Hey everyone, chapter 5! I said I'd get it up tonight and I did! I don't own Code Lyoko I do own Morgan feel free to use her for your stuff just ask me first.

This chapter is in Aelita's POV

I hope you enjoy.

"Well...try not to have any more. If you scream like that again you'll wake up the entire school!"

"...Easy for you to say..." I mumbled, and rolled over. I heard the door close and tried to get back to sleep.

But I couldn't.

It had only been two days since my father's death. I was having those nightmares again. The ones with Mr. Puck...except they were different this time. Just a little different...I was the elf. I ran toward my father and away from a black wolf. None of the tree branches were low enough to climb, and there were no bushes. There was nowhere to hide. I just kept running but the wolf got closer and closer. And I just kept running and I got closer to dad and the wolf caught me and-

I had to stop myself, I was panicking again.

I sat back up and felt for my phone on the nightstand. I found it and texted Jeremie.

Jeremie, are youu up

His response came almost immediately.

Yes. Is something wrong?

N ightmar ess I

Aelita, take a deep breath and try to explain.

I took a shaky breath in and tried to concentrate on the words I was typing.

I had that nightmare again

with the wolves

The mind processes what happens in life, warps it, and gives it back to you as a dream. It shouldn't be a surprise you're having nightmares...considering what's happened. It's only been a few days. You're going to be ok.

Yeah i guess...I just feel so on edge you know everything ended so suddenly and i just

My head hurt. I rubbed my temples. I didn't want to go back to sleep, I couldn't go back to sleep. It helped a little to talk to Jeremie and know he was in the same building. He was right there and in the morning I could talk to him and he was real and right in front of me. I spent so long in the Supercomputer and so long fighting Xana. Now I could finally rest, and yet...I took a deep breath.

Yeah. I know what you mean. I'm...on my computer. I was on my computer when you texted.

Not sleeping?

Not sleeping.

At 3 in the morning.

Well neither were you.

haha

So, did you want to talk about something?

Yeah, I guess. What are you working on?

He explained that he was just writing code. He needed to keep busy. He was so used to sleepless nights and constant programming, he just couldn't quit cold turkey. He was still on high alert, like all of us were. He was still suspicious when he didn't need to be, like with Morgan earlier today...or yesterday, if you were being technical about it. He thought it was just a little too convenient. I...honestly did not have the mental energy to contradict him.

Eventually I fell into a dreamless sleep with my phone on my chest.

I slept in that morning. It was Sunday after all, there were no classes. Eventually Odd came and woke me up at about 3pm, but once I was up he left...something about ping pong. Twelve hours...I slept twelve hours and I still felt horrible. I...needed a shower. My back and head and chest and...basically all of me was still sore. The hot water would wake me up and hopefully clear my head. It was like...my head was preventing me from really thinking about things be also I was able to have this completely lucid internal monologue about not being able to think...weird.

I got into the shower and turned on the water.

And jumped back! So much for a hot shower, this was completely freezing!

"Today is not your day." I said to myself. Nobody was around to hear. Of course nobody was around to hear, it was 3 in the afternoon on a Sunday, nobody would be taking a shower now...nobody except me. What was I even doing? Why couldn't I just-

Well, I had come here to get clean, I should get clean. I cranked the heat way up, put my hand in the water, and waited. It warmed up a little, enough for me to step in, but it was far from the hot shower I wanted.

Well, if nothing else, it woke me up. I felt less gross.

I put on a bathrobe and brushed my hair in front of the mirror. Pink...

Mommy?

No! No no no, stop! You stop that, brain! Don't you dare...

It's going to be ok, Aelita. Mom's gone but...we've got you. It's going to be ok.

Wait...what?

Whose voice was that?

That wasn't mom's or dad's voice or my voice...who was it? Who else was there?

Was there someone I was forgetting, or had my mind degraded so much I was making up new painful memories.

I smiled in the mirror, the brightest, most genuine smile I could manage. It looked pretty convincing. Pretending everything was ok probably wasn't the healthiest thing in the world, but it was how we'd had to function for the last two years of our lives. There was immense pressure to make sure the world was safe, but if we were at school...even if everything was falling apart...everything had to be ok.

