Chapter #10
Weeks passed since Andy, Carol, Victoria and I had visited Rukonia and obtained our amazing powers from our pokemon and the Orb of Mew. We explained to Mason the visions the Orb of Mew showed us before we were given our powers. We explained everything—from when the Rukonians were unable to defend themselves to when a war broke out against them. He seemed interested with the whole story, but he was skeptical it was true. It made sense to me though; it made the hatred towards Rukonians piece together perfectly. Of course, we had no proof the war ever did take place.
We all (except Victoria) had to wear our gloves around the clock. Taking them off was a major risk—one we did not want to take. Andy had accidentally lit things on fire more than once, Carol would often turn things into solid ice and I would make any water extremely dangerous with my electric abilities. Over a period of time, we learnt how to control our powers with our gloves on, but not with them off. We were able to use our powers with them on, but only if we wanted to. Andy and Carol had to make their gloves cover their hands completely, but mine didn't cover my fingers and some of the back of my hands. This was because I was unable to use any electric powers without them, which would cause me to shock myself without warning.
Our pokemon recovered from their experience with the Orb of Mew rather quickly, while the rest of us felt weak for a couple days. My Eevee was still at the pokemon center; it had been there for several weeks. I was worried about it—I feared they would've sent it to a pound because I hadn't picked it up yet. When I asked Mason if he could retrieve it, he said no.
"Everyone knows your Eevee belongs to a Rukonian now after that incident when you dropped it off there." Mason said in a harsh voice, "Anyone who went to pick it up would be captured and forced to tell where you all are. I'm not taking that chance, Seadra." With that, he went back to watching some Talk Show about teenage girls dating 40 year-old men.
I sighed and left the small TV room where the other girls were playing Monopoly. Mason had tons of board and card games for us to play, mainly because there was very little for us to do around his place. By now, we had played each of the games a million times. Mason was having problems getting money so we couldn't get anymore games. Recently, Mason was making less and less money, and I didn't even know how he made money in the first place. Because of our shortage of money, we ended up eating nothing but McChickens from McDonalds because they were the best deal. We ended up having to share 2Ls of Pepsi each day, mainly because it was cheaper than even getting water. I was getting worried about it all; we even stopped going to the lake because Mason couldn't afford gas.
"Hey, Seadra," Carol smiled up at me as she rolled her two dice. She was using her little Pokemon toys to play the game instead of the metal pieces that came with the Monopoly game. She was using a small Pikachu, one very similar to her plush, which she held tightly in her arms.
I smiled back down at her the way a sister would smile at her sibling. We were all very close, and I felt like they were all my sisters and Mason was my brother. It was a nice feeling, but Andy had a bad habit of ruining it by getting into arguments with Victoria and Mason. I kneeled down beside her as she moved her Pikachu figure by five spots, landing on Free Parking and getting $435.
"Mason said he won't get Eevee" I sighed as I looked over to Victoria.
Andy looked to me and shrugged, "I saw it coming. For once, I'm going to agree with him. I don't want anyone to find us." She said as Carol handed her two dice.
"I know" I sighed as I fiddled with the little red hotels and blue houses that were scattered along the floor. "I really miss Eevee though It was a birthday present"
Victoria laid one of her bare hands onto my shoulder and smiled in a motherly way to me, "Don't worry so much about it. Eevee will be taken care of someone who won't have to worry about the Kilinda Clan." She said as Andy began to shake her hands, getting ready to roll her dice. "Eevee is better off this way, Seadra."
Those comforting words really helped me. I knew Victoria was right—Eevee was safer this way. I looked over to Andy as she finally rolled her dice. She got two sixes, making her move twelve spaces. She landed on "Go To Jail".
Later that day, Chris came by to visit us. Mason had invited him over to talk to him about our money problems. He explained to him that sooner or later, he wouldn't be able to keep his place and we would be out in the streets as open targets for the Kilinda Clan.
"Oh man," Chris sighed as he ran one of his hands through his brown hair while holding a bottle of beer in the other, "You're in real trouble there, buddy." He said to Mason, who was resting his head on the wall. It was obvious he wasn't pleased with his money problems at all.
"I'm in deep shit," Mason corrected his friend as he looked over to him, leaning his arm against the wall casually and drinking down some of his beer. "If I don't get money quick, I'm gonna lose my place. It's either that, or I give up on the girls." He sighed.
I paused—was he serious?! Was he going to get rid of Andy, Carol, Victoria and I because he couldn't afford to take care of us?! I looked back to Andy as she growled from the back of her throat. It was clear she wasn't pleased with this at all. Meanwhile, Victoria talked to Carol calmly, explaining that things will be all right and Mason would manage to deal with everything easily.
