The Forgotten Ones

Chapter 9: Understand? Understood.

After Elias had gotten a few hours of rest, he'd snuck back out once everyone was asleep and joined Sunshine for another night of staking out the Neet's place. They took shifts to conserve energy, talked about the most random things to pass the time, and drank a few bottles of Sun's mother's stashed Red Bulls to keep their eyes open. However, when Elias noticed Sunshine sit-jumping and rocking, he cut him off before he popped.

It was a long night. About as long as could be expected while having to stare at the same boring house. Elias kept telling himself that in a few minutes the door would open and the Neet would finally show his face. Those minutes slowly turned to jaded, tiresome hours. Unfortunately, nothing happened during that night either, and Elias returned home unsatisfied once more.

It was now Monday; his alarm had just gone off, and it was time for him to get Ava and himself ready for school. Finally dragging himself out of bed, he sluggishly walked down the hall to her room, slowly pushing her door open while rubbing his eye.

"Ava-" he stopped, shocked to see Brie kneeled beside her bed.

She looked back at him whispering, "She's got a fever."

"Oh..." Elias rose both brows, looking at Ava, who seemed paler than usual. Judging by the beads of sweat sliding down her face and her irritated pink nose, Eli could tell she really wasn't feeling good. She let out an intense cough, making him stiffen. He wanted to give her a hug and wish her well, but she was still fast asleep.

"I'm going to stay with her today." Brie added, caressing her cheek. "You go on ahead to school."

Elias frowned. For some odd reason he felt responsible. This whole time he had been too fixated on La Mort Noire to notice that his sister had fallen ill. He hated when she was sick. She wasn't herself. To be fair, no one is themself when they're sick, but Ava was a special case...at least for Eli. As weird as it sounded, he looked at Ava for attention in the same way a younger brother would their older sister. He hated it.

Scolding himself, he gave her one last glance, closing the door, heading back to his room.

~*~

The ride to Somerset was the same as usual. Sunshine was rambling on about nonsense and Elias was looking out the window pretending to listen. It had become a routine. He would nod every few seconds to give Sunshine a bit of reassurance, but all in all he wasn't interested. He was bored and the sight of the town didn't help. It was always--always so gray and damp and no one was ever walking outside. Though, before it was all just new to him; it put a bleak perspective on things now. Everything was dreary, cold, and miserable; the complete opposite of what he felt in Florida.

In Florida, he wasn't forced to face his displeased father, or wallow in the obvious tendencies of isolation from Brie and Ava. He didn't have to sit idly and watch favoritism as the only channel in his mind. He could leave. He had friends. He stayed out, and contrary to what his father believed, it wasn't because he wanted to. Though, he did miss it.

Elias didn't notice the drawn out sigh that left him, but Sunshine did.

"You okay, Elias?" He gave him a concerned look.

Elias nodded mindlessly. "Yeah. What were you saying?"

Sunshine didn't hesitate to begin again, and this time Elias listened. He'd thought it best if he didn't swim in the nostalgia. He wasn't going back.

When they had finally reached the school, they all got off and Sunshine and Elias parted ways. The day went by slow. It felt like time was taunting him, purposely dragging out the boring classes, and rushing through the free time. However, when he was in the halls, he could walk as slow as he wanted to get to his next class. He took advantage of it; the silence. Not that in noise, but the silence in his actions. He could relax and clear his mind.