Hey! Thanks for all the reviews! They made my day! Here is chapter three, so please read and review again!
Review and enjoy,
-GoneLoverMM
Chapter Three
Virtue Brattle-Chance was at home with his three little siblings when Sanjit and Lana came home. They all lived in a fairly large house a couple streets over from the town plaza. The family that lived here had probably considered this house nice, but Virtue had lived in the lap of luxury for a long time.
Bowie, Pixie, and Peace ran to the door when they saw who had arrived. All three of them loved Lana as if she were their big sister. They launched themselves into her arms and she hugged them back. Then they moved on to Sanjit.
"Hey guys!" Choo said happily. He liked having all of his family together. It never truly felt like home when they weren't. Lana was a new addition to their adopted family, and Choo would be forever grateful for the way she had helped Bowie.
"Hi." They both said. Their strange, flat answer worried Choo. He looked at Sanjit then. Sanjit was trying to communicate something with his eyes. Now Choo was very worried.
"Bowie, Pixie, Peace," Sanjit addressed the three younger kids, "Why don't you guys go and play."
"No!" They all whined, "We want to see Lana!"
"Its okay guys," Lana began, "I promise to play with you guys later. Let the big kids talk."
The three of them sighed. Peace stuck out her lip, and Pixie took in a breath, ready to protest, but Sanjit silenced them with a hard look. They scurried off quickly then, disappearing upstairs.
"How was the lake?" Choo addressed Lana casually.
"Fine." She bobbed her head once.
"Well… That's good." Choo said, attempting to fill the awkward silence.
"Yup." Sanjit said. They stood there for a few more seconds, staring at each other.
Virtue finally interrupted. "So… are you going to tell me why you two are acting so weird?"
They both exchanged wary glances. He knew that they were never going to spill the beans. Whatever they were hiding must have been pretty huge. Virtue sighed audibly. "Please, Wisdom." He begged.
"Don't call me by my slave name, brother." Sanjit snapped.
"Don't withhold information from me, Sanjit." Choo began, "You said it yourself that we are brothers! What is with the secrecy?"
Choo looked at his brother. He knew that Sanjit wanted to tell; he could see it on his brother's face. Lana could too.
"It's not his fault," She said, "I told him not to tell anybody."
"Why?" Choo asked indignantly.
"Because it would endanger her life if somebody found out!" Lane lowered her voice towards the end.
"I promise to keep it a secret!" Choo help up is right hand and placed his left hand over his heart.
"Okay, okay!" Lana said, "We don't need to swear you in… Put your hands down."
Choo followed her instructions. Sanjit let out a deep breath. "Diana is pregnant."
Virtue was shocked. "How do you know?"
Lana replayed the moment when she had healed Diana's broken wrist. Virtue listened attentively.
"Is it Caine's?" He asked after she had finished.
"Probably," Lana said, "but you can never be too sure."
Virtue took that in. "Well if it is Caine's baby, why would Diana choose to live with Sam at the Lake?"
Diana shrugged her shoulders. "I'm not sure," She said, "Maybe the baby isn't Caine's. I mean, who knows?"
"But whose could it be then?" Choo asked.
Sanjit finally piped up. "Anybody's man, anybody."
They all sat there in silence after that. Weird things happened in the FAYZ, this pregnancy was just the cherry on top.
Bug had been summoned to Caine's office. On his way over, he noticed that the large oak door that had once sat on its frame was now sticking out of the wall, suspended perpendicularly from the ground. Bug was nervous now. This wasn't a good sign. If Bug was one step out of line it could be him halfway through the wall.
Bug didn't know what to do when he arrived. There was no longer any door to knock on, but he didn't want to seem rude by just barging in. So he decided to knock on the wall.
"Come in." Caine called. Bug stepped through the doorframe. "Have a seat." He gestured towards the large chair in front of his desk.
Bug sat down quickly. It felt like he was in the principal's office waiting to receive a detention. It was strange to see that the person on the other side of the desk was a skinny, fifteen-year-old boy.
"I'm sure you can guess why I've brought you here." Caine said as he sat down.
Bug shook his head. He honestly had no idea.
"Well, I'm sure you've heard by now that Diana has gone to live with Sam at the Lake."
Bug bobbed his head. He had heard this.
"Well, I want to know why she left, but I need you help."
"What do you want me to do?" Bug asked warily.
"I want you to do what you do best," Caine said, "Spy."
"Okay," Bug said, "When do you want me to leave?"
"Right now," Caine said.
Bug could feel himself being lifted from the chair he sat in. Caine used his power to guide Bug's body towards the office door. Before Caine put him down though, he looked Bug in the eye.
"This is really important to me," He began, "If you screw this up…" Caine didn't need to finish the sentence. Instead he looked at the door lodged in the wall. Bug got the message. The second Caine set him down he took of running. He would not disappoint Caine.
One of Albert's drivers made the trip to the Lake with Bug. He stopped about a kilometer from the small camp and Bug got out. Caine didn't want anybody to know that Bug was there. After all, knowing that a spy was coming kind of defeated the purpose.
"Thanks." Bug said to the driver. He then slid his hand down the front of his body. He was now completely invisible. It didn't take him long to get to town. The moon sat high in the sky, and provided the only light source other than the spattering of campfires and Sammy Suns.
