were reddened from my tears and though I was cold, I still wasn't shivering. "Are you okay?" She asked as she brushed my long bangs from my face.

I nodded as Chris walked in. Victoria and Carol walked over to me; they had expressions of relief on their faces. Carol hugged me tightly by my waist; it made her seem like a little sister. I smiled and ruffled up her hair with my wet hands, getting some stuck to them. "You're back!" Carol cried as she clung to me tightly, refusing to let go. "Don't run off again! I was scared!" She really did seem like a little sister to me as she continued on. No wonder everyone loved her so much, she was a little baby sister we could all share.

While Carol and Andy just seemed relieved to see me, Victoria didn't nearly as much. She appeared to be angrier than happy. I was a bit nervous that she was snap at me for making everyone worry, but she didn't. She just gave me a strange look that let me know I was in trouble and then she just walked away to where Mason was in the small TV room.

I looked over to Andy with a questioning look and she sighed. "Victoria gets mad at us all the time when we walk off without her knowing." Andy said, "Because we see and treat her like a big sister, she acts up to it. She was really worried about you, and she's happy you're back. But of course, she's mad too." I looked down and sighed, I felt guilty for what I did. Andy put a hand on my shoulder and smiled at me warmly, "Don't worry about it so much, Seadra. That just means you've fit in now. Victoria sees you as another sister to watch over. You're one of us. We've all done that same stunt sometime."

Those words suddenly made all the pain that had built up within me vanish and I let out a sigh of relief. I no longer felt awkward there—I now belonged there. I finally felt like I had a family who loved me and a place to live.

"Rai!" I heard Raichu call out. I looked over to where I heard the call come from, my bed. From under the messed-up sheets out sprung Raichu. It ran over to me with the biggest smile on its face. I extended my arms out as it leapt at me. I hugged it tightly, kissing its cheek.

Andy laughed, "Raichu was worried too."

I laughed and nodded, "Yeah, sure seems like it." I ruffled up its fur and poked its tummy, making it giggle like a child.

I smiled to myself and put Raichu down. I looked back to Chris just as he walked out to get back to his own home. I didn't say anything to him, I decided to leave him alone. I closed the door behind him and sat down on my bed. I closed my eyes and thought about how everything was starting to come back together in my life. I had a family, I had a home—I felt complete.