Alone - a Lorien Legacies fanfiction

Exploration and Destruction

Six

Madeleine

Exactly one hour later, Nine and I regrouped by the elevator doors in his penthouse. He wore black jeans with sneakers along with a gray pull-over hoodie. His long black hair was tied back in a small man bun, which he surprisingly was able to pull off. He smiled at me as I walked toward him in the clothes I had worn in Atlanta.

"You might need a jacket," he said. "It's not called the Windy City for shits and giggles."

I shrugged my shoulders. "I don't have one."

"Then I guess we can be tourists and buy you an overpriced Chicago souvenir." He punched the elevator call button. I just smiled and looked down at my sneakers.

When the elevator arrived, Nine and I stepped inside. As the doors began to close, Nine called out, "Someone tell John we'll be back later!"

There was no response.

Now, I wouldn't want to rush into things and claim this as a date. If anything, I figured that the world being in danger was of far greater importance than me seeing a dirty city that I had no desire to be in anymore. However, Nine had unknowingly gone along with my plan by getting involved with my conversation about Chicago and had even offered to show me around. All I had wanted was for him to go out with me on the terrace so I could explain to him quietly that I had heard their conversation and that I wasn't the person that many of them thought I was. By getting out of the house, I could not only try to get Nine to trust me more, but I could also explain who I was.

Down in the lobby of the John Hancock Center, the concierge tipped his hat at Nine. Staff took extra care to step out of our way, watching us pass with wide, fake smiles. I glanced over at my guide who didn't seem fazed by their behavior. Maybe he had been right all along. Maybe this was his city. The people, at least the ones we had seen so far, knew who he was. I couldn't decide whether or not that was a good thing.

"Where would you like to go first?" he asked, taking me off guard as we stepped out into the chilling autumn air. The wind slapped me in the face, tossing my wild red curls all around. I tucked my hands down in my pockets.

"To get a jacket?"

Nine laughed, a smooth laugh that made me smile. "Oh, yeah, for sure. Come on, we'll run into a tourist trap somewhere."

We took a right out of the Center, past the gigantic skyscrapers and toward the river. People walked past us without a second glance, some with their heads braced low against the wind. The sky was a light gray which gave off a dreary atmosphere. As we walked, street vendors called out to us, asking us to buy dollar-store sunglasses, key chains, and other cheap Chicago merchandise. Nine coolly lead me away, ignoring their calls and cries.

When he came to the river front, the wind picked up even more. The smell of dirty water and algae filled the air like a slight nuisance. Nine, however, took a huge whiff of air and sighed happily. The cold, sharp winds were no longer my main focus; it was the way his eyes lit up when he looked around the city. It was the pep in his step, the way he smiled when he would remember times before he lost his Cepan. I watched a piece of black hair slip out of place and fly around his ear wildly, and I caught myself trying to reach up and tuck it away. It was the soft slump of his shoulders as he looked at his city in awe. He was home, in a place he loved more than anything else, and I was just happy to be along for the journey.

I could have watched him all day. I don't think I could have gotten tired of seeing his unaltered reaction to something he had been away from. I did not know the full story, but I could look at him and know that he had been dreaming of the moment he truly felt at home.