Thank you so much for all the amazing reviews, and favorites, and follows I got from the last update.
You dont understand how much it means
Now without further ado, the next chapter.
xx
Wren
2
"Marina!" The first person who approaches me as soon as we reach the agreed meeting point is Sarah, her eyes wide with pain and understanding. She gathers me into a hug and holds on tight, and oddly enough, I return the gesture. At this moment there is nothing more that I want except for to be held and told that everything will be ok. I didn't even know that I needed this gesture until Sarah offered it to me. "Marina, I'm so sorry."
I can't really answer Sarah, and I won't cry either. I had never been especially close to John's human girlfriend, but we had never been cold to one another either. She was nice, sweet, but I had never thought about all the things she must've gone through to be here with us, with John. I know that she isn't saying sorry because she feels bad. Sarah is saying sorry because she feels my pain entirely, and knows how it is to loose your whole world in single moment like the back of her hand.
After a few moments Sarah pulls away, and I notice John standing by her, a single hand on her shoulder.
"Marina." He says solemnly, and I know that even though he puts up the whole 'I am the leader and therefore cannot show any weak emotions' act constantly, he has been crying.
John hugs me too. We had agreed to meet in a picnic area on the side of the highway a few miles south of the Chicago area last night, and now that we are all together again, all of us who are left, some feeling starts to return to my chest. Previously, everything just seemed numb.
"Where's Ella?" I ask, longing to hug the small young girl I've grown to love so much over the past few months. Even if she isn't part of the original garde, even if technically she isn't one of us, she is the closest thing I have to family right now. I need her just as much as she needs me.
John hesitates. Something here isn't right.
"Ellas not here anymore." John says softly, trying to catch my gaze. But now I am beyond help, as I try to comprehend his words. Ella isn't here? What does that even mean? If Ella isn't here Ella has to be dead. And Ella can't be dead, she can't be.
It's not fucking fair. Everyone I love has been ripped away from me in a few short hours, and now, I am left to fend for myself in this cruel cold world. If cold is what they want, cold is what they'll get.
"Marina! Stop!" Someone calls, but I don't bother listening. I've pushed John away and now the numb frozen feeling has returns to my palms, chest, head, and slowly, I can feel my surroundings crackle to a slow stop. I've closed my eyes; I've blocked everything and everyone out. If they keep making me feel this pain, the least I can do is make sure I can't feel anything anymore.
"She's not dead! Seven- Marina- Ella is not dead!" A strange voice calls out, snapping me out of my trance. My eyes fly open and I look around, shocked. A perfect circle, with a radius of at least ten feet surrounds me, everything in it frozen to a perfect icy crisp. John has seemed to escape from me along with Sarah, whom he is holding tightly a good twenty feet away. Nine is the closest to me, his foot having gotten caught in my ice circle. He growls lightly and snaps the ice, freeing himself from my frozen trap. Six stares at me with a sad look on her face, Sam's hand held tightly in her own. Sam himself has a look of disbelief on his face, as if he could never imagine me capable of doing so much damage. Behind him stands Malcolm, who like Six, just looks sad, and to his side a tall young man stands silently. He is gaunt, with dark hair and eyes- just a bit too sharp to pass for a human, and a bit too pathetic to pass for a Loric. Immediately, I know who he is. And I know that he is the one who spoke.
"Adam's right." John says slowly. "Ella isn't dead, she's been captured. But she won't be harmed. We can still save her. I don't know why, but Setrakus Ra wants her alive and well, and I'll be damned if he ever gets his filthy hands on her."
I'm ashamed now, for jumping to conclusions so quickly. How could I believe that Ella was dead? How could I loose faith so quickly in my friends, in my people?
Being captured isn't much better than being killed, but it's still one level up. And John is right; as long as they need Ella they won't be putting her to any harm. Ella is strong, sometimes I wonder if she is the strongest out of all of us, and I know that she will be able to hold up until we get to her.
And we will get to her, as quickly and as coolly as possible.
It dawns on me then, how much destruction I've caused from my small meltdown. Half the ground is dead under the ice, Nine had gotten caught, everyone else is scared of my every move. I'm ond big volatile ice machine, and every other word someone utters threatens to set me off. They won't know what to do with me; they won't know how to act around me anymore.
They'll treat me like a fragile ice princess, and maybe, that's just what I need. But it doesn't hide the fact that I could've killed someone in my outburst. I have to learn how to control myself.
If I'm the reason that someone else I love gets hurt, I fear that I will loose my sanity forever. And god knows that I am lost enough as it is.
"I'm sorry." I whisper, buckling down on to my knees. "I didn't mean to- this wasn't supposed to happen- I'm so sorry."
I'm crying now, hot fat tears rolling down my cheeks and onto my clothes, the ground, the ice. I can hear people rushing over to me, trying to reassure me that it's not my fault, that everything will be ok, but I ignore them.
Empty promises and false hope is that last thing I need right now.
I cry, and kneel, and around me the ice begins to melt.
"How do you think it will work?"
"What?"
"How do you think it will work?"
"How do I think what will work?"
"The whole re-building the planet thing. You know, the 'let's repopulate and refurbish this burnt globe of a planet'."
"Oh…I don't know. I never put much though into it. We have those things from our chests…"
"Will they be enough?"
"They should be enough for the beginning. We'll know what to do once we get there."
"How do you know that?"
"Because we'll be together, and that's all that matters."
We camp out in another grungy motel that night, having been split up into two parties to avoid suspicion. Four, Nine, and Sarah are situated in a separate hotel down the road, while Six, Sam, Malcolm and I are stuck here. The Mog boy is also with us, probably out of fear of being beaten to a pulp if he were anywhere near Nine. I don't blame him.
This Mogadorian Defect interests me, but I haven't put much though towards him. Right now I'm just focusing on getting through each day one step at a time. Further complications are welcome to come later.
"Marina, I'm going to get some food, is there anything you'd like?" Six asks me, picking up her bag from the crumpled twin bed she's claimed as her own. Six and I are sharing a room, as for Malcolm and Sam. I do not know where the Mog is.
"No. I'm not hungry." I'm actually surprised that she can eat. From what I'd seen, neither Six or I had been able to put a morsel of food in our mouth since the battle. Our appetites seemed to have disappeared along with all our hope and happiness.
"All right. I'll be back soon." Six says softly. She won't be though- Six will be out for over a few hours, and we both know it. Now I understand the reason that she's leaving- she needs to go out. Clear her head.
I envy the fact that she has a way to release her pent up feelings.
The door closes shut, and I'm finally alone. It seems like lifetimes since I have been totally without another person. I know that of course Sam is standing by the door, ready to burst in with my every cry for help. Maybe it's Malcolm standing out there- but what does it matter?
Six gave me a blessing in disguise, some time to recuperate. I sigh softly and lean back on the lumpy bed, closing my eyes. I wish I could sleep, just drift away into a dreamless wonderland, but I know that that will never happen.
The nightmares won't allow it.
A soft knocking on the door breaks me out of my trance like state. Apparently no one will allow me to relax, no matter what the situation. At first, I ignore it. Maybe the person will go away, leave me in peace.
But the knocking continues, and eventually I have to get up to answer it. I stand a good five steps away from the doorway, taking the proper precaution. You can't be too careful nowadays.
"Who is it?" I call out, trying to sounds collected. My voice turns out more shaky than anything else.
"Adamus." The mystery knocker says in a surprisingly deep voice. "It's Adamus Sutekh."
I know this chapter was also kind of short...but I liked the way that it ended. Anyways, i promised an update, so, here it is!
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Wren