Chris looked down at his shoes and seemed to be thinking hard. "Well, I did get that new job I wanted, maybe I can lend you some money" He pondered as he scratched the back of his neck. He seemed to be stressed.
Mason looked to Chris; "I couldn't do that You've got your own problems paying your own bills. I've got to deal with this on my own." He said as he walked away to one of the dirty windows and peered through the cloudy glass. It was dark out, and the clouds covered the moon and stars. The only light was that from the buildings surrounding and the lonely streetlights. He sighed and put his beer bottle down on a small counter.
I got up from my bed and walked over to Chris, "Couldn't Mason just get a new job?" I asked. Chris gave me a look of disbelief and shook his head and pushed me away. I didn't understand why he did that, or what was wrong with Chris getting a new job. Not much made sense to me. I sighed and went into the small TV room where I could see if anything good was on.
I didn't bother to listen to the others as they tried to figure out a way Mason could get some money. As I flipped through the different stations, I couldn't find anything that caught my attention. After going through each station more than five times each, something caught my attention. I stopped at the channel, it was the news.
"Today the Kilinda Clan uncovered over twenty Rukonians in Kanto and Johto, making a total of over 200 captured since the formation of the Anti-Rukonian group a few weeks ago." Said the news reporter as clips of Rukonians with their wings out with the Kilinda Clan dragging them to their headquarters was shown. "They say they will not rest until all Rukonians have been captured, and they are offering $200 for each Rukonian brought in."
That was enough, Seadra turned the TV off right away. It used to be very rare to find a single Rukonian in a long period of time, now dozens were being captured every month. The other girls and Mason knew about it, but they all refused to talk about it.
I got up and walked out of the room. Mason and Chris were still talking while drinking from their bottles of beer. Meanwhile, the girls kept themselves busy with a deck of cards. They seemed to be playing Crazy Eight's. It seemed Carol was winning, while Victoria was having troubles with her cards. I kneeled down to the girls and watched as they played. I didn't mention the news I just saw, they probably didn't want to hear about it.
A few more hours passed, we were playing Chinese Checkers while Chris was getting ready to leave. "I'll see you girls later," Chris said before walking out the door.
I looked back to him and waved, "See ya, Chris!" I called as he walked out and closed the door behind him. I knew it was late and we would have to go to bed then. So, without being told, I got up and went over to my bed where Raichu had been sleeping for the past few hours.
Victoria put away all the board games we were playing and our deck of cards. Meanwhile, Mason went into the TV room to watch some TV. Andy was tired and fell asleep the minute she fell onto her bed where her Ninetales was hiding under it.
I looked over to Carol as she crawled into her bed with her Pikachu plush in her arms. Before laying down, she suddenly paused. Her eyes went wide and she began to shake, staring up at the ceiling in a strange kind of trance. Victoria noticed it as well and we ran to Carol's side. Victoria held her shoulders firmly as she continued to shake.
"Carol?" Victoria had a concerned tone in her voice, "What's wrong?" She asked as she restrained herself from panicking from the strange trance Carol seemed to be trapped in. Suddenly, Carol stopped shaking, but her eyes were still wide and staring up at the ceiling. I was really beginning to worry about her—I didn't know what was going on.
Suddenly, Carol screamed loud enough for the whole country to hear. She held her head with her hands and laid on her side on her bed. Victoria looked down at her, totally stunned. Andy woke up to Carol's scream and ran over as quickly as she could. Mason also had heard it and in a split second, was at her side.
Carol was still shaking and was making a little whimpering noise. No one said anything as Victoria helped her get onto her lap, holding her like a mother would hold her child. Mason stayed quiet and kept his distance, knowing Carol was more comfortable with Victoria than anyone else.
Finally, Carol broke free of her mysterious trance, but she was still shaking. "I I" She started, even her voice was shaking, "Victoria?" She looked up to Victoria for a moment, then hugged her tightly and broke into tears. It was almost as if Carol hadn't seen Victoria in ages with the way she was acting.
Victoria held Carol in her arms comfortingly and rocked her back and forth gingerly. "What is it? What's wrong?" She asked soothingly as she ran her hands through Carol's purple hair.
There was a silence that lasted a few moments. Andy, Mason and I stayed close but far enough from the two to make Carol feel comfortable. Of course, she was more at home with Victoria than anyone of us. "I I saw it" Carol finally choked out as she continued to cry onto Victoria's shoulders, soaking her turtleneck shirt.
Victoria blinked, "Saw what?" She asked, bewildered by Carol's behavior. She didn't seem to care at all that Carol was soaking her shirt.
There was another uneasy silence. Then finally, Carol spoke up, " Your death"
