Lloyd POV: I honestly tried to fall asleep, but I just couldn't. The chill from that wind hadn't gone away and I was still shivering from it. It just made everything so uncomfortable, and after tossing and turning for a while I just got up. Maybe some fresh air would help settle my nerves. Plus, after being underground for that long it would do me some it was really late now, or super early for some people, and I had to be quiet in order to get out. Fortunately I managed to do that and sighed as I made my way to the deck.
And I found Kai, leaning over the railing with his arms crossed, like he was hugging himself, and just staring out. All I could do was stare at him, and the expression on his face. It was so blank and hollow, with what looked like tear stains that looked recent. I've never seen him look like that before and it was a little unsettling. And made me wonder more about what he saw. I wanted to go back to my room, but I didn't want to leave him alone.
So before I lost my nerve I walked to him and said, "Hey."
He jumped a little and quickly wiped his face before saying, "Uh, hey." He sounded so exhausted.
"You okay?" I started, trying to be calm.
"Yeah, just getting some fresh air." he answered, looking back out. But I didn't believe him, of course.
"Kai, you can talk to me, you know? I'll listen to you, and I won't judge you. I promise." I reassured him, and he didn't even look at me. He just hugged himself more.
"Kai?" I tapped his shoulder and he flinched again. That made him look at me and I saw the lingering fear in his eyes. I felt really bad, but also confused too. I know that I made him flinch, but what put that fear in him in the first place?
"Ah, sorry. I'm just gonna go…" He said, sounding shaky and left, running a little.
I tried to stop him, to apologize and tell him he was fine, but he didn't even look back. I ended up staring at where he went, just so confused and worried. What was going on with him?
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I ended up going back to bed and, eventually, falling asleep. But I didn't really feel better when I woke up. If anything I felt worse and I groaned as I got out of bed. But I wasn't worried about that at all. My first thought was about Kai, and how he looked last night. I don't like how he looked, and how he was hiding what was bothering him. I either need to talk to Cole or him today.
I changed into a simple uniform and walked to the kitchen. It was later in the day and everyone was already. Everyone except Kai, which obviously didn't sit well with me. But I didn't say anything and just sat down next to Cole and Nya.
"Hey, Lloyd. You look well rested." Jay commented, and I rolled my eyes.
"You look just like me, dude. Leave me alone." I said, and I started eating. He laughed at me, but I wasn't wrong. All of us still looked extremely tired and mentally worn down.
"Where's Kai? Is he still not up yet?" I asked, but that made Nya worry from the look on her face. And Cole, Zane, and Jay shared a look too.
"No, he's awake. But he just grabbed some food and went back to his room." Zane answered, and that was really weird.
He usually didn't do things like that. At least not in the morning because we all enjoyed having breakfast together. That only added to everything I was confused and worried about.
We just ate in silence for a while before Jay sighed and said, "So are we not going to talk about it? The elephant in the room?"
"What can we say? We don't know what's going on and Kai isn't talking." Nya said, her voice was heavy with worry.
"But we can't just leave him alone. It's eating him up and it's only getting worse." I said, and everyone nodded in agreement.
I looked right at Cole and asked, "But it would help if you told us what you saw."
He just stared at me before, clearly thinking about whatever it was, before saying, "I don't know Lloyd. I was thinking about it all night and…"
"What?" I asked, really confused.
"...I don't know how to explain it. It was… different." He tried to say, but that didn't help my worries at all.
"What can you say?" Nya asked. And I could hear her trying to not sound demanding. But Cole didn't take notice of that and continued to think.
"I don't know if that's okay right now. Let me try and talk to Kai first. I'll try to get the story from him and we'll go from there." He suggested, which did make sense.
But I still can't shake the feeling that something bad had happened to Kai. And the way Cole was acting whenever we brought it up didn't help. He definitely saw something and it wasn't anything good either. I just hope that Kai will let us help him.
But I also have the feeling that it won't be easy to do that.