Tapoka| the elf in the human world.|

Chapter 16

Elyk was walking back to the room he left Akooza in when his phone buzzed. He took a glance at his phone, there was a random number calling, he figured it was a scammer and hit the decline button putting his phone in his pocket as he walked back into the bedroom. Akooza was sitting on the bed biting his nails nervously. Elyk groaned and walked over grabbing Akoozas wrist.

"Stop that!" Elyk hissed, lowering Akoozas hand from his mouth by force. Akooza flinched and jerked his hand away from Elyk. He let out a sigh of relief noticing it was just Elyk and gave him a shy smile.

"Oh, alright, I'm just nervous," Akooza whimpered. He had a bit of sadness in his expression and he was obviously worried. Elyk sat down next to him and put his hand back on his shoulder. Elyk felt his phone vibrate again, he sighed and took it out of his pocket. The number had texted him, he figured he might as well look at the text. He opened the text and his pupils dilated as he read the text out loud.

"Give us the elf, we know your housing," Elyk read. He began to tremble and Akooza looked over and he was confused.

"Whats going on Elyk? Why did you say that?" He questioned putting his hand on Elyks thigh in an attempt to calm him down. Akooza began to grow even more worried as it took a few minutes for Elyk to respond. Elyk looked at Akooza with panic in his eyes.

"Akooza," Elyk began, "Someone knows… about you," Elyk stammered. His voice was low and panicked, his breath was erratic. Akooza gulped and felt his heart start to pound. He took a deep breath and stared into Elyks panicked eyes.

"S…someone…someone knows?" Akooza mumbled out slowly, it felt so unreal to him. How could this be real? That's all he could think. He shifted his gaze downward feeling the pressure of the current situation. Elyk set his phone off to the side, refusing to reply to the number. He looked down and Akooza let out a low sigh.

"You have to stay inside from now on," he Insisted. He had a stern look on his face as he crossed his arms. He wasn't letting Akooza go anywhere, that's right, absolutely nowhere. Akooza was to sit like a bump on a log around the house all day.

"WHAT!? I can't do that!" Akooza protested, his eyes lighting up with frustration. He didn't want to be stuck inside, but in the back of his mind he knew Elyk was right.

"Well you are!" Elyk demanded his stern tone of voice staying exactly the same. Akooza sighed and looked at Elyk with his lips drooped into a frown.

"Fine, I guess you're right," Akooza cautioned. He was resentful of the idea. But he wasn't gonna complain much.

"Alright that's good," Elyk muttered. The two looked at each other, their eyes locking onto each other.

Akooza lay in bed staring hopelessly at the blank ceiling. He sighed, letting his mind wander. What was wrong with him? Why couldn't he just accept that he didn't belong in this world? He let his thoughts drift further pulling the blanket further over himself, his arms sprawled out at his side. He thought about Oota, how he left her at the park alone in this world. He also thought about his brother and the elf he saw get arrested on the news just a few hours ago. He couldn't do anything to help but he wished he could. He wondered if his brother was even alive right now, he shouldn't even care, but he did. He wondered if Oota was inside a safe place, warm and full. He felt hopeless and lost with all this worry whirling around in his head. He couldn't take it anymore, he was gonna find Oota, he didn't care much if he found the others or not, he just wanted to find his childhood friend. He gulped at the thought of sneaking out, he knew he had agreed to stay inside safe and sound. Akooza stood up, letting out a sigh, feeling a lump in his throat. He walked towards the window and opened it slowly trying to be as quiet as possible. He grabbed his hat off his nightstand and put it on his head to hide his ears. He took a few steps closer to the window, his heart thumping in his chest. He let out a breath and held out his hand trying to channel his magic into it. He was a little burnt out so he could only muster up a little, but the green aura now more dim then before wrapped around him and a large vine grew from the yard below. He jumped onto it and slid down, feeling the cold plant against his skin. Feeling his feet hit the ground he let go and took one last look at Elyks house.