Hidden and Silent (SpyxFamily)

Chapter Seven

This was all his fault.

Anya glared at Damian through the car window as her family arrived to pick him up from school. It was odd seeing him out of his school uniform and it irritated her that he was also invading her weekends now. This wouldn't be happening if he hadn't altered his older brother's plans and Anya was feeling particularly murderous. Anya didn't like being manipulated and Damian was doing everything he could to bother her. She knew it wasn't out of malice, but it didn't change how she felt.

Damian opened the door to see her glowering at him and he sweat-dropped nervously. He hesitated to enter, immediately re-thinking this idea.

"Are you getting in?" Her papa asked from the driver's seat and Damian cleared his throat.

"Yep." He sounded dry.

Damian climbed in next to Demetrius, who sat in the middle, and Anya's pointed glare was cut off.

Anya didn't mind Demetrius coming. He was like her. He was created for the same purposes, the same abilities, and he operated on the same level of existence she did. He was the one person she didn't have to hide from. The one person she could be around without guilt and anxiety making her sick.

Since their conversation a couple days ago, she hadn't talked with him much, but she wanted to. She wanted that camaraderie so desperately, like they were the last of an endangered species that had to stick together.

But she didn't want Damian here. He just had to make everything harder.

He buckled himself in and they took off.

Unfortunately, the weather was fair and pleasant. Perfect for outings and if only it had been worse, they wouldn't be going out. Anya wouldn't have to deal with Damian's incessant attempts to befriend her. It didn't help that Damian saw through her enmity either, just making him more stubborn.

It was strange though, the tiny pull that appreciated his effort, hidden behind her fears and sense of morality that pulled a hundred times stronger.

Live the way you want.

Demetrius' words were not forgotten. She replayed the conversation over and over, but it didn't feel right to her. It didn't feel right to let them sway her. To change her mind about Damian or anyone else. The thought sat in her mind like an object wedged into a tight space, unbudging, anyway.

The children in the back didn't speak much. Anya's parents chatted with each other and tossed pieces of conversation back to them occasionally, but the kids were otherwise quiet.

Anya had nothing to say to anyone. She wanted to learn more about Demetrius but something had gone out of her. The bold way she used to approach people, the vibrant energy that had always been ready to pounce, was drained. Like she had a leak and couldn't gather the energy she needed, the willpower, and she was left again by the edge of the pit alone.

The boys silence stemmed from something entirely different, though. They felt closer than before. Damian and Demetrius didn't say much to one another, but she felt the gap closing between them. Damian was more comfortable around Demetrius. Relaxed. They were silent, but easily so. They didn't need many words, just each other's company.

Damian felt. . .more at ease than of late. The kidnapping and the mess with his father was still fresh in his mind, but he had found something new with Demetrius that had calmed him, somewhat.

Anya was jealous.

She turned to the window so she wouldn't have to look at either of them.

They drove for a good while, traveling outside the city, and the mood between the others was peacefully mild. The soft chatter of Anya's parents became background noise for the whole trip.

The first sign of their destination was seen a good distance before they arrived as the largest attraction rose high up in the air. The roller coaster had heights reaching over three times the Forger's apartment complex, maybe even more.

Her papa found a parking space when they got there and everyone exited the car.

An amusement park.

This was all Damian's fault.

If he hadn't asked Demetrius to invite the Forgers on their day out, this wouldn't be happening.

Her parents had thought it was a great idea.

Anya disagreed.

She shot another glare at Damian from the corner of her eye. He didn't face her, he looked up at the ferris wheel in the distance, but she knew he could feel it.

Anya's papa led them to the ticket booths, where her papa insisted he pay for Demetrius and Damian, and they continued into the park. They had come early. When the crowds hadn't quite flooded the park, the lines weren't too long, and Damian immediately grabbed his brother's sleeve once inside, pulling him in the direction that he pointed.

"Let's go on that!" Damian said excitedly and Demetrius let himself be pulled towards a ride that reminded Anya of a spider. At the end of each leg it split into three arms that held individual seats.

Anya's parents followed at a leisurely pace, Anya between them.

The park was enormous. Even at this distance, she heard the rumble and screams from the rollercoaster that could be seen from every location. The ferris wheel was tall too, but it didn't quite reach the tallest point of the roller coaster. And all around her were numerous paths, numerous rides that lifted into the air, that spun, swept back and forth, and went up and down. All around were people laughing, eating cotton candy, and the mechanical noises of rides in operation.

Demetrius and Damian joined the line for the spider ride and Anya halted before her parents did too.

"Anya? Is something wrong?" Her mama asked.

"Anya doesn't want to go."

"Are you scared? It's completely safe."

"No." Anya only said.

"You go. I'll stay with Anya." Her papa said and her mama joined the boys. Anya and her papa stepped to the side to watch behind the sturdy metal fence.

The refusal to join was compulsive at first. Anya just didn't want to ride. The others seemed to be enjoying themselves, but she wanted to go home. She didn't want to be here.

No. She didn't want to go home. She didn't know where she wanted to go. There was nowhere to go. All she knew was she that didn't want to be here. Or anywhere.

Everything she did, everywhere she went was a reminder. She wasn't supposed to be here. She didn't look at the ride with excitement or anticipation. She only saw what she wasn't supposed to have, something her father would have called a waste of time. A waste of her particular time. No. Not a waste. He would call it a hindrance. Unnatural, that she would partake in something not meant for her.

The ride, the park, it could have existed in another world for how alienated she felt from it. It was all right here, and yet interacting with it was as about as hard as trying to step through her dimensional plane that collided with this one. No one seemed to notice but her.

She shouldn't be here. She was barred from entering and she didn't understand the ease with which Demetrius seemed to travel between worlds.

It felt an impossible feat to Anya, how did he do that?