Chapter 8

Josh

The evening was going great. I mean no one needed saving and everyone was safe, which in my books was a successful evening. And I even managed to have an actual conversation with Maya, without her cutting me short. To me, that made my day or even my week. I know she was going through a difficult time and I won't lie I wasn't making it easy on her either. And then she had to make friends with her ex-best friend again after she broke their trust. Damn how does she do it? I would have exploded by now.

After the dessert plates were taking away and everyone was talking again and not really paying attention to anyone else but the person they were talking to. I turned to speak to Maya; really I was just trying my luck. I would have been surprised if she even spoke to me. As I turned to speak to her I saw that something wasn't right with her. Her eyes were glassed over and her pupils had contracted like she was high on drugs and she was suddenly very pale. I placed my hand on her leg and whispered to her just to make sure that she was okay without causing a scene. When she didn't answer I knew something wasn't right. Starting to panic a little I grabbed her hand and squeezed it to see if she would respond, but she didn't even flinch.

Sh*t, okay breathe Josh, breathe. Now what would Maya do? I asked myself over and over. Finally after 5 minutes I realized what she would have done, figured out what had caused they problem. I looked around the table and smiled at anyone who looked at me. I couldn't find a single thing that could of made her look like this, until my eyes fell on her wine glass. Something glittered at the bottom of her glass and it had a different shade of red than mine and everyone else's for that matter. I picked it up and smelt it only to realize that it didn't have any difference in smell. I didn't dare drink it. I took a closer look and saw that there were gold flakes at the bottom of the glass. Damn, she had been dragged.

Okay Josh, now what? I asked myself again. After another minute of thinking I had formed a plan. Right; Step one: Make sure no one else's drinks are spiked without causing suspicion. Step two: Get Maya out of here and safe. Step three: Figure out who would of done this and why. With a plan in order I started going around the table and checking everyone's glasses but still keeping my eye on Maya. Riley had tried to start a conversation with her and Maya just nodded at everything she said. Riley wasn't buying it; I could see she knew something was up. Damn why did I have to have such a smart niece. Once I had checked everyone's glasses and they all looked fine, I went back and stood behind Maya, who had started to look green.

I pulled her chair out, which caused everyone to look at the two of us. "I think its time Maya and I went to bed," I said to the table. "Right, I think I'm going to go too," Riley spoke out almost immediately. And with that we left the dining hall, myself carrying Maya by the elbow till we were out of sight. As soon as the dinning hall doors closed I scoop Maya into my arms bridle style and rushed her into the nearest bathroom I could find. With Riley right on my heels, we ended up in the Kitchens bathrooms. I set her down in front of one of the toilets and just in time, because no sooner than I had put her down she vomited all her dinner up into the toilet.

While holding her hair back I looked at Riley who didn't look well herself. "Is she okay?" Riley asked me. "Not at the current moment of time but she will be, just give her two days," I said to Riley. "What happened? Why is she like this? I've never seen her like this before in my life!" Riley asked looking quite shaken. "Riley relax, she's going to be fine! She was just dragged," I explained to her, which probably wasn't the best thing I could of said, because Riley's eyes widen in shock. She started to rant on about how could someone drug her and why was no one else drugged? Meanwhile Maya kept vomiting into the toilet. After about 20 minutes listening to Riley ranting, Maya seemed to have run out of fluid to deposit into the toilet. After giving her a glass of water, I carried her to our bedroom, with Riley still hot on my heels. Placing her in the bath of our bathroom I asked Riley to take her clothes off and run her a lukewarm bath. Riley did as I asked and started to take her clothes off, at which point I left the bathroom and let Riley, help her friend out. I walked towards the chest Maya had claimed as her own and pulled out her P.J.'s and fresh undergarments for Riley to dress Maya.

After giving Riley the clothes through the door of the bathroom I stepped outside onto the balcony for fresh air. The night was beautiful, it was a clear evening and there was a soft cool breeze blowing. Leaning against the railing my mind started to work over time. Who had tried to drug Maya? And why? Or was it meant for someone else and they just got it mixed up? If so then whom was it supposed to be for? And how long is Maya going to be out for? Should I inform the President? Will I have to tell Felix? I kept asking myself these questions and I was so lost in thought that I didn't even hear Riley come up behind me. I got such a fright that I nearly jumped of the balcony and into the ocean. "Jeeze Riley, warn a man!" I said as my heart rate came down to normal. "Ha, some bodyguard you are," she said back with a goofy smile on her face. "Ha, ha, very funny," I said as sarcastically as I possible could and sat down on one of the lounge chairs. Riley sat down across from me and we just stared at the stars and the ocean in silence. It was nice, just relaxing with my little niece, not talking about anything just enjoying each other's company.

