Not Dreams, Reality

Chapter 9, Panicky Earthquakes and Anger like Thunder

Red's POV

"WE LOST MAX?!?!" I yell at the others. Barney, Cory, and Jin are the only ones who don't flinch. Barney looks just as angry as I do that we lost a friend while running, Jin looks worried and is pacing back and forth, and Cory is still passed out. Everyone else looks like they're about to have a heart attack from panicking. I mean, who wouldn't though? If the strongest member of your group, the guy who is like a brother to you, the guy who protected you when you couldn't, the only guy other than your crush who you would die for, goes missing while you're being chased by bad people, of course you're going to panic!

After we found out that we lost Max, Cory passed out and we heard voices in the distance. We couldn't keep running because Cory passed out and we were all too tired to carry him so we dragged him into a bush and climbed the tree next to it. Eventually the owner of the voice appeared before us and it was one of the guards like we suspected. "Aphmau? You here? I'm the only one here so you don't need to hide, I promise!" Jess instantly jumped down and ran up to him. "AARON!" They both smiled and laughed and the rest of our group hesitantly climbed down. "Why are you here?" Adam demanded, obviously suspicious of him. Aaron smiled a small smile at Adam and answered, "I wanted to find Jess and make sure you guys were okay. I never agreed with what those jerks were planning, just so you know." I was about to ask something but he answered my question before I could even ask it, "your friend with the anger issues got caught in a bear trap and was injured, then escaped and ran off in a different direction than you did so I'm the only one here."

We all nodded but I felt myself getting angrier. I don't get angry easily, but our friend is missing! Max, who was like a brother to me, is missing! Before I could realize what was happening a storm started building around us and the ground started shaking. Adam quickly yelled "Red! Barney! Calm down!" But before we could do anything the earth cracked near us, luckily no one fell in, and I got struck by lighting. We all fell down on our butts and tried to calm down from the shock of what just happened. Adam was the first to stand and he said, "Red, Barney, you both need to calm down before that happens again!" I nodded and looked over at Barney. He had tears in his eyes and was shaking slightly. It's obvious that of the shaking was caused by the earthquake and lightning and half of it was caused from panic. Probably because of the situation with Max.

"You... you really do have powers! I-I thought Star and Nova were... were just crazy!" Aaron said, stuttering and trailing off to catch his breath. He's breathing heavily out of shock from what just happened. If you guessed from the stuttering and trailing off alone you would have thought he was scared, but everything else about him told a different story. His eyes were shining like a little kid who just met Santa at the mall, he was holding Jess like she was the most precious jewel in the world, and he had a huge grin like someone who was just proposed to. Imagine how happy he'll be when he and Jess get- OKAY ENOUGH SHIPPING THOUGHTS, RED! GREATER MATTERS AT HAND!

Ross stood up and looked at Aaron nervously. "Um... do you think you could help us find Max? .... please?" Ross whispered the last part but we all heard it. He had tears in his eyes. Anyone could tell how much Max means to Ross from that sentence alone. Aaron smiled and said, "yes, of course." Jess looked overjoyed at that but was trying to hide her excited.

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Lost one group member,
Gained another.

The chapters will be going back and forth between Max and the rest of the group's POVs until they meet back up again, btw.