Kids were still up and about, Bug noticed. In Perdido Beach everybody had a curfew, one of Caine's new rules or proclamations, as he liked to call them. Bug thought the whole idea was ridiculous, but Caine liked to micromanage. However, he always got away with these crazy laws. After all, who was crazy enough to take on Caine? Maybe Sam, but even then…
As he walked, Bug noticed familiar faces. There were about three hundred kids trapped inside the FAYZ, after a while you get to know them. If not by name, then at least by face. He recognized the Breeze and Computer Jack, they were sitting beside a small campfire and both were laughing. Dekka sat on the other side of Computer Jack, just staring at the flames.
Bug continued walking. Caine had given him specific instructions to spy on Diana, but Bug knew that Caine was eaten up with curiosity about his brother, Sam. Bug knew it would get him some browning points if he could get a good morsel about Sam as well.
There was one problem though; Bug had no idea where anybody lived. From what he saw on the way in, there were probably seventy or eighty different tents spread out on the grounds. It would take him forever to find anybody! Bug was trying to figure out a plan when Dekka suddenly got up and stalked off.
"Where are you going?" Brianna asked.
"Back to the boat," Dekka said, "I'm really tired."
"Ok." Brianna said, turning back to Computer Jack.
Dekka also noticed, and she started walking as fast as she could away from the couple. That's when Bug had an idea. He knew that Dekka was Sam's biggest ally after Edilio, so wherever she was he wouldn't be far. Bug began following, but Dekka's legs were much longer than his, so he fell behind quickly. He had to pick up the pace in order to avoid losing her.
It was dark, so he tripped often, but she didn't seem to notice the cracking of dry leaves and twigs. Finally, the trees cleared and Bug could see a dock bleached white in the moonlight. Bug could hear Dekka's quiet sobs, but it wasn't like he was going to comfort her. Who cared if she cried? Bug certainly didn't.
Dekka stopped walking then. She hastily wiped the tears from her eyes, steadied her breathing, and then continued on. A few largish boats were tied to the dock, she made her way towards the largest one and she knocked on the side.
"Edilio, Sam!" She called, "Let me in."
So this was where Sam lived! Bug could see Edilio's shadow in the doorway, and then Dekka disappeared inside the boat. Bug followed closer, wanting to hear tidbits of conversation. Bug cautiously placed his ear against the side of the boat, trying to be as careful as possible. He didn't want to make any noise and raise their suspicion.
"Where's Sam?" He heard Dekka ask.
"He said that he was going to check on Diana." Edilio said sleepily, "She broke her wrist last night. Lana already healed it, but he still wanted to check on her himself."
"Oh." Dekka said. She sniffled then, Edilio probably couldn't see her tear stroked face in the darkness, but he definitely heard the sniffle.
"You okay?" He asked concernedly.
"Yeah," She said, "I'm just going to go to bed."
"Yeah, Same." Edilio said dropping the issue.
It was silent within a few minutes. Bug crept noiselessly from the dock. It was eerily quite, but then Bug heard two voices. One was definitely a guy's, the other could have been a girl's, but Bug wasn't sure. Then he saw an unmistakable Sammy Sun appear. Bug had found at least one of his targets.
Diana was surprised to see Sam standing outside of her floating home.
"Uh hey," He said as he stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jeans. "How's your wrist?"
Diana was kind of confused at first. Sam had come just to check on her wrist? "Fine." She answered honestly. It was completely fine now that Lana had healed it.
"Brianna told me about what had happened with Lana." Sam said.
"Oh." Diana said. Of course she had.
"You know what this means, right?" Sam said looking up at Diana.
Diana shrugged her shoulders.
"It means that more people know." Sam's tone was urgent but not unkind.
"Lana wouldn't tell anybody." Diana came to the defense of the healer.
"As if she wouldn't tell Sanjit." Sam said.
Diana took that in. Of course she would tell Sanjit. Then Sanjit would tell his adopted brother Virtue. It was a chain reaction from there. How long before the whole town knew? How long before Caine knew? Diana froze up with fear. What would he do? The baby's power was already growing. Every single day it grew stronger. How long before it was a four bar? Five bar? Six bar? What then?
"What do we do?" Diana asked Sam. Her brown eyes growing larger as she waited for his answer.
"I don't know…" Sam answered honestly. "They are all going to notice in a few months."
Suddenly Diana was boiling hot. She needed to get off this boat. "Come with me." She ordered Sam.
He followed her as she made her way off the boat and onto the beach. She flopped down into the sand and he followed her lead. They both sat in silence for several moments before Sam spoke.
"I don't know what we are going to do," He began, "But I will promise you something. My brother will never hurt you or my nephew or niece. I won't let him touch either of you."
Diana was taken aback by his sudden intensity. No one had ever been to genuinely concerned for her. She had once thought that Caine was, but he had just used her. This baby was Sam's blood though, just like it was Diana's. Diana knew that Sam was fiercely loyal. She respected that.
"Thank you Sam." Diana said genuinely. She picked up his hand then and placed it on her stomach. "We both thank you."
Bug had watched the whole scene. He had heard every word clear as day. Diana was pregnant. Caine was the father. The baby was already a freak, a powerful one at that. Its powers were growing every day. Bug wondered how Caine would react. He was kind of unpredictable as it was. What he would do? Only time would tell…