Danger Magellan's Invasion of Earth

Chapter 32

Chapter 32

I thought that I could hear Raquel snoring next to me when I woke up the next morning, but as I rolled over to look at the clock, I saw that it was only Tanaquil. That was when it truly hit me. Raquel was dead, and I would never hear her snore again.

For a moment, I didn't want to get out of bed at all. I didn't want to face a world without Raquel in it. I pulled the blanket over my head, and hoped that the others wouldn't notice that I was under the covers. I then realized how childish I looked and slowly climbed out of my bed.

All of a sudden, the phone rang. "I'll answer it," Danger said as his eyes snapped open. He picked up the phone and spoke to the person on the other end for a while.

"Who was that?" Arthur asked after Danger finally hung up.

"Cerise," Danger said. "She just called to let us know that she's planning to send Raquel's body back to Earth."

The last thing I needed was yet another reminder of Raquel's death. I burst into tears, while Arthur sat next to me and tried to comfort me in his own awkward way. "Nora, we're all upset over what happened to Raquel," Arthur said as I spotted a tear coming from his eyes, "but we have to move on. At least she wasn't kidnapped by the Illuminati. That might have been an even worse fate."

"Arthur, you just don't get it," I said.

"I think I get it," Arthur said. "Raquel was my friend too."

"No, you don't get it," I said as I began to bawl. "You'll never understand." I stormed out of the hotel, and Tanaquil, Arthur, and Danger chased after me. However, I had enough of a head start that I made it out of the hotel before they did. I then found a bus and, despite the fact that I had no idea where it was going, I hopped on. Anywhere was better than the hotel, where I would have to face my friends and the obvious absence among them.

I sat near the back of the bus as I wiped my eyes. I had to calm myself down at least a little bit if I was going to go anywhere in the city. The bus was crowded at first, but at the next stop, even more people boarded. An old woman sat next to me, and as she glanced in my direction, she said something to me in Yellow Common Language.

"I don't speak Yellow Common Language," I said in English. I wished that I had possessed the foresight when I ran from the hotel to bring Blaze with me, but I hadn't been that smart.

"Are you okay?" the woman said in heavily accented English.

"No," I replied. "I'm not okay."

"What happened?" she asked.

"I don't want to talk about it," I said as I wiped my eyes again.

At the next station, I got off of the bus. I wasn't quite sure where I was in District Seven, but it didn't matter. I was far away enough from Cerise's house and my friends, and that was all I cared about.

There was nothing distinctive about the neighborhood that I was standing in. It looked exactly like every other part of the city that I had been in, from the skyscrapers looming above me to the crowds of people surrounding me on all sides. I was still in the city that had killed Raquel.

For a moment, I wanted to catch another bus and travel all the way to the other side of the planet, but from what I had heard, that wouldn't change a thing. All of Sidhe was nothing more than urban sprawl. Once I realized that, I instantly knew where I wanted to be. I wanted to return to Spragueville and forget all about everything that had happened in space. However, I didn't have that luxury yet.

I walked through the city streets until I found an empty alley where I could truly wallow in my pain. As I watched the people of Sidhe wander through the streets, I realized just how alone I was. Tanaquil and Danger wouldn't be able to follow me home, I hadn't seen Cody in at least a month, and Raquel was dead. The only person I would have left was Arthur, and we were fighting.