Charles and I stood there, awkwardly, watching Arissa sleep in her bed. I saw her stomach rise and fall, so I knew she was at least breathing. Both him and I would glance at each other every few seconds, unsure of what to do. Why did Brady have to make us figure this out instead of Lydia and Zelia, actual girls.

"Stanton pulled a pretty stupid stunt," Charles remarked, his voice a little edgy. "At least Zelia attacked him before he could finish it."

I continued to study her, double checking that she was acting correctly. I didn't notice Charles moving to her side until I saw him place his hand on her chest. I rushed toward him, slapping his hand back.

"Dude! What the hell?"

Charles eyed me confusingly. "I was seeing how her heart rate was."

"What about a pulse? You don't have to put your hand on her chest area!"

Charles' face was expressionless, as well were his eyes. "The heart is the source of everything."

I lifted my hands in the air, backing away in retreat. I turned my back from him when he returned to what he was doing. Something inside of me told me not to look.

"She's fine," his voice caught my attention again. "Stanton probably only startled her enough to make her pass out."

Charles beckoned out of the room, so I raced after him, closing her door behind me. I jogged to his side, giving him a little nudge. "What did Stanton exactly do? I came in when Zelia pounced on his ass."

Charles locked his eyes on me. "He decided to try one of his inventions on her, just to see how she would react. Turned out to be a shock device. I'm surprised it didn't kill her."

"Well, she's pretty tough," I scoffed, not giving Charles' glare any satisfaction.

"I noticed," he snapped, walking a little faster than me.

I faltered, staring after him, surprised. Was he really acting like this? "Charles! What is wrong with you?"

"Nothing!" He yelled at me, spinning around. But, when he locked eyes with mine, the anger melted into a smile. He seemed normal again. "I'm sorry about that, Zach. I've been feeling a little off lately."

"I noticed," I replied, in the same tone he gave me.

Sliding his hands in his pockets, he strode next to me, whistling a tune that I recognized. I didn't ask though. I felt like it was an unneeded question.

"What do you think of Arissa?" I asked him, my eyes flickering between him and the space we were walking on.

"She's different than most people I have met," his eyes fell to the floor and I saw him give a tidy smile. "And she's certainly pretty."

"Falling for her?"

Charles shot me a look. "Shut your mouth."

I raised my hands in defense. "Okay, okay, Charles. You win."

He rolled his eyes and walked on, moving past me and in front of me so I couldn't come up next to him. I chuckled behind him, which made him move even faster. Charles was actually the different one of the world.

Brady came rushing up toward us, his face set, as usual. But this time, I could see the frustration in his eyes. Deep, painful frustration.

"What's wrong Brady?"

"We are in port. I don't like this city."

"We are in port? Since when?" I glanced around the ship, confused that I didn't feel it.

"About twenty minutes ago. I'm going out into the city to look for some goods, even though I hate this place," he murmured, pushing past me to go down the halls that led to his room.

"What city?" I called after him, but he only shook his head, continuing until he rounded a corner.

I shrugged in response, heading down to the transporting area of the ship. Zelia was standing in the opening, gazing out onto the busy streets. Stanton was beginning to disappear into the crowds with Lydia, going to steal something probably. Zelia gave me a sideways smile.

"We've hit the jackpot," her voice was cunning and witty.

I laughed. "What do you mean?"

"This is Los Angeles. It's not as famous as it was back in the day, but it's still popular."

My eyes trailed over the scene, hundreds of people crowded into the dusty streets that were once paved over. Businesses boomed at every corner, even some having little carts in the middle of the streets. I couldn't help but find the chaos funny and intriguing. You didn't see this every day back at home.

"Want to wander?" Zelia was close to jumping in delight.

"What the hell," I slammed my hand against her back, bringing annoyance into her eyes. I grinned as I walked down the runway past her, feeling like a winner.

It was hard to walk through, but Zelia and I kept close to each other. Brady never liked us going anywhere without at least one other person tagging along, but most of the time we never told him that we were alone. Brady was too overprotective at times. We all got fed up with it too. We knew how to take care of ourselves.

"Do you know why Brady hates it here?" I asked, remembering the expression on his face when I saw him.

"I heard this where he grew up."

"Whoa! Really?" I chimed in, astonished. "He lived here? I use to believe that Brady appeared out of thin air!"

Zelia cackled. "No, he was surely born from somewhere. I heard Charles say something about Brady's little sister being kidnapped in this place too."

Silence followed. Brady was the type of person you never thought would dwell over the past, but I guess I misunderstood. He did, but he just didn't express it. I felt almost guilty, for not getting what he was dealing with here now.

I lifted my head to see two young girls. One had to be at least a year or two older than me, while the other one was about fifteen. The older one met my eyes with a delicate smile on her face, showing off her pretty features. Her hair was a light red, with very light brown eyes that sparkled in the sunlight. I stared, to be honest, but something told me to shake it off. The younger one had darker hair, a little more brown in it too, and her eyes were dark brown. I could see how they might possibly be related, but the glint in their eyes told a different story. Looking them both over made me realize that they wore dreaded clothes that were starting to fall apart and incredibly dirty. It was as if they wore rags for dresses. I did notice they had dirt smeared across their faces and necks.

Immediately, I grabbed onto Zelia's wrist and steered her toward the girls. She tried to resist, but eventually gave up. I was too determined for this.

The red head watched me coming from a distance, her lips parted slightly. The younger one had her eyes wide and curious. They couldn't look anymore different from each other before that moment. The older one spoke first though.

"May we help you?"

I shivered. Her voice sounded like crystals. "The question is toward you, really."

The younger one took a step toward me, glaring. "What the hell is that suppose to mean?"

