Adopt a Yognaught

Chapter 11

I'm probably going to focus on this book more, probably even finish it when I start to work on the others. Also, you might want to note that when it switches to Candie's POV, she is one day ahead of the Yogscast. 

Enjoy!

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{Simon's POV}

We went inside the lobby of the flats, with me carrying the posters. The lobby was empty, and there were two elevators to go to different floors. We see a security camera in the corner of the ceiling, and I casually hang a poster on the bulletin board to avoid suspicion. 

We go down to the first set of doors, and knock. It opens, and a woman answers the door with a cigarette in her mouth. She takes it in two fingers and blows out smoke. I could smell that it was worse in the apartment. 

"Yes?" She said, her voice raspy. 

I hold up the poster after I got over the smell. "Um, have you seen this girl?" I ask. 

The woman leans closer to the poster and puffs her cigarette again. After a moment, she shakes her head. 

"Nope. Never seen her." She said. 

That was fine. We were only here to see if any of these occupants were a man with black hair and beard. 

"Thanks, anyways." I said. She nodded, and went back in her apartment, taking the smell of cigarette smoke with her. 

"Well," Duncan said. "That wasn't him." 

"No, it certainly wasn't." I said. "Let's move on." 

We went through all the apartments, and two hours later, we were frustrated and exhausted. No one was the guy we were looking for. We made our way to the lobby. 

"Sorry, pal," Lewis said. 

"We just have to look somewhere else," I said. "He has to be around here somewhere." I could tell that everyone else wanted to go home. 

"Maybe we should just let the police deal with this," Martyn said. 

"And do nothing?" I asked in disbelief. 

"We have no other choice," Hannah said. "We should just go home. It's been a long day." 

I wanted to argue, but couldn't find the right words. I sighed in defeat and headed to the door in answer, and everyone followed. 

Just as we were reaching the car, a sudden wind sprang up. A piece of paper flew in my face, along with small flecks of snow. I grabbed the paper away from my face and looked at it briefly. I was about to throw it away, when a red circle got my attention. Someone had taken a red pen or marker and circled an ad in the newspaper. The ad was entitled, 'House for rent!'. 

"You coming, friend?" Lewis called out over the wind. I looked up and saw them waiting for me by the car. I shoved the newspaper in my pocket and ran to the car, and we headed home.

***

{Candie's POV}

We played chess for an hour maybe, and my tea was gone on the first game. I enjoyed chess, and as much as I hated to admit it, I was actually enjoying being here. Atleast when the man was stable and not trying to hurt me. 

The man had elevated my ankle, which hurt to move, and I wondered if it was ever going to be the same again. My other injuries were probably going to heal on their own. I knew I probably had bruises on each side of my face, and probably many more all over my body from being dragged up the stairs. My ankle was a serious injury, and I can't believe I was just playing chess and not worrying about it. 

"Tell me about yourself," The man said. "Candie." 

I shrugged. There wasn't much to say. The man grunted in disapproval. 

"Okay," I said, not really wanting the man to start hitting me again. "I like videogames. And YouTubers." His face lightened, but fell when he realized what I said. 

"I'm sorry. I don't have any of those gaming-systems or internet." The man apologized. 

I was momentarily taken aback. Did he just apologize? About not having any gaming systems? 

"I-It's okay...." I said, not used to having people apologize to me. As I said, most people I've lived with resent me. "I like chess, too." 

The man smiled. "I see that. You've beat me about as many times as we played this." My stomach growled. He laughed, and went into the kitchen. 

A few minutes later, he returned with two sandwhiches and two cups of tea. We ate in silence, moving the pieces of the chess board every few minutes. 

"Why don't you tell me about you?" I said, biting into the sandwhich. 

"There's nothing good to tell." He said, sipping his tea. The emphasis on 'good' made chills run down my back. 

"There has to be something," I said. The pictures on the wall came to mind, and I dared to bring it up. "How about family? Do you have family?" 

He froze, his tea stuck in mid-drink. Then he placed it down forcibly, making a little spill over the edge. "I have no family." 

"Why not?" I asked in an innocent voice. I hoped he just thought of me as a stupid, curious little girl. 

"Because," He said through clenched teeth. "They're dead." 

I nodded, although I didn't quite understand. 

"Do you have family?" He asked after a while. 

I took a minute to answer. Do I have family? I've been in an orphanage all my life, until I was adopted by the Yogs. 

"I guess I do," I said, being honest. He gave me a puzzled look. "I was put in an orphanage when I was young. I was recently adopted, so I guess I have family now....." I trailed off. He seemed to freeze when I said, 'orphanage', and that gained my suspicion on what happened to his family. 

"How many people were in your family?" I asked. 

He looked down, ignoring his food that he had left. "Three. Not including me." Hm. I only saw one girl and one woman in the picture. Maybe the grave was a deceased son or daughter?

"How many in yours?" He asked. "I mean, the family that adopted you?"

Now, that took some thinking. Did my family just include Simon, or did the whole Yogscast community count? I ended up shrugging. 

"I honestly have no idea." I said, sipping my tea. He cocked his head at me. "Well, I guess the person that adopted me was only one..... But he has lots of friends, and I guess I include them as family, too." 

He leaned back in the seat for a while, and when my tea was gone, I lenaed back, too. My ankle didn't like the movement, but settled down when I leaned back. 

About ten minutes went by when we heard the knocking. The man was on his feet in a minute, holding me by the arm. 

"Get up the stairs," He hissed in my ear. 

I took one step and fell down, my ankle screaming. I bit my lip to keep from screaming, although when I look back on it, I wish I did. He swore under his breath, grabbed me by the arm, and dragged me up the stairs again. The knocking persisted. 

"Just a minute!" He called. 

When we were in the room, he threw me in but didn't bother to tie me. He just locked the door and went back downstairs. 

I heard the door open downstairs, and heard the man talk. Then I heard a voice that made my blood run cold and my heart fill up with hope. 

Simon was here.

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Once again to note, Candie's POV is a day ahead of Simon's. Now that that's settled, 

Enjoy!