The Irangel | Prequel Story |

Chapter 20 ~ "Someone I Trust"

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~ In the glass building
Wachstyen Forest, Germany ~

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It wasn't until Velo got out of the swimming pool that Tori and the others finally noticed Cole was gone. All of them were so engrossed in seeing "a real live merman" as Camdren put it, that they had forgotten about literally everything else.

Tori instantly knew Cole had escaped. There was no way he would be hiding in the building. Right when I finally decide to give them the freedom to fly, under restriction of course, one of them escapes. Well, I guess it was bound to happen eventually.

She turned to Justin, as if trying to assess his reaction. He nodded to himself, as if saying silently, Well done, Cole. I'm proud of you. He turned to Tori, a meaningful look in his eyes as he faced her directly, crossing his arms.

"He escaped," Tori said simply, unnecessarily stating the very obvious fact.

Justin scoffed and said to her sternly, "No freakin' duh. We don't like being locked up in here like caged animals. Just what exactly do you plan to accomplish by keeping us here? You created us into these winged aliens. It's in our nature to fly now. It would be like keeping a bird locked in a cage when it needs to fly."

Tori opened her mouth to speak, then closed it, seeing no point. She glanced at the others, who were looking at her expectantly. "Well, I was gonna let you fly," she said lamely, stopping herself as she pulled out her phone and pressed several buttons on the holo screen. They released a force-field like netting around the forest ceiling, covering a certain section of the forest from high above the sky. It was invisible, a few shimmery sparks dazzling around.

She turned to them and said in a firmer voice, "You may fly now, but only within the distance indicated."

"That's restricted flying," Justin said in disappointment. "It's like giving us only a certain part of the forest to roam in. We need to be wild and free, not – "

"I don't want the world to know about us yet!" said Tori, her voice rising. "Besides, I have no one in the world except you guys."

She turned away, feeling a small pang of loneliness hit her out of nowhere. Once again, the image of Nate flashed in her mind. It took a lot of willpower just to ignore it, to fight her destroyed dreams and focus on the here and now. Her eyes began to sting as she remembered the day he left her.

Justin saw her about to cry and did the most unexpected thing: he hugged Tori. Tori's eyes widened in surprise when she felt Justin's arms around her. At first she tried to move, thinking he was intending to harm or choke her, when she realized it was just a hug and a surprisingly affectionate one at that. She stared at him, astonished.

The others stared as well. Eamon said to Justin, "What the....? Are you, uh?" He shook his head in confusion and said, "Well, I'm going to bed. You better let us fly tomorrow and every day from now on," he called out to Tori as he left the room.

Camdren and Elisa stared for a moment longer, then shrugged and headed out. They weren't going to miss a chance to fly, even if it was under restriction. Velo, Keith, and Millian, however, followed Eamon, also intending to go to bed. It was, after all, very late at night.

Justin moved from Tori, still hugging her as he gazed into her still surprised eyes. "You have me," he told her quietly, almost in a whisper. "I know what kind of future you want and how dismayed you are that it never came to be. Now that we are part of your life, you need to treat us with care, the same kind of care you would give to someone you do care about."