Journey

Elijah

I gave Lorelei her Coffee and the dark circles under her eyes are brightening. She gulps it up as if caffeine was the source of her life. At this point it probably was. When breakfast was over I walked through the room where all the children were gathered. I didn't feel like interacting with the adults right now. I looked through the children trying to see who I could recognize.

My eyes landed on one familiar face. Stefin. I walk towards him. He looks up at me.

"Eli. Oh man is that you?" He asks.

His face brightens.

"Stefin, it's good to see you again," I reply.

"I heard you had come back but I also heard that you built a spaceship and left the planet," He told me.

"How wonderful." I mutter.

He looks at me for a while.

"Who is that?" I ask gesturing to the boy he was entertaining.

"Oh this is my brother, Gael."

"Hello Gael," I say to him.

He shrinks behind his brother.

"You filled out," I say to him.

"Yeah, I'm not the little boy I used to be," He told me.

"How old are you now?"

"14."

Lorelei walks in. Her green eyes fall on me. Even with her tired eyes she looks breathtaking with her long dark eyelashes.

"Oh man, who is that? She is hot!" Steffin exclaimed.

"That's Lorelei Jameson. She is Commander of her Colony." I tell him.

She comes and sits next to me. She kisses my cheek and Stefin's eyes bug out.

I smirk at him.

"Hi, I'm Lorelei," She says sticking her hand out for him to shake.

He takes it in his and shakes it for a beat to long.

"Steffin," He tells her.

"Wonderful to meet you Steffin. Are you a friend of Eli's?" She asks.

"Y-yes," He stammers.

"And who is this?" She asks to Gael.

Gael peaks out from behind Steffin.

"I'm Gael," He tells her.

"It's nice to meet you Gael," She replies.

Gael smiles at her. Lieutenant Kourtni came and took Lorelei away to discuss battle strategy.

"Looks like someone has a little crush," Steffin smirks.

At first I thought he was talking to me but I turned and saw Gael blushing.

"What are you talking about Steffin. You were obsessed from the second you saw her," I said to him.

"How did you manage to get this one?" Steffin asked.

"Honestly, I don't know," I explain.

After talking with them for a while more I leave to go talk to Kourtni. She must know if my parents are here. I wander the compound for a few minutes until I find Kourtni. She is just sitting in a room thinking.

"Hey Kourni, I have a question for you," I tell her.

She looks up at me.

"Sure," She says sounding detached.

I wonder if I should bug her with one more thing. I then realize just how selfish I am because it doesn't really bug me as much as I would have hoped.

"Have you seen my parents?" I ask.

She doesn't answer for a while. She just kind of stares off into space.

"I get these questions on the daily. They always hurt me having to answer them," She tells me.

I don't care. I need to know. She sighs.

"What are their names?"

"Alexandra and Kane."

She brings out a device that kind of looks like a com device from Oasis. (Not Sun's Peak)

She types in their names. She refreshes the page and refreshes the page. No results. My heart sinks. They aren't here.

"We are finding people everyday. They might still be alive," Kourtni tells me.

Kourtni sounds like she's rehearsed this and rehearsed this many times. I stand there in silence for a while.

"How does Lorelei stand it?" Kourtni asks after a while.

"Stand what?"

"She is in charge of an entire civilization. She is facing war and she is still calm. Many leaders have problems with this but she is different because she is 15. I am 32 and this takes a larger toll on me than I have ever had to bear."

"Lorelei is a prodigy. Her capabilities still shock me and I've known her for a while,"

Kourtni nods. I leave Kourtni be. She seems a little unsteady but to be honest who is completely steady in these times.

I walk into the control room. Lorelei is staring at the screen. A few dots on a screen. It makes me feel nostalgic for the day when our biggest troubles were a dot on the navigation screen.

"What is it?" I ask.

"The Brights," Lorelei says solemnly.

"Why do we call them the 'Brights'?" I ask.

"When they first attacked they were glowing. We've just kind of been calling them the Brights ever since," Says another person in the room.

"I honestly think they keep attacking because we call them a stupid name like the Brights," One person laughs.

"Maybe they were hoping we would call them the terminators or something." Another answered. 

We all laugh. I don't understand how we can find humor in this but we do. When I went to bed tonight Lorelei immediately curled up in my arms. I didn't mind. I could sleep easier with her around.