The Girl from the Trees(Completed)

AEIOU

The room was dark when he managed to open his eyes, his entire body felt as though it had been on fire, even moving his eyelids was torture. Struggling, he lifted his head and looked around the room. A shadowy figure sat in a chair across from him, but he could not make out his features.

"Hello?" Jakub barely mumbled, moving his lips as little as possible.

The man stood, still cast in shadow, and walked across the room. "Mind your eyes," the man's voice said calmly.

As he was about to close his eyes, he noticed tubes running down from bags of fluids, hooking into this body. Laying his head back on his pillow he shut his eyes and waited for the light to shine through. A moment later, he heard a soft click, but there was not nearly as much light as he had expected. Risking a glance, he cracked his eyes and noticed that the man had turned a lamp on but had positioned himself in between the lamp and himself as well as placed a thin white sheet over top. "Who are you?"

The man was still cast in darkness, but he could now make out his features. He had short, dark hair that looked like it belonged on a soldier, a strong jawline that was clean shaven and dark eyes. His suit was pressed and fit perfectly against his muscular form. What he could see of him did not fit the voice he had heard, it was much too soft, much too kind to come from such a formidable person.

"My name is Agent Pearson, and I am a member of a department within the FBI," the man told him.

"Are you looking for the girl?" he asked, working to keep his eyes focused.

Agent Pearson smiled. "I had a hunch there was another person, but I was here about the murkrel you managed to kill. A bunch of kids taking down a paramount is big news in my department."

Jakub tried to sit up straight, surprised at the agent referring to the creature in the same way Sarzali had done. His vision blurred as pain fired in nerves all over his body.

"Lay still," Agent Pearson said kindly. "You do not need to worry. We deal with these situations daily."

"Taylor?" Jakub asked suddenly, starting to sit up again.

Agent Pearson placed his hand on Jakub's shoulder, which was way more comforting that he had expected. "Unfortunately, your friend did not survive. Though his sacrifice was not in vain as the rest of you pulled through. Based on our investigation, you all fought bravely, not many people could make it out of a situation like this alive."

Tears filled Jakub's bloodshot eyes, "Taylor didn't."

"No, he did not, but you and your friends can keep his memory alive," Pearson told him. "He was signed up to join the military, he would have been a great soldier." Jakub did not reply, overcome with grief and pain. "You mentioned a girl, can you tell me about her?" Agent Pearson asked, shifting the conversation.

"What do you want with her?" Jakub inquired. "She was not human was she."

The agent smiled at him, "You are a smart one. We refer to her race as Amicalings."

"That does not answer my question of why you want to know about her," Jakub said back flatly. "I would not tell you where she was even if I knew."

"My apologies, my intention was not for you to tell me where she was, but to tell me of her personality. Amicalings do not appear very often, and they are powerful in their own right," Agent Pearson told him. "They possess abilities outside the possibilities of humans, one that she used on you in fact. If not for her, you would have died as well."

Jakub stared at him, eyes wide and still full of tears. "What did she do?"

"While she is still young and has not fully developed her powers due to just coming out of her state of quiescence, she did her best to heal your abdomen," the agent explained. "This is major for her race as it has tied the two of you together; her act of healing you caused her to imprint on you, she will always be connected to you now."

"How do you know all this?" Jakub asked, placing his hands on his stomach, feeling the scarred remains of his severe injury. "What department at the FBI investigates these types of things?"

Agent Pearson stepped closer to the bed, drawing a card from his pocket. "My division is referred to as AEIOU, Anomalous Entity Investigation and Observation Unit. Many would prefer us to find and destroy these entities, or to use them as tools and pawns. We believe differently," he told him, sincerity in his voice. "It is important for you to know that because of what I am about to ask you."

Confusion crossed Jakub's face, "What could you ever need from someone like me?"

"This girl," he started.

"Her name is Sarzali," Jakub interrupted, before blushing and lowering his eyes. "Sorry."

Pearson smiled at him, "It is quite alright, that is something that needed to be said. Sarzali, she will undoubtedly contact you soon. Like I said she is connected to you and will seek you out. When this happens, please talk to her and ask her to contact me. I would like to work with her, cooperation between our races has been rare, but can be incredibly beneficial." He finished by placing a black business card with a single phone number on it in white on the stand next to the bed.

"You want me to convince her to turn herself into your organization?" Jakub asked concerned.

"Absolutely not," he answered sternly. "I want to work with her, nothing more. If she is unsure of the validity of my offer, she can ignore the request. There is a lot that can be gained but trust me when I say the loss of an Amicaling is completely unacceptable. They are peaceful and sincere entities. Think about my proposal," the agent finished. "Now, there are some people outside that wish to see you, so this is where I leave you. I wish you a speedy recovery." He turned and walked toward the door before Jakub could respond.

The agent turned the handle and four people flooded into the room, Sam, Evan, his dad, and his mom. Tears filled Jakub's eyes once more as his friends rushed to his side, hugging him, all three of them crying. His mom, who was very pretty, blonde hair hanging halfway down her back and green eyes that were bloodshot and had recently been full of tears placed her hand on his back.

Silence filled the room except the occasional intake of breath and crying. Mr. C, Jakub's dad, stood alone in the center of the room, crying into his hands.

"It is not your fault," Jakub said suddenly. "There is no blame to be placed on anyone."

Mr. C kept his face covered. "I should have never left you all alone out there," he choked out in between sobs.

"Taylor was kind, brave, and honest," Evan said clearly. "He would blame no one, he would tell you that he knew you would have never even taken us there in the first place if you knew what was out there."

Jakub's mother walked over to his father, guiding him to his son's bedside. The group pulled him in and continued their hug and silent crying together, mourning their loss, knowing their lives would never be the same.