"So, what is really going on between you and Maya?" Riley asked after about 10 minutes. "What do you mean?" I asked feeling caught of guard from this question. "I mean, what is going on between the two of you. When we saw the two of you at headquarters you guys wouldn't even go near each other or look at each other unless you had to and now…now you two look like you in pain when you apart from each other. So what I want to know is what is going on between you? Are you two a couple or not?" She said with a stubborn tone in her voice. "Ahh…" I said as I stared at Riley really hoping that Maya would walk onto the balcony to rescue me from this conversation. "Ahh…is not an answer Uncle Josh," Riley helpfully pointed out. "Ahh...well you see…Maya and I have a complicated relationship?" It was more of a question than an answer, because to be honest I really had no idea what is going on between Maya and myself.

There was something at one stage, but that feels like it was a lifetime ago. I still have feelings for her and I'm reminded of that every time I wake up in the morning and want to get to school or the headquarters as quickly as possible just to see her. And when I look back on the year the happiest I've been is when I get to spend time with Maya, even if I can't let her see that. I miss those days when her and I were close, before I had to go to that stupid secret assignment. However, bearing in mind, I only went on it to protect Maya. I must have been thinking for a while, because suddenly Riley coughed and made me jump again. "Oh come on, that's the second time in an HOUR!" I stated to her, really irritated that she had managed to scare me again.

"You were thinking of Maya, weren't you?" she asked and I knew she knew even if I didn't say anything. "Yeh," I said to her. "Look Riley, I don't know what's going on between Maya and I. I wasn't even aware that there was something. But I do care about her," I told Riley while looking over my shoulder to look at Maya sleeping on the bed in bedroom. "Something happened 2 years ago, I had to leave and when I came back I had to push her away. I hated every minute of it and I still hate it. If I could go back to that day and changed it I would, but I can't." I finished, still looking at Maya. "So what happened two years ago that you had push her away?" Riley asked. I chuckled a little, my niece, the future detective. "I left for an secret assignment. And I learnt some scary things and some not so scary things. I was taken captive for a while, and when I escaped I learnt things about Maya, that Maya doesn't even know herself. And if she ever found out it would destroy her. So when I came back I told your dad straight away and he and I agreed that the only way to protect Maya was for her to hate me, so I pushed her away. It was the hardest thing I had to do," I finished and looked back at Riley who looked on the verge of tears. "Oh Uncle Josh," she said and flung her arms around me and pulled me into a hug. "Yeh Okay…Can't breathe…Riley…" I gasped in between the short intervals of Oxygen that I could get. "Oh Right," Riley said as she released me. "Listen Riles, you can't tell her any of this," I said as I rubbed my ribs. "It will break her and she doesn't need that right now, not with everything she's going through already." Riley nodded in understanding.

We sat in silence for a while, looking at the stars again, until a knock came from the door. I jumped up from my chair and headed to door careful not to make a sound that would wake Maya. Opening the door was a lot harder cause the slower I opened it the louder it squeaked. Once the door was open Lucas stepped in, followed by Farkle and Smackle. "What the hell was that about?" They all started really loudly. "Shhhhh…" I said while pointing to Maya sleeping on the bed. "Oh…" they all covered their mouths with their hands like it could undo what they just did. I couldn't help but chuckle a little at this. I started walking back to the balcony and the trio followed trying to be as quite as possible. Once all three were on the balcony I closed the sliding door just to stop the noise from reaching Maya.

"Okay, now tell us what the hell was about?" Lucas said as he sat down next to Riley. After catching them up to date with what happened at dinner, their faces did some wonderful things. They seemed to have displayed about five different emotions at once. Awe, shock, horror, sadness, and guilt. "So let me get this straight," Farckle said while leaning forward onto this knees, "Maya was drugged and you have no idea who did it?" I nodded in response. "Wow," Frackle said looking dumbstruck. "Do have any ideas who could have done this?" Smackle asked as she started to rub Farckle's back in comfort. I shook my head, I had been thinking about it, a lot actually, and I just couldn't see anyone who would want to drug Maya. After half an hour of sitting in silence Lucas checked his watch and realized that it was getting late. "Well there is nothing we can do for her right now, but let her rest. I will speak to my dad tomorrow morning and see if there is anything he could do. But till then I think we all need to get some rest or else we will be useless tomorrow." He said as he got up and pulled Riley with him. "Goodnight everyone," Lucas said as headed for the door. Riley gave me a quick hug and whispered in my ear; "Your secrets safe with me." I smiled and whispered back; "Thanks Riles." Before releasing her. Farckle and Smackle followed suit and soon it was just me and a sleeping Maya left in the room.

Unsure of what to do next, I jumped in the shower and got changed into my PJ's. Standing at the foot of the queen sized bed I debated whether or not I should just bring in one of the lounge chairs from the balcony. After five minutes of debating Maya soon made the decision me. Although she was asleep she was shaking and muttering in her sleep. I went over to her and placed my hand on her forehead, which she grabbed and held onto. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't get my hand back. She rolled over and took my hand with her, so I ended up falling onto the bed. Ten minutes later I found my self under the blankets and Maya next to me with her head on my chest and my arm around her. She was super cold and shivering. I found myself deep in thought and with out thinking about it I started to play with her blonde hair.

That was the most peaceful night that I had ever had in a long time.