Virus -~- Book 3 of Pixel

-~- e i g h t

Hello everyone, and welcome back to Virus! :D

This is a pre-written Author's Note--meaning that it's currently the seventeenth when I'm typing this and that I'm currently in New Mexico as this is being posted on the twenty-second. That is to say, there won't be as much gusto in this AN as there usually is; same goes for nine, which will be posted on the twenty-fifth :)

This chapter, like the past few, was written late at night, so it's a lot more emotional than it was planned to be. Also, this is where I believe the plot starts to thicken a bit. I hope you guys feel the same way ^^"

Remember to follow code_cherry on Twitter, and to vote and comment for more. Enjoy!

S E A N  [ G R A P E ]

I thrummed my fingers impatiently against the desk as Cube member after Cube member joined the TeamSpeak, chatter breaking out as more and more people entered the channel. Trying to shove away worried thoughts to no avail, I busied myself with watching the flickering blue lights that indicated a user was speaking, failing to push concern out of my mind.

Well, it's hard not to be concerned when a meeting is called and only Pixel survivors are invited, I mused, observing at the final member of the Pixel group, Rusher, joined the channel, Graser locking it behind him.

"Don't worry, Grape," Will soothed in my head. "It'll be fine. You worry too much."

Can you blame me?

"...no. But you should try to be less pessimistic."

Jordan cleared his throat, and silence fell in the TeamSpeak almost instantly, all of us waiting for him to speak.

"Alright, well, I'm sure you're all wondering why we called you here," he began awkwardly, still slightly uncomfortable with taking the lead. I'm sorry. That's my fault for leaving you to do it alone, I thought guiltily.

"Is everyone okay?" asked H quickly.

"Yes, don't worry, it isn't anything like that," Jordan assured, and I fought to keep the memories from resurfacing; memories through Will's eyes and ears of the day of Tomahawk and TYBZI's kidnapping... "But we've got a bit of a problem."

"Well, spit it out, bro," Straub pushed, sounding curious.

"I guess I'll just start at the beginning, then." Jordan sighed and continued, "A few weeks ago I got an email from a masked sender. In a nutshell, it asked specifically if I would tell them what happened in Pixel, when we'd specifically informed fans that we were keeping that information private. I refused." I let out a breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding. "However, when I was talking to Graser a couple days ago, he told me that he'd gotten a strange message from a fan, and eventually it came to me that he'd received the same email that I had. He also turned them down and we agreed that if any other Pixel victim got that email that we'd let the rest of the group know. And yesterday, Parker called me to ask about that very message."

I frowned. Who would be so desperate for information that they would probe each of us individually, despite previous rejections? "Can you read the message, Jordan?"

"Of course," he replied, clearing his throat once more and beginning to speak. I listened closely, the suspicious feeling in my gut growing with each word. There's something familiar about all of this, I realized. Something that I feel like I should know, but that I can't quite put my finger on.

Will sighed audibly. "Whoever wrote that should know better than to try and play us like that. We made an agreement, and we're not about to break it because one person really wants to know what happened."

"But they're obviously not going to stop at just Bayani, Graser, and Parker," pointed out H. "So the question is what we should do about it."

Voices broke out all at once, and I winced, turning my headphones volume down slightly and attempting to identify the strange feeling the whole situation was giving me. Something is definitely wrong. This is more than just a crazed fan, but... what is it?

The sound of my name drew me out of my doubts, and I hurriedly asked, "Sorry, what?"

"What do you think we should do, Grape?" questioned Jordan softly.

I bit my lip. They still look up to me, even after all this time. "I don't think there's much more we can do. Keep refusing them, and if it gets to an insane level, we may need to make another video about it, but other than that..." I kept quiet about my bad feeling, wanting to identify exactly what it was before I caused any more unease in our group.

"He's right," said Tomahawk after a moment. "I suppose that's all there is to try."

Murmurs of agreement swept through the TeamSpeak, and after promises to keep the others informed (deja-vu), silence was once again ringing in my ears, though I wasn't paying any attention. I just couldn't shake off my nagging instincts.

A memory flashed through my head...

"I didn't approve of anything my brother was doing, and especially not to a human being, but my premonition told me to wait. And my visions are often right, so I bided my time just as Nano bided his."

"My premonition told me to wait," I murmured to myself. "My visions are often right..."

I'm missing something, though. Please, Alpha, show me what it is.

Yay, another Grape POV! I've been looking forward to writing his for a while, but after everything that happened in Nano, they're surprisingly difficult to write. He's having so many mental conflicts, way more than any of the other Cube members (who have their own emotional issues); he's trying to come to terms with his supernatural half and its abilities, trying to work his way back into normal life, and just like everyone else, trying to put Pixel behind him. It's a lot to comprehend. I hope I'm not making any of the Cube members too touchy-feely in this... I never meant for this to become all emotional like it is.

QUESTION OF THE CHAPTER:

Grape has suspicions about this person who keeps sending them emails, thanks to his premonition. What are your guesses? Who's responsible for the emails? What do they want? No answer is too crazy :p

Vote and comment for more! Until next time!

~ Cherry