Dimension Travelers

Chapter 15

"You couldn't just what?"

I sigh. Chloe is so pushy sometimes. "I couldn't just let something happen to you."

She seems a bit taken back by that. "You really mean it?"

"Well, I said it, didn't I?"

Chloe smiles. Her first real smile that I've seen in awhile. "Thanks, Seth. It means a lot."

I barely smile. "That's what friends are for, right?"

Then thunder booms outside and Chloe jumps. If she was a cat, she would be on the ceiling by now.

"Hey, it's ok. It's just thunder." I tell her.

We're silent for about five minutes.

"It's time to sleep now. It's late." I say.

"But--"

"But nothing." I say.

She lies down.

"Don't go anywhere." She says as if she's warning me.

"Ok, ok I won't."

She closes her eyes. In minutes, she's fast asleep. Once she is, I get up and fall asleep on my own bed. Before I do, I think about something: Will Chloe and I ever be more than just friends?

* * * * * * * *

When I wake up, Chloe's still asleep. So I just get up and change clothes while I can. When I'm done, I fix my hair and wait. I don't want to go anywhere. Chloe wakes up after a few minutes.

"Oh, when did you get up?" She asks.

"Few minutes ago." I tell her.

"Oh..."

"Are you doin' ok?"

"Yeah. I'm ok."

"That's good."

She sits up in bed and looks at me. "So, what now?"

I get up and sit next to her. "Don't know."

"About last night..."

"I won't say a word."

"Ok. And, could you leave for a sec? I need to change." She says.

I get up. "Ok, fine."

I walk out the door.

Firefly is sitting on a bench in the middle of the underground room. She looks up at me.

"Hi. Did you sleep ok?" She asks me as I sit down.

"Yeah, but Chloe was spooked by the thunder."

"Did she sleep ok?"

"Yeah, I think so. She seems fine now."

"Where is she?"

"Changing."

"Oh. That's why she kicked you out."

"Yeah."

"Rosemary says we need to stay a bit longer here. We need to make sure She isn't up there."

"Why would She be here?"

"To steal whatever we have."

"She does that?"

Firefly nods sadly. "She had no heart. She's more Shadow than person."

"That's how we'll stop Her."

"Seth, She's very powerful. The ones who've tried to stop her before...it didn't end well."

"Well, this time it's gonna be different."