9 Lives

Chapter 27, Reunite

The next day, I went to Rafael's mansion to let everyone know I was okay. I was sure Adam was worried sick; he's overprotective when it comes to me. I braced myself to get screamed at and questioned. Luke was coming with me, which meant even more screaming and questioning. After all, only Jacob knew he was alive. Did they know that Seph was dead?

"Dougleman doesn't know it was me who fought him that day. He still thinks I'm dead, and as long as I stay hidden, that'll be the case. It's okay for the crew to know. You know them better than I do; what do you think?" Luke asked me.

But was it okay for the crew to know that Luke was alive? Axton, who we thought was on our side for so long, betrayed us. He was Dougleman's spy. Just how many like him were hiding amongst us? If there were more of Dougleman's spies amongst us, they would let Dougleman know that Luke was alive. How would Dougleman react?

"I'm guessing you don't know what happened with Axton?"

He looked at me blankly. "Who's Axton?"

I sighed. "We thought Axton was one of us, but he was one of Dougleman's. He used a poisonous needle on Derek, who was unconscious. We thought he was dead. Axton was either trying to kill Derek or get him out of the way long enough for Dougleman to murder Seph. Aron ended up killing Axton with his powers, but we trusted Axton, who we thought was on our side for so long. Who knows how many more of Dougleman's spies are hiding among Rafael's men? Do you think it's a good idea to make an appearance?"

Luke smiled and shook his head. "It doesn't matter to Dougleman whether I'm dead or alive. He wants you. I get what you're saying, though. I can fight Dougleman without him knowing who I am. I could be a trump card, fighting from the shadows without him knowing what hit him. We destroyed his microchip; he's mortal now. It's time for the final battle. We have no excuse to hide in fear."

Everything he said was right. I couldn't argue.

"Well then, let's go. Do you have a car?"

"No. Even if I did, I'm biologically too young. We can go in Nick's teleporter."

"He created a teleporter?"

He laughed. "You shouldn't be surprised."

We went to Nick's room, who led us to his "extra gadget room."

"Behold," he grinned, "my teleporter. Just step inside," he instructed, opening the door to his cylinder–shaped teleporter.

I stepped into the teleporter, a tangle of wires resting on the inside walls. Luke stepped in after me, and Nick shut the door. I couldn't see anything.

"Where are you headed?" Nick shouted.

"Rafael's place," Luke shouted back.

"I'm on it. Close your eyes and enjoy the ride."

I closed my eyes and grabbed Luke's hand. I can't say I wasn't nervous.

When I opened my eyes, we were at Rafael's mansion.

My mouth hung open. "I can't believe it worked."

"Yeah, I could feel your hand shaking in mine," Luke chuckled.

"It was not."

"You know it was."

I knocked on the door of Rafael's mansion, and it opened. None other than Adam was standing there. He flew into my arms and started sobbing into my shoulder.

"Do you know how long we spent looking for you? Do you know how worried I was? My heart was pacing. I was going insane until you showed up at this door. We have our elite troops looking for you right now. I was trying to track you down with Elliana(our computer nerd), and you show up at the door, perfectly fine. You drove all of us insane! When Derek finally arrived with reinforcements, I was gone, trying to run after you but running out of breath. Do you know just how confused we all were?"

I felt guilty because of what Aron had told me. I hadn't thought about what Derek, Aron, and the reinforcements had done after I ran off, and on top of that, Aron ran after me.

"Sorry," I muttered.

Aron pulled away from me and sneered, "Sorry doesn't-"

He didn't finish what he was saying because he'd finally noticed Luke standing quietly on the side, smiling awkwardly.

"Oh, Luke's alive," I tried to explain, "he gave me my memories back."

Aron stared wildly at me, at Luke, then back at me. He covered his face with his hands, then stared at the ceiling, muttering inaudibly to himself.

"That's it. You died, the world ended, and we're in heaven now," Aron cried, sobbing again.

"No, but I am alive. Are you happy to see me?" Luke quipped.

Aron plopped down on the floor and rocked back and forth, still staring at the ceiling. I looked at Luke and shrugged. We plopped down on the floor beside Aron and hugged him as we did in older, better times. Aron grabbed Luke and shook him by the shoulders.

"Is it truly you?" Aron asked.

"Down to the bone."

"What's going on?" a voice behind us asked.

I whipped around to see Rafael, whose eyes widened in shock when he saw me.

"It's her," Flynn, one of the elite, shouted, pointing at me.

"Ash!" Derek cried, running towards me.

'We spent so long looking for you! We came back here to get more elite on the search to look for you, but here you are!" Jim, another elite, exclaimed. "The search is over, everyone! She's here!"

"We were so worried about you!" Libby (Jim's twin sister, also a part of the elite) screamed.

"Is that Luke?"

"He's alive?"

"Is she hurt?"

"He's supposed to be dead!"

"It's Luke!"

"We can explain everything," I shouted over the many loud voices.

I looked at Luke, who was looking at me, and I smiled. We had reunited with our faithful little army. I hold the whole squad close to my heart. If only Seph were here. I could imagine her standing among the elite, her wings spread, her smile lightening up the room. Jacob would recover soon, but I wished he was here with us. Maybe, just maybe, he was visiting Seph. He did have access to heaven, after all.

I had the whole squad with me, and we would beat Dougleman. We would avenge Seph and get revenge against Dougleman for the pain he had caused us.

Luke nodded, and we began to tell our story.