DARK PARADISE. Miguel O'Hara

03. Lyla

LYLA - Chapter Three
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JADE —  Followed close behind Miguel as the lights from the portal faded, the pinks, blues and greens fading from the floor. The bright colors no longer illuminated the ground, fading away and revealing the room they were in was rather dark. The walls around them were tall, the ceiling high.

In the center laid a platform, plenty of room on either side between it and the surrounding walls. Jade watched as Miguel continued forward and got on the platform, a council lighting up.

The lights of holograms illuminated the man's face, images of people and boxes of texts appearing before him. Jade watched in awe.

She slowly made her way over to join Miguel, spinning around and taking in her surrounding. With the towering walls and ceiling a ways above her, she felt so small. Her eyes shined with curiosity, a smile forming slightly on her lips as she reached then platform. She took a step up and joined Miguel.

"Where are we?" She asked, looking to the man.

He met her eyes, looking down at her. "My dimension." He says, his deep voice sending a shiver up her spine.

Silence settles over the room as he tapped on a box that had lit up before him, then dragged his finger through the air to move it over. Jade reached out to touch a box too, but Miguel grabbed her wrist.

"Don't." He says, voice demanding and eyes tired. His expression seemed defeated and pained, but also annoyed as he let go of the girls wrist.

He glanced to the illuminated screen and his eyes widen as they land on the picture that laid before Jade. In a panic, he quickly moved some boxes over the image, heart pumping in his chest.

Jade watched him desperately try and cover what was before her, furrowing her eyebrows. Her eyes narrowed as the man's shoulders slump and he lets out a sigh.

"This stuff is... touchy." He says. The sweat that had built on his forehead fades and his breathing calms. He runs a hand down his face and slowly takes in a breath. "This is what this place relies on." He says. "We call scenarios like the Vulture: 'anomalies.' When an anomaly is detected, we're notified here and it gives us information we need to go forward in taking care of it."

Jade nods slowly, crossing her arms and waiting patiently for him to continue. However, it isn't him who speaks. A small girl appears beside his shoulder, seeming to be made up of the same as the council. She hovered beside Miguel's head and wore a smile.

"Clever isn't it?" She says, making her way over to in front of Jade. She hovered before the girl and spun around, smiling. "All my doing!"

Miguel rolls his eyes and crosses his arms in the background, watching as Jade's eyes danced to follow the girl. They follow her closely as she spun in the air, then stop abruptly as the girl does.

"Miguel?" The girl said. Her tiny eyes fill with worry and her shoulders fall. Her smile fades and her eyebrows furrow as she met Jades eyes, finally getting a good look at her. "What have you done?"

Miguel's eyes widen at the girls words, watching as she spun around to face her. "Lyla!" He hisses, nose scrunching as he sent the girl a glare.

"Seriously, Miguel? This is irrational." Lyla says, shaking her head. She appears beside his shoulder once more. "Were you even thinking bringing her here?"

Miguel swats her away, watching anger as she fades from the air. His eyes meet Jade, the girl reading the panic in his wide gaze.

"What is she talking about?" Jade asked cautiously.

"Nothing." He says sternly.

"Miguel!"

Lyla reappears beside Miguel's shoulder, scowling. "What on earth do you think you doing? I get you miss them, but this? This is too far."

"She can be useful!" He hisses back, growing impatient. "She's one of us!"

"We both know that's not why you brought her here, Miguel." Lyla says. Her voice drops from a loud, angry lecture to a solemn, quiet tone. Her eyes grow tired and she slowly shakes her head.

Miguel rolls his eyes. "There's an anomaly in her dimension. Get it taken care of." He demands, running a hand through her image and she fades again, silence settling over the dark room.

Tension settles as Miguel grows furious. His eyes are closed, head tilted to the floor as his chest rises and falls. His fists are in balls and a deep, annoyed growl escapes his throat.

"Well, you've met Lyla." He says, slowly looking up, he forced a smile, impatience still filling him. His smile quickly fades, eyes full of annoyance as they meet Jade's gaze.

She stares at him, lips parted slightly as she tried to piece together a response. As she looked at him, she realized how attractive he truly was. While he towered over her and his eyes were unsettling to meet, she found herself getting lost in them. His build was large, his muscles becoming defined as his suit gripped his body.

His face was defined and seemed to only be a bit older than her own, his eyes however showing he had seen a lot in those few extra years.

"Shes a handful." Miguel said, pinching the bridge of his nose. He shook his head slightly, voice filled with frustration.

Jade blankly blinked at him a couple times before nodding slowly, taking in everything that had just happened. It was one thing to have this man claim they'd met, and another for him and another to argue about her.

"Lyla's having someone take care of the anomaly, everything should be back to normal in no time." Miguel explains, stepping off of the platform.

Jade drops her gaze as he passes, suddenly finding an interest in the watch she'd been given. "This isn't going to happen again, is it?" She asked as she messed mindlessly with the dial on the watch. Her eyebrows furrow as she noticed her name engraved within the band.

"Not if we have anything to do with it." Miguel says, his voice faint from the distance that had appeared between them.

"Good." She said softly. Her eyes remained solemnly on the floor as she made her way forward. She was concerned for her brother, not wanting to risk losing him too. "And Miguel?" She asked softly.

Rather than responding, the man turned and faced her, raising an eyebrow.

"How did you manage to get this made so soon?"

Miguel's face falls. "Had it made already." He said slowly, unsure how to continue. "It was someone else's before you."

Jade's eyes narrowed, the man breaking eye contact. She had a feeling the truth was that it was in fact made before hand, but with her name on the band, she couldn't help but think it had been made for her from the start.

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