The Blazing Rebellion

Chapter 15

Arlo's POV

For the past few weeks, Arlo had been feeling worse and worse. He hadn't talked much to anyone; he hadn't wanted to. The fact that the authorities and EMBER were working together had set in like an inner cold that wouldn't leave. He couldn't stop thinking about it.

It didn't help that Remi had stopped him from his only chance of getting some sort of comfort, his Aunt. She could tell him that there was something he was missing. She'd have to have some sort of explanation. She was in the authorities, after all, but she couldn't be a part of EMBER... there was no way. Maybe it was just a few rebels working with them. Either way, Arlo knew Aunt Valerie would be able to tell him more than anyone else could.

Arlo could tell that Remi had been watching him. She wasn't exactly hidden. He could feel her red eyes on his back every time they crossed paths, and saw that she was taking different ways to get to her classes just to spy on him. This had limited his chances to call his Aunt. He could've just done it anyway in front of her, but he was honestly just too tired to deal with her stopping him again.

Instead, Arlo had attempted to call her some of the nights when he had time and was feeling extra desperate. She didn't answer. She'd tried to call him back once or twice, but Arlo had always been busy during those times. He'd felt guilty, too, for going against what he'd promised Remi. This factor had stopped him from calling her more than a few times.

At this point, all he could do was search for distractions. This was why he'd tried to get more into Spectre with Seraphina. It was obvious that she didn't want to talk to him, though; she'd been avoiding him. She'd been avoiding everyone, really, but it was more obvious that she didn't want to talk to him. He already knew, and yet she was still not asking for his help again.

Arlo had decided that he didn't want to wait for her; he was going to find her. After glancing around to see if anyone was following, Arlo had headed towards the roof, where he was sure Seraphina would be hanging out.

He walked up the stairs and pushed open the door. Just as he'd thought, she was there.

However, she wasn't alone. A familiar black-haired boy leaned against the rooftop's fence next to her. They were both silent. When Arlo took a step forward, though, they both looked up.

Instantly John's amber eyes narrowed in a glare that Arlo returned. He heard Seraphina sigh from next to him.

"What do you want, Arlo?" She asked him, a touch of annoyance in her voice.

"To talk to you," He answered, glancing sideways at John.

John frowned at him. Then, to Arlo's surprise, he turned the frown to Seraphina.

"I'll leave," He told them, standing and walking across the roof. On his way out, he bumped into Arlo's shoulder, hard. Arlo frowned. This stupid guy, always taking his anger out on everyone around him. Arlo glanced over at Seraphina, who sighed as she watched John leave. He frowned.

Why hadn't John said anything to her before leaving? Had they had an argument or something? He sighed. It was none of his business. He didn't care anymore. John wasn't his problem now that he'd stopped attacking everyone.

"Well, were you going to say something?" Seraphina asked, bringing Arlo out of his thoughts. He crossed his arms, sighing.

"What's going on with Spectre?" He watched Seraphina out of the corner of his blue eyes. She stayed silent. "You haven't told me any updates for at least a month now."

"I'm just working in the lab," She told him. "There's nothing to say to you."

Arlo thought he could hear a bitterness in her voice. "Did something happen?"

"Why do you care?" She glared at him through narrowed dark blue eyes. Arlo frowned. He didn't really care. He just wanted some sort of distraction from his own thoughts and worries. If there was some silly drama going on between Seraphina and John, it would be the perfect thing to make Arlo scold her and start to feel like himself again.

When Arlo didn't answer, Seraphina went back to ignoring him and leaning against the rooftop fence, frowning.

"Did they make you do anything?" He asked after a minute. "I was under the impression that they were planning something."

"The groups are back together now," Seraphina told him. There was still an edge in her voice. She'd gone back to staring at the door of the roof. Arlo glanced over at it too. John had just left through that door... was she hoping he'd come back or something?

Suddenly, Arlo thought that he knew why she might be so angry. His frown deepened.

"Why are you still friends with him?" He asked.

Seraphina turned towards him. "Who?" Arlo didn't answer. Seraphina knew full well who he was talking about.

She sighed and stared at the door once again. Arlo thought he heard her mutter "he's a better person than you are," under her breath.

Anger spiked up inside of him. "Excuse me?"

Seraphina glared at the door. "Why did you have to be the one to come with me?"

Arlo understood what was going on now. Seraphina hadn't been able to tell anyone else anything about Spectre, because no one else could know. Of course Arlo didn't apply to this because he'd been the one to come with her the first time. He could tell that now, though, Seraphina was wishing someone else had come. It was clear that she wanted to be talking to John about all of this, not him. Why? He's crazy! He has no responsibility! An image of Joker beating up the rest of the Royals flashed through his head. He just uses violence for everything!

"You think that John would've done well in this position? Seraphina, he was destroying the hierarchy while you were trying to get your ability back!" Arlo reminded her, frowning deeply.

"You don't know anything about John!" Seraphina yelled back. "Maybe if you hadn't been so horrible to him, I could've helped him earlier! Maybe then he would've actually told me things!"

So he's keeping secrets from you again? That immature idiot. He has no idea what's going on.

"You made the deal, Seraphina," Arlo reminded her. Without another word, he turned and left.

She needed to face her own problems, and maybe Arlo would have to face his...