The Strange Tale Of Ayla Jae

Chapter Twenty One - Our Night Of Vicarious Peace

I don't know what I expect to see, but as soon as that hefty door gets a firm but cautious push from Daren, I hold my breath. After everything so far, this could be huge. The secrets that might be scattered around this tomb of modern life chill me internally. Maybe I don't want to see. Maybe there is...

"This...is...empty."

Daren's confused voice says, weirdly reverberating.

He's directly in front of Elin and myself, causing Elin to quickly nudge him aside allowing me to follow her in to see for ourselves.

In front of us is definitely a room, but it's just that...a room. Along the walls, there are bits and pieces of pipes bolted in weird angles on top of a dark brown finish. The floor looks to be made of some sort of polished concrete, and a few massive floor to ceiling windows are spaced along the long side of the room. Weirdly, they are opaque with a soft glow from orbs of light almost swimming outside of the windows. The otherworldly sight instantly triggers a feeling of nausea in me.

Dark amber lights click on suddenly, as Elin pushes forward and we all end up stepping further in with her. The light doesn't do much more than give the entire space a much needed feeling of warmth and comfort. A somber feeling echoes through the air, and I can feel my jaw hanging open. Before they notice, I clam it shut.

"What is this room?" Daren says.

I look over to see Daren's face come extremely close to the nearest window. The closer his face gets to it, the more the swirl behind it churns and changes to a stark green. The force is endlessly moving and changing. My eyes linger, but I move away from everyone else towards the far end of the room.

"Is this some sort of illusion?" Elin says as she walks closer to Daren.

"Could be. It doesn't seem bad. Just reactive." He answers.

"Can't be real though, can it?" Daren continues, clearly looking to get Chloe to respond, but she doesn't say anything.

I see out of the corner of my left eye Elin turning towards Chloe. It's a good few moments before she answers them.

"I don't...I don't know. What the hell!"

In a flash of rage, Chloe hurls the mess of pendants at the largest light near her. The entire fixture shatters and crackles causing the room to fall dark before the power quickly returns, through some sort of backup. Elin and Daren beam shocked looks on their faces. I fully turn back and look at Chloe. Something is definitely not right for her to be enraged like that. The metal lump falls to the floor.

"Chlo...Chloe?" I say cautiously as I go to step towards her.

"What else haven't they told me?!" She screams. Before any of us gather ourselves, she slams her right foot into the window they were standing by. I fully expect it to give way, but it instead holds firm, pushing all of Chloe's energy back and basically letting her throw herself backwards onto the floor.

"Gah!" She lets out. It doesn't take long before we see her unable to hold back and just start weeping. Her eyes are shut tight, but she just doesn't stop. Against better judgement, she pounds her fist against the floor a little to hard, and she soothes it with her other hand.

I don't remember walking up to her. As she slammed her fist, I must have made my way to her and laid down next to her, as we all just wait.

"Can you help me up, Ayla?" Chloe finally says to me through her softer sobs. I hold my right hand out, and her hand slowly connects with it. I've never held her hand like this. She doesn't stop shaking with fury for a solid minute.

"I...I'm sorry. That was kind of crazy. Even for me." Chloe continues to cry. "I don't know. Can we just go back to the couch?"

"The couch?" I say re-actively.

"Yeah, I don't wanna be here right now. Please."

 "Sure. I'll go with you."

We awkwardly stand up and turn around. Daren and Elin are looking away, but it's obvious to me that they don't want to seem like they're staring at us.

#

"I thought you said the pendant was yours?"

"Well. Yes and no. I said it was my favorite thing. Glitch and I shared it over the years, but I was the last one to have it before I found you."

"And I just realized, Daren said you were adopted when he was?"

"I was...or so they told us. It was really sketch. I came home one day, and they were just gone. No trace, no frickin' proof they even existed! I didn't," she hesitates, "know what to do. I would have just been put back into the system again. So, I just...ran." The tension between them for the first time is so real. "I'm sorry, Daren."

"Glitch..." Daren's trying hard to not cry, fidgeting like crazy. "I just...that's why you been...the whole fighting stuff. The studio space. That crappy 'apartment'? I thought you were just dogging your parents when Ayla was asking about all that..."

"Sorry, dude." Elin says very solemnly.

"No," he says as he steps over to her and quickly hugs her like I've never seen before, "no, no, I just wish I had known! I've been so oblivious. But why?"

"Why?"

"Why keep it from me?"

"I couldn't stand the thought of going back to all of that. I didn't want another pseudo family. I didn't want anymore fake homes and weird...I just hated it! All of it!..." Elin says as she breaks away from his embrace and slides down the wall to the floor.

"Damn...and here I am. Crying like a whiny little kid." She says, wiping her nose.

I see Daren about to join her, but something in me stops him. I carefully grab his shoulder. He seems to understand, so he pulls back as I squat and perch my stupid butt right next to Elin, my newly former sort of sister. I take a deep breath. What am I going to tell her?

"A week or two ago," I begin, "I bumped into this girl. Well, I was basically stopped and interrogated by her. Little adorable, spunky thing. All because I had something she was fascinated by and wanted."

A weird yet cozy silence has formed between us. I continue.

"Choco-bites!" I say as I cheesily wave my hands and keep my voice calm. "She wanted nothing more than for me to share them. A little selfish of her in retrospect, but what little kid doesn't see something sweet and immediately need a bite?" I laugh to myself just a little. A memory, something good that I can remember.

"Anyways, her mom comes over, and I do my best to be polite. Eventually, I convince the girl that her Mom could get them some."

I stop for second, not because I'm done but because I can't figure out what my point was or really what it should be.

"And?" Elin ask, her emotions calming a little.

"And point is...she had a mom. A really supportive one. Patient, understanding, honest. She squealed for joy when her Mom agreed to let them get those goodies. Her tiny beautiful heart, so content. No reason to cry. No reason to run away. No reason to..." I slow down to focus on Elin.

"No reason to lie." I say. "She has something we've all been searching for. Love and support. Unabashedly. Unconditionally. Sometimes, we do amazing things to survive. Really stupid things. Selfish things. But from what I remember and know of you two," I say looking between them both, "is that maybe you've had it all along. I was even there for a part of it, and as blinded and socially stunted as I can be, I can see it. I feel it."

I pause for a question, but they instead just stare lovingly at me.

"We're family."

"That's a great little speech there, little Yoda." Maverik says suddenly, his presence nearly scaring all of us. I look up to see both him and Chloe watching us, both with kind and worried smiles.

Elin suddenly chuckles just a little, and I can't help but do the same.

"It's, umm," she wipes her nose softly again, "Frodo." She chuckles again.

"Ooo, sorry." He says, feigning an apology. "So, you all want dinner or what?"