Garfield
"And then we went to the arcade and I won like a thousand tickets!" Garfield waves his arms in the arm while he talks. He doesn't mean to, but he can't help it. Everything with the Dayton's went so well yesterday. He almost didn't want to come back, but he did miss his friends. Mr. And Mrs. Dayton were really kind and fun to spend time with. The only thing that would have made it better, would have been if Richard and Raven had been there.
"I'm glad you had fun," Raven says without looking up from her book. "When are they coming to see you again?" He grins. They are going to come see him again! He almost can't believe it! In a couple weeks.
"They're going on a trip to Peru this week, so in about two weeks they'll be back. They said we could all go to a theme park or something. You and Richard too." He can imagine the three of them riding in a Ferris wheel cart together or playing bumper cars. It'll be the best day ever. Maybe the Dayton's will like all of them and just adopt the three of them. They laughed at his jokes and told him he was funny. They also told him he was really brave to try and help that man at the charity ball. Richard and Raven are both really smart. They'll have to like them too. It'll be perfect. The three of them can still be together. He won't have to choose between a family and his friends.
"Did I tell you they laughed at my jokes?" he asks.
"Only like twenty times," Richard says in an annoyed voice, but he gives Garfield a half-smile.
"What about Mr. Wayne?" Garfield asks.
"What about him?" Richard closes his laptop.
"Isn't it weird that a busy man like him came back...?" Garfield asks. Raven looks over her book and nods in agreement.
"Yeah, he was being really nosey and asking a lot of questions about you two." Richard says. "I don't like it. If he comes again, we should probably keep our distance." Raven puts her book down.
"What kind of questions?" she asks.
"About Garfield's powers and what happened at the party... I don't like it." Richard says.
"...The Dayton's asked a lot of questions too," Garfield sits down in his chair and turns his gaze towards the table. "They wanted to know all about my powers and what happened at the ball."
"What?" Raven stares holes into him.
"I didn't tell them anything about you. You got mad when we talked to the Justice League, so I knew you wouldn't want me to say anything." Garfield can see the relief on her face. "I just told them I was too busy helping with the man to see much else."
"I don't think we should trust them," Richard says. There go his dreams of them all being a family. The Daytons were nosey, but they were also nice. He doesn't think there's anything bad in them knowing. Mr. Wayne is nice too. Mr. And Mrs. Dayton had both told him they were worried that someone might take advantage of him because of his gifts and unique physique. They had warned him at least three times during their day trip to be careful with who he trusted. They wanted him to warn Raven too. Bad people wouldn't do that.
"I think they're nice." Richard rolls his eyes. "Hey, I have excellent taste in people." They both give him small smiles at that.
They just need to spend some time with Mr. And Mrs. Dayton. Then they'll realize how awesome they are and the Dayton's will realize how awesome the three of them are too. Maybe then they can become a family and get out of here. Maybe then, they can leave all the nightmares behind.
Raven
It's as if her death broke the spell. The nightmares begin almost immediately. First, it's recaps of the charity ball. Of Jessica and all the other names and faces who are gone. Then it's the burning demise of everyone who I supposedly saved. Instead of the quick death that was promised to them before I broke the rules, they face eternal agony at his hands.
The fourth night after the charity ball, I go to my room at lights out and find the other girls whispering. They're huddled on the carpet between our beds, the glow of an electronic illuminating their faces in the dim light of our room. They pause whatever it is and the sound stops, before turning to look at me.
"You have superpowers?" Ginny asks.
"Since when?" they hound me with questions and I see on their tablet a picture of me at the ball using my powers. No...
The lights flicker and then there are a series of small explosions. The other girls scream and run to one of the bottom bunks, hugging each other. Their terror combined with my own is toxic.
There's a video? How many people have seen it? Who else knows? Have his followers already found it? Why did I break my promise...?
Richard and Garfield come through the door behind me.
"Shit." Richard kicks the tablet under one of the beds and then turns to face me. "Calm down."
"What's wrong?" Garfield asks. They each put a hand on my shoulder. He's right. I need to calm down, but how can I calm down when that footage is out there? It was bad enough I broke my promise and Mrs. Huntington is gone, but now...
"Excuse me, boys." Their hands are ripped off my shoulder and an arm goes around my neck.
"Hey! What are you doing!" Richard yells. Everything goes dark.
When I wake up, I'm in my bed. Based on the window it's late morning. I'm not alone. Garfield and Richard are here. They're half asleep, but they perk up when I sit up.
"What happened?" I ask.
"You... lost it," Richard says. "You broke a bunch of stuff in the house. James used a sleeper-hold to knock you out, so you could calm down." Oh...
"The video..." I take a slow deep breath to try not to let the panic sink in again.
"It's okay," Garfield puts his hand on mine. "Don't worry. We're here and Ms. Vanderbelt and Ms. Kinders told everyone to stop talking about it. Whoever mentions it again has to clean the toilets for the rest of the year."
"They said it's no one's business and to leave you alone," Richard adds. It doesn't matter if they say anything or not... People saw it. A lot of people probably. It's only a matter of time before they arrive.
"What's wrong?" Garfield asks. "Why don't you want anyone to know you're a hero?" I rip my hand away and glare at him.
"Can't you just tell us?" Richard is starting to get angry. Ugh... I don't want them to be mad at me, but I also don't want to tell them the truth.
"Something bad is going to happen." That's as much of the truth as they really need to know. Or at least that's what I think, but clearly, they disagree.
"You're hiding from someone aren't you?" Richard asks. "That's why you don't go outside."
"Do the adults know?" Garfield asks. "Why aren't they doing anything about the video?" I shake my head. They don't know. Only Mrs. Huntington knew.
"Are you going to tell them?" Richard asks. I shake my head. What can they do? If there was somewhere else safe to go, Azar would have already sent me there. Death was the answer we'd all been seeking when they sent me here. Death is the only way to stop him...
They stop asking me questions and we sit in silence until Ms. Kinders comes in. She tells us all to get up and get dressed. She doesn't mention what happened. We eat meals in the dining room and ignore the whispering of the other kids. We do our chores and extra chores to make up for the kids who are gone. Then we spend the remainder of the day in the library.
The days go by like that for a while. The absence of the missing is never unnoticed, except when we are in the library. It was always the three of us in there, so it's the only room that feels peaceful. The boys keep it that way. They must have made some kind of agreement to stop asking questions, because they don't. We don't talk about the charity ball and we don't talk about anyone's powers.