Learning Control

Chapter 20: Family Reunion

Roman sat curled up on the chair next to Thomas's hospital bed. The doctors said he would be alright, that he was just tired from the bloodloss, but it had been several hours.

The four intruders had escaped, so everyone was released from the shelters. Everyone was still on edge, though, this was the first time the school had ever been attacked.

Roman had run into Remy and some other teachers once he was out of the school building, and they were taken to the shelters where Thomas was patched up.

Remy and some other teachers ran back to save Virgil, but so far there hadn't been any news.

Roman shouldn't have left him. He should have run back with the teachers, or helped Virgil fight!

The door opened but Roman didn't look towards it or the person walking in. Remy walked into his view and pulled up a chair, taking his sunglasses off.

"Roman?" he asked, hesitantly. "Do you think you can tell me what exactly happened?"

Roman took a deep breath and swallowed back his fears. "We were in one of the classrooms. We heard the alarm and Virgil locked the door and turned off the lights. Thomas found us after a few hours, and we started making our way out of there. Then we were attacked by two people. Thomas got hurt and-and Virgil he-" Tears stung Roman's eyes as he struggled to finish the story. "He told me to get Thomas out of there. Thomas was bleeding out, I had to get him help but... Virgil he... He stayed back to give us some time. Is he okay? Did you find him? Is he..." the question got stuck in his throat.

"We... we don't know. We saw the place where they had fought but... I'm afraid they took him."

"They took Virgil?!"

Remy nodded. "We'll get him back though. Just... What did those two people look like?"

"One was a man, he-he was tall and had tan skin. Looked strong, and he had a blue sleeveless robe. The other was a woman, she was short but she could manipulate metal. Her dress was silver, and she had black hair. I-I think she called the other Technopath?"

"Yeah, that does sound like Technopath and the Metal Dragon. Thank you, we just needed to confirm that they were the ones who attacked. They had two other accomplices here-"

"Was anyone else hurt?"

"Thankfully, no. I promise, we're going to do everything we can to get Virgil back." Remy put his hand on Roman's shoulder. "It's been a long day, I'll walk you back to your dorm."

Roman nodded, and he finally stood up. His legs felt wobbly, and he was silent the whole walk there. It felt like he was floating, as if none of it was real. He was back at his dorm before he even knew it.

"Take care, Roman. Everything will be okay," Remy told him before leaving.

Roman tried to believe that, but it was impossible. He opened the door to his room and found the other four sitting around, all worried. Only four.

"Roman, thank goodness you're okay," Patton said, standing up and pulling him inside.

"What happened?" Logan asked.

"Where were you?" Remus rephrased, sounding angry and worried.

"I..." Roman tried to say, feeling his throat close up as tears threatened to spill over again. "V-Virge he..."

"Do you know where he is?" Janus asked.

"He tried to- Thomas tried to protect us but they came out of nowhere!"

"You saw the intruders?" Remus asked, leading him to the bed.

"Only two of them, but they were so strong! And now Virgil is gone! I didn't protect him- I should have protected him! But-but Thomas was bleeding so much and I had to get him out of there and-and-"