Everything was ok.

We had each other, and we could relax now.

Relax...where? Where was everyone? Oh wait, I remembered Odd said something about ping pong. The rec room. That's where they were, probably. I got dressed and headed over there.

"Oh hey, looks like our princess has rejoined the living! And just in time too, you're about to watch the Great and Powerful Odd leave his opponent in the dust!" Odd waved over at me and I weakly waved back.

"Odd the Great and Powerful? Yeah right! I'll make you swallow those words!" William retorted.

"That's not the only thing I'll swallow!" Odd winked.

"What, you mean like breakfast?" I asked.

"Yes, Aelita...breakfast. Really, you are just too innocent."

Innocent? But I didn't get it. Was there some joke I wasn't getting-

OHHHH!

Oh.

Nevermind, I got it.

"Hey! What was that for!" Odd exclaimed, William had served the ball while Odd was looking at me.

"Not my fault you weren't paying attention." William responded. They kept talking but I kinda zoned out. Behind them, Ulrich was sitting on the couch reading a magazine and Jeremie was on his laptop. Yumi...was probably at home. One or two younger students were playing darts in the back, and Morgan was sitting on the couch in front of the TV. She was watching the news and typing away at her laptop. I took a seat in between Jeremie and Morgan.

"Good morning. Are you feeling any better?" Jeremie asked, looking up at me.

"Yeah." I answered, sinking into the couch cushion behind me. My shoulders relaxed a little.

"I am glad." I raised an eyebrow and looked to the side. It was Morgan. She was talking. "I apologize for last night. I was irritated because of insomnia. However, that is not an adequate excuse."

"Oh, it's ok." I said.

"Good." Morgan smiled and went back to typing.

"I don't mean to intrude but...is that...a Luvagilo laptop?" Jeremie asked. I guessed this was the first time he'd actually noticed it.

"Yes. I got some inheritance money and decided to spend it on this." she explained.

"But it's so expensive!"

"Yes." Morgan's eyes flicked up at the TV screen. "Oh."

I looked up to the screen. It was a special news report on a stolen laptop. A Luvagilo laptop.

"Breaking news. Last night a computer store was robbed. The thief stole the Luvagilo, the most advanced model to date. The young man, aged 20, was caught on security camera and identified as John McField. The young man was found earlier this morning unconscious in the middle of the park with no memory of the previous night. He was arrested but tested negative for both drugs and alcohol. His loss of memory remains a mystery."

Jeremie's eyes went wide. "You...you don't think...?"

"No, there's no way." I interjected. Still, the fact that someone committed a crime, passed out, and then didn't remember it got all of our attentions. William and Odd stopped playing and gathered near the couch. Ulrich put down his magazine and leaned forward. Morgan just watched with mild interest. There was more, an interview with the guard on duty at the time.

"Well, this teenage boy comes in...I don't know how he did it. I was watching the whole time, I he stands there, and I walk up to him and tell him to get out of here before I call the cops. He just stands there so I take out my cell phone. He snapped at that point and...I don't know, he must have had a taser or something. Next thing I knew, I was on the floor, and there was something about his eyes...and..."

"Jeremie?" Ulrich asked.

"I'm on it." Jeremie's fingers glided across the keys. "Um...I might need to dig into this to figure anything out. We should go." Jeremie got up and we all followed, filing out of the rec room and toward Jeremie's room.

No.

Oh no.

Oh no.

Today was not my day...

Time elapsed since last chapter: half a day

Time elapsed since chapter 1: 2 and a half days

Also it is my birthday today, so that's cool ^^ the smol Affa you knew from her awkward writing days of middle school has grown up and is going off to college in a few weeks. Morgan and I have changed a lot. Here's to many more years of telling stories.

Anyways, leave a review if you enjoyed it. Anything you do to let me know you're there is appreciated, but your words mean a lot to me!

And as always, guys, have an awesome day.