Chapter 2

The pair stood facing each other, grins plastered on their faces as the others stared. Eventually, breaking the silence, Kyle laughed the soft laugh Aubrey remembered from their childhood. Kyle's friends wandered over to meet the person who brought out the soft side of their psychopath.

"Guys, this is Aubrey. Aubrey, this is Ed, Macca and Will, go easy on 'em," Kyle joked, as Aubrey gave him a punch on the shoulder.

"Kyle, we have to go get the boys, i don't know how I'm going to break this news to poor Sam," Ed said, with a sullen look on his scarred face. Aubrey furrowed her brows, and guessed he was talking about Small Sam, who she'd heard a lot about from her Holloway friends.

"Can I come? I've heard a hell of a lot about this kid, and I wanna see what all this fuss is about!" Aubrey, smiled at the boys, hoping she wasn't being too intrusive. Ed nodded at her, and the rest of the boys smiled as this small band of 5 left the museum through the gates.

They walked in a comfortable silence to where the crew had been staying, with Shadowman of all people. Once they arrived, Aubrey was greeted by the strange sight of grown-up in a bowler hat. The boys noticed her apprehension and laughed, promising it was safe to move nearer. 'This is almost as weird as those twisted kids…' she thought to herself. Edging around the grown up, who stared at her with hunger in his eyes, she approached the small boys, who looked exhausted but still defiant.

"You must be Sam," Aubrey said, glancing at Sam as she crouched down to their level, "but i don't think I've heard anything about you," she said as she smiled at the other young boy, the one with the wild mop of hair on his head.

'That's The Kid," said Ed as he came and crouched next to her, "He's a little crazy but you'll get used to it I guess." Ed smiled at Aubrey, which caused his scar to contort his face but she could see in his eyes, which were filled with kindness, that the action was genuine, so she smiled back. After gathering any belongings, the now larger group began their journey back to the Natural History Museum.

"Well, it's late. You guys should check with Justin or Brooke where you'll be sleeping, see you all tomorrow," Aubrey smiled. They'd gotten the initial greetings and weird moments over with (turns out, that grown u was one of the twisted kids dad, crazy). She stood up and brushed herself down, before trudging back to her room. She entered her room and kicked off her shoes, before falling back onto her narrow bed. Kyle. Her Kyle was back in her life. The two were back together, and Aubrey grinned, realising how much she'd missed her goofy best friend. As she reminisced, her eyes fluttered and she drifted into a light sleep.

Around one hour later, there was a knock on her door. Groggily, she rubbed her eyes and stretched, before standing and opening her door. To her surprise, the entire group stared at her, smiles plastered on their faces.

"What. The. Fuck?" Aubrey stared back at them blankly, confused as to why they were waking her up at this hour.

"Oh! I'll explain. Justin said to crash in here, the minerals gallery is super full and we didn't fancy sleeping with them twisted kids," The seemingly hyper one, Macca, explained to her. Aubrey raised her eyebrows and sighed, staring at each of the 6 boys in turn. She turned and gestured for them to come in, before falling onto her bed, and going straight into a deep slumber.

—

The sun was streaming through the thin net curtains, and Aubrey woke to the gentle snores of the boys she was surrounded by. She noticed Ed was the only one awake, as he was stood by the window, watching. "Morning," she murmured, laughing as he jumped at the sound of her voice.

"You scared me."

"Sorry, sleep well?"

"I guess, thanks for letting us intrude last night, I'm betting it looked kind of rude."

"Not at all, I'm not bothered really, how did that meeting go? I probably should've been there."

Ed sighed, before raking a hand through his hair. He shook his head and smiled at her sadly, "Not well, pretty sure no one wants to help us go find Ella. maybe they're right, maybe we are crazy."

Aubrey tilted her head and laughed gently. "The crazy people are the best kind. Besides, at least you aren't having to make the journey completely alone."

"Oh yeah"

"Yeah," Aubrey smirked, "Aside from you're little gang, you've got someone else coming. Me."