"You two look like you need some serious help. Cleaning, food, money, and new clothes. I'm willing to help, if you would like to take it," I offered, holding out my hand. "The name's Zach Stark."

"Eliza Mitchell," the older one spoke. She held a hand toward the little one. "And this is my little sister, Brianna."

"Very nice to meet you," I grinned. I felt a nudge against my arm and found Zelia crossing her arms, tapping a foot. "Oh yeah, this is Zelia Yale, one of my partners."

"Oh," Eliza said, staring at Zelia with her eyes wide.

I took me a minute to put the pieces together. "Whoa! No! Not that kind of partner! We work together."

Zelia narrowed her eyes and Eliza smiled again. "Ah I see. So, you really want to help us?"

"Of course," I nodded, ignoring Zelia's whispers.

"And how do you propose you do that?"

"I could buy you clothes and food. Maybe you could join the ship even."

"ZACH!" Zelia exclaimed, loudly, and closely to my ear. I cringed back a little, holding onto my ear. This time she wasn't afraid to be quiet. "Are you kidding me right now? No offense to them, but do you think Brady wants two poor girls on his ship? He isn't really a floating hotel, I hope you know that."

I was expressionless, but pestered further. "I'm sure he would like to have more helping hands. Either of you good at something?"

"My mother taught me how to cook," Eliza spoke, her eyes never wavering.

"I can draw," Brianna said, shrugging. "That's about it."

"See, there you go! We have someone to help the cook and have an entertainer!" I said, pressuring Zelia into a deeper hole. "Now go tell Brady that I got him two more recruits."

Zelia huffed, incredibly loud, but she stomped off back toward the ship. I turned to the girls, grinning. "Now, how about we buy you some clothes?"

They agreed and walked with me, wandering in from store to store. Luckily, I had plenty of money in my pocket, so I let them buy a few things for now. Unfortunately though, Eliza was an expensive girl. She wanted to more fancy dresses, while Brianna was okay with a shirt and pants. I rolled my eyes at them as I headed outside to wait for them to finish in the store.

I should have never walked outside.

In the middle of the near deserted street were about three men. One held a knife in his hands, an evil light in his eyes. Another held a tall scythe, which looked deadly in my opinion. The last one didn't have anything but a thin sword. I pursed my lips and nodded a head.

"What's going on?"

"We be needing something," the man with the knife spoke, his black eyes demented.

"And that is?"

"A Forgotten Soul member," he grimaced.

I placed my weight onto one leg. "Oh, of course. That's what you all want. Am I just that charming?"

"Don't play us kid."

"Look who's talking," I chuckled. "You are the one that is wearing a childish grin."

Suddenly, he jerked his head forward. I should have known that was a code for "attack", but it didn't click in my head. They all rushed toward me, each one trying to take a side. I sighed, pulling out my gun in one hand and a knife in the other. Lifting my arm, I shot the one with the sword in the arm and swung myself around, ducking at the same time, so I could stab the one with the scythe in the leg. He roared in pain, falling back, rustling to keep a good hold onto his weapon.

"Idiots," I whispered, pushing myself toward them now, dodging the one with the knife by a lucky dodge. I triggered my gun and shot repeatedly at the big one with the scythe until he finally fell to the ground, moving only slightly. I fired again, missing the last two. I threw my knife at the sword man, bursting into laughter when I watched it plunge into his side. He screamed in pain, but I flung myself to the ground to miss the knife man's hit. I crawled across the sandy ground to find myself grabbing onto a type of pole.

Pushing my gun back into my holster, I stood up, bringing up the pole with me. I figured I could knock out the guy with the knife and have a little duel with the sword man. Instead, when I brought the pole in front of me, I found that it was the scythe the one man had.

"Holy shit," I hissed, gaping at it in surprise. That wasn't what I expected at all.

The sword man ran forward, keeping his weapon straight out. I used the handle to push his sword out of the way before plunging my blade into his back. He groaned before slumping to the floor. The man with the knife was looking at me, mortified. He dropped the knife and proceeded to run away. I picked up his knife, and threw it. Once it crashed into his back, he fell to his knees. I whipped out my gun and fired, getting him in the back of the head. He fell face forward, dust escaping from the ground when his head thumped into it.

I stared up at the scythe, smiling. "I guess I'll keep this."

I turned to find Eliza and Brianna staring at me, mortified. I glanced up at the scythe, then at them. "This isn't what it looks like."

Eliza spoke before Brianna could. "I think it does."

I laughed, nervously, before resting the pole of the scythe on my shoulder. "Come on then?"

They nodded, waltzing down the stairs after me. Walking through town was too interesting, seeing everyone gazing at you with this terrifying weapon. I grinned, devilishly. I ignored the comments shifting behind me. It was all normal anyway.

Back on the ship, everyone was gathered around in a circle. Brady stood with his arms crossed, the pissed off look on his face. I kept my eyes on him though, not at all scared.

"You allowed these girls to join our ships?" Brady argued.

"Yes, Brady. I thought they could be of some help. I was only thinking of the ship."

"Uh huh," Lydia said, sneaking off into another room shortly after.

"No offense to either of you," Brady started, but his voice tuned out when he faced them. His eyes stayed on Eliza, his voice stuttering as he tried to speak. I let out a small, quiet chuckle. Zelia was glaring at me.

"You two can stay," he spat out.

"Good god!" Zelia yelled, throwing her hands up in defeat as she stalked off.

"Thanks, Brady," I chimed in, breaking his momentarily spell. "I'm off to my room now."

As I beckoned toward the halls, I heard Brady call after me.

"Zach, where did you get that scythe?"

I waved a hand. "Don't worry about it."