Gifted

VII

I awoke to a smell all too familiar to me.

Bacon.

I sat up and stretched my arms and legs.  The rest of group was awake and cooking breakfast in the kitchen. The smell reminded me of when I was a kid and Mom would make breakfast for Dad and I. I looked forward to it every morning. Maybe I should call Mom sometime, its been a while.

Walking into the kitchen I was surprised to see Maze and Asuna chatting together at the dining table. Ebi and Rafe were having a bacon eating contest, Ebi clearly in the lead. Lux was at the stove cooking eggs. She had an apron on and was humming a familiar song.

"Is that Pac? Didn't know you were into hip-hop." She turned around and smiled.

"You're awake! Here." She handed me a plate of food and pushed me away. I sat down at the table next to Asuna, interested in what her and Maze were talking about.

"Hey Yuki, did you sleep well?" She turned around and picked up her fork, not looking me in the eye.

"Like a baby. You?"

"Eh, could have been better." I glanced at Maze and she was acting the same way. Neither of them would look at me. I scooted over a few seats and sat next Rafe. I leaned in and whispered to him.

"What's up with those two?" I said. He swallowed and wiped his mouth.

"They had some weird dream. They wouldn't tell me much though." He immediately began eating again and I rolled my eyes. Lux joined us at the table and sat down next to me.

"Any plans today?" She asked. Everyone else looked at me. I was instantly reminded of the HH situation and got a chill down my spine. I still didn't know what to do exactly, and every plan I came up with had a major flaw. For now I had to make sure that Maze wasn't found and we weren't discovered.

"Actually, yes. Can you drive me into Pierre for supplies? We need to restock before we depart on Allan." I said. Rafe choked on food and Ebi patted his back.

"You told her who we are?!" he exclaimed.

"Chill out, she's cool." I glanced at Lux and she flashed Rafe one of her infamous smiles. He sat back in his chair and crossed his arms.

"I've always wanted to visit South Dakota. Mainly just to see Mount Rushmore, not being stranded here." Ebi sighed and put his fork down.

"Anyway, only I will go with Lux, you guys just chill here." I said. Everyone groaned and complained.

"Why only you? It's boring staying in here." Ebi said.

"Safety reasons. So Lux, when can we leave?"

"As soon as I'm done eating. But that snow storm might make the trip longer than expected." I nodded my head and sat back. Me traveling alone sounded fine, but them being here alone sounded bad. Rafe was here and I could trust him, but if he found out about HH...

I sighed and got out of my chair.

"Where you going?" Asuna asked.

"To make some calls." I put on my shoes and opened the back door. The garage smelled of oil and grass. After I felt around for the garage opener, I stepped outside in the snow. It was about 3 feet thick and relatively packed. The temperature was much warmer now, making it bearable to stand out there. I reached into the pockets and pulled out my phone. I hadn't checked it since we were at McDonalds. I had one missed call from Kazuma. I redialed the number and waited.

"Mr. Zoldyk?"

"Yessir."

"Good to hear you again. It's been awhile."