☆× Lights in the Dark ×☆ (Carneline×Panther)

• Chapter Thirteen •

April woke up, expecting Akira to be behind her. But she didn't feel anything but plain nest cushioning behind her. Stretching, she sat up and looked around.

In the corner of the room was Akira sleeping in the chair near the desk. She has her head on the desk while she used her paws as a pillow. Snickering, she got up and walked over to Akira to wake her up.

Getting over there, she started thinking of a good way to wake her up. After thinking for a bit, she decided on trying to push her out of the chair. She backed up a bit before running foward and ramming Akira out of the chair.

Judging by the surprised yelp she heard, she assumed her attempt to wake Akira up was successful. Laughing, April walked over and pushed the chair back under the desk. Then she turned towards Akira, who was now standing and brushing her fur back down. "Awake?" April laughed out. "Yup, I'm very much awake." Akira said as she continued to brush her fur back down.

As April turned away to go grab her bag, Akira pounced on her, knocking her down. April smiled and flipped over, knocking Akira off. Just as she thought she had gotten rid of her, Akira appeared infront of her and pushed her back down, this time Akiea being on top of her. April growled playfully and tried shoving Akira off to no avail. Akira put her paw on her shoulders, pinning her down so April couldn't move.

"I win!" She boasted. April just laughed at her. "Yeah, but you got the first hit on me when I didn't expect it." "But I still won!" April smiled and shook her head. "Fine, I supposed your right." Akira jumped off her after finally hearing her give in. April laughed before starting an actual conversation.

"Hey Akira, can we go back to the enterance vent today? I blocked my Mom's number yesterday and I want to see if she shows up again." "Why not? Nothing else I really have to do today." April smiled as Akira lead her towards the entrance to the vent system.

After walking to the vent at the entrance, the first thing they saw was April's Mom screaming at the receptionist there for today. "I want my child back right now! I know she's somewhere around here! You can't lie to me this time!" April flinched badly hearing her Mom's voice like that. She did that every time her Mom speak like that. She hated loud noises.

She then felt something press against her side. It was Akira, who had clearly noticed her flinching. "Don't worry, she won't do anything to you up here. You're safe, I promise." Akira whispered to her. Akira's reassurance helped calm her down.

"Alright lady, if you're so convinced April's here we'll walk you around the lab so you can look for her. If she's not here, you have to leave. Deal?" "Deal." "Alright, follow Dr. Sol around while you look for her." Sol beckoned for April's Mom to follow them.

"April, do you want to follow her around or go back to the den? Doesn't matter to me whatever you choose." "Follow her. I want to see where Sol takes her." "Sol? Who's Sol?" "The person leading her." "Oh." Akira had a dumb look on her face. "Alright, let's try to follow her through the vents. Just be careful, we might go through some areas where the metal is weak." April nodded as she followed Akira down the vent tunnel.

After alot of walking, April finally heard her Mom say something. "Maybe that guy was right. Maybe she isn't here." Sol coughed before responding. "Look, I'm pretty fond of April aswell. And knowing her, something bad had to happen for her to just disappear like that. She seemed to love this job before this happened. No way she would just quit." "I know she wouldn't either. She needed that money to pay for her rent." Neither of them said anything after that. But as they continued after the pair, the unfathomable happen.

Akira had all of a sudden halted. Her tail was also rather fluffed up. "Hey Akira, why'd you stop?" Then she heard it. Creaking. The metal was bending under them. Then the piece of metal under them both fell out.

Akira had was silent just as April was. It seemed that they both didn't want to attract unwanted attention. With wide eyes, she looked her Mom in the eyes. "What... are those... THINGS?" Her Mom breathlessly asked Sol. Sol seemed to be in just as much shock as Akira and April were. But they then snapped out of it. "Don't ask. I need to get them out of here though."

Being as they were all near the electrical room, Sol turned to both of them. "I'll help you get away from here, but you two will have to help out. One of you go break the electrical wires. It'll cause a blackout so you two can get out of here." Akira stood up and ran into the electrical room, leaving April to fend for herself.

Sol looked at her. "Hey, aren't you the goo that escaped containment? Good job doing that. The boss was pretty mad that he lost a 'new' species of gootrax." April smiled at her, being as she wouldn't understand her if she tried to talk.

Akira seemed to be having some trouble pulling the wires, but they had time to spare. It seemed everyone but Sol was working at the moment. Without thinking, she started mumbling to herself. Her Mom then looked at her with wide eyes.

"Wait, I've heard that meowing before. I heard it when April was trying to call me." April's gaze flicked towards her. "Does that maybe mean... that you're April?" April figured out how to try and say yes. Sh ended up just nodding. "And... you're not lying?" April shook her head. Sol then laughed. "Seems that you liked those crystals a little too much, eh?" April shamefully nodded.

"Well, I won't do anything for you as you seem you don't need me to do anything. You seem pretty happy with that other goo. April nodded, quickly fluffing up her cheek fur to hide her blush. Then she was tackled into a hug from her Mom.

"So you aren't dead!" Her Mom cried out. She caught Sol smirking at her and frowned in her direction. April's Mom then stepped back. "So who told me your were dead then?" April pinned her ears back and pointed at herself. "You did? Awww, it's fine sweetie. I'm fine with that. "

"If it was actually you, I'm assuming you were trying to lie so I didn't have to see you like this?" April nodded. "It's fine. Matter of fact, I'll leave you here. If you're happy then I'm happy." April's tail swayed as she smiled. Her Mom was accepting of this! She could spend the rest of her days with Akira!

Just then, the power went out. The intercom went off saying the normal things that it would say during a blackout. Just as the intercom cut off, Akira came bolting out. Then Sol spoke up. "Alright Mrs. Gold, I'll lead you to a safety bunker. As for me... I think I'll stay out here. Try to get transferred. I'm probably going to lose my job anyways, so why not? The gootraxs seem cool to hang around aswell."

April laughed and gave her a thumbs up. Being as she had a happier life now than she did as a human, she thought it was a good idea. "Alright then. I'll look out for you April. Maybe I'll see you around sometime, who knows?"

April blinked and looked down as she felt something tugging at her paw. It turned out to be Akira. "Let's go, the guards will be here any moment." April nodded at her as Akira lead her back to the den. Looking back, she waved to her Mom and Sol as they disappeared around a corner.

(Woohoo her Mom knows shes not dead now) 1343 words