Chapter 9: Gone

That Saturday wasn't a happy one. When Lysander went over to see Tancred was when he got the bad news. Lysander was about to knock on the front door when Tancred burst out of it. As he ran towards the woods his eyes were cast down and there was enough wind coming from his friend and inside the house to knock Lysander off his feet.

As he got up, Tancred's parents spotted him in the doorway.

They didn't look happy, but they didn't look angry either. They looked kind of sad and resigned, like Tancred, just Tancred had looked angry too.

Lysander stepped inside. It was the first time he felt uncomfortable going into his best friend's house without being invited. Lysander and Tancred's parents shared an awkward silence.

Finally Mrs. Torsson said, "Lysander, we didn't know you'd be coming today."

"I figured Alicia would be back by now. It's pretty late in the afternoon. Tancred and I had planned to spend the day doing something and we thought she would like to join us. Unless she's with Emma and Olivia..."

Seeing as how Mrs. Torsson had started sobbing at Alicia's name, Lysander got the feeling that the situation with Alicia had gotten a lot more complicated since the last time Lysander had seen her.

Lysander was about to ask if something was wrong, but that much was obvious. So instead he asked, "What's wrong? Did something happen to Alicia?"

Mr. Torsson looked at him sympathetically. "Lysander... Alicia has decided that she would be better off in a new home. We were told... The Bloors called us... and... Lysander, she isn't coming back."

The room was silent for a while. Lysander was in shock. He muttered something. He couldn't even tell what he said, and at this point he didn't really think it mattered. He rushed out the door in the direction that Tancred had run off.

It took a little while for him to realize that he actually knew where he was going. He was headed in the direction of Tancred and his secret spot in the forest. When they were younger they'd found an abandoned clearing in the forest. They'd decided to make it their own. Whenever one of them had wanted to just get away from the world they usually came here.

As he got closer, the wind intensified and it started to rain. Lysander was soaked by the time he reached it. He saw Tancred was sitting on a tree stump with his head down. Lysander just stood there for a little while.

"Hey..." said Tancred quietly.

Lysander hadn't thought his friend had seen him, but it was better this way than having to announce himself. He wasn't much in the mood for talking, but he knew this conversation needed to get done. He followed his friend out here for a reason.

"Tancred, I'm so sorry. But look at it this way. Maybe this time she'll be in a home far away."

"The Bloors'll find her anyway." Tancred said depressingly.

"But, she'll be happier now. We could tell the Bloors were getting to her. Maybe it's better this way."

"It's not better this way!!" Tancred stood up and glared at his friend. "She was happy here! And she wasn't afraid of the Bloors getting to her!" his voice quieted a bit. "Besides, she didn't leave because the Bloors were tormenting her. She thought they'd be getting to us. It's not like the Bloors weren't bothering us before!"

"She didn't know that Tanc. No one ever talked to her about before because no one thought it was that important."

"Well, it doesn't matter now. She's gone now."

Well, that's kind of depressing. Read and Review Please! Sorry if you don't like how it ended. This is officially the last chapter, but, if it's not already up, I'm going to put up and epilogue^^