Becoming Complete: Inchoate Book 1

Chapter 18: A Friendly Face

It was Doug's first day out of the infirmary, and he and Roberto were already causing mayhem around the mansion. They had filled shampoo bottles with mayonnaise, put shampoo in the mayonnaise jar, strung up obnoxious signs outside of Raven's room, and glued Hank's glasses to the laboratory ceiling. They were known for their occasional pranks, but this was a bit much. The Professor had already called them in to see him by lunch in an attempt to quell their overzealous behavior. They chalked it up to just being a celebration, and he let them off with a warning.

Que, on the other hand, kept more to herself. She spent almost all of her time either locked in her old room in the girls hall, or in the trees and on the roof where no one could find her. The Professor had made several attempts to talk to her, but she easily evaded him by ensuring they were never in the same room and blocking him when he tried to send her telepathic messages.

Escaping Raven and Storm was more of a challenge. When they could locate Que, they were able to scale or fly to whatever height necessary, but Que refused to talk to them. She would just say she was fine, and then leave whether they were done speaking or not.

None too soon, Aasir kept his promise and returned to the mansion after spending Christmas with his family. Before he could make it through the doors, the Professor requested him in his study.

"What could he need me for so soon?" Aasir thought light heartedly, striding into the mansion.

"Happy Christmas, Prof!" Aasir said jovially, entering into the study. Charles couldn't help but smile at the dark skinned boy. He always had a way to brighten a room.

"And to you Aasir. We have really missed you around here. Especially Que, I might add," he said, raising his eyebrows and giving the youth a knowing smile.

Aasir blushed "So what's up? I haven't been here long enough to cause any trouble. At least I don't think I have."

The Professor laughed. "No Aasir. Roberto and Doug have that covered for you. I need to update you on some recent events here at the mansion. We may need your assistance," he said more seriously.

"Of course Professor. I will do what I can," Aasir replied, confused by the Professor's more serious tone. The pair settled in with some tea for a long afternoon conversation.

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Que was reclining at nearly the highest point in her favorite elm tree. She had just run off Storm and Raven for what seemed like the millionth time and was relieved to finally be alone again. She appreciated everyone's concern, but she was fine. She didn't need anyone looking after her, especially when it could get them hurt. Que was responsible for what had happened to Doug, plain and simple. For the past several days, she had been planning how she should move forward.

She knew she would have to leave. There was no way she was going to attract that maniac to the mansion again. She cared about these people more than she had for anyone in an extremely long time, and they risked their lives to protect her. This was also part of the reason she hadn't been able to leave yet. Que knew she needed to leave, but she really didn't want to. It was selfish, but at the same time leaving would need to be carefully planned. There was no way any of them would just let Que leave of her own free will now.

Que had devised a general outline of how to get away though. It just required a little more time for tinkering. She could probably head out within the next day or two. Que had already lined up some places where she could live off the grid, gathered some miscellaneous supplies, and built a device that could detect the dark matter. Packing wouldn't be a problem either. Her backpack was fitted with a digitizing device she had created a while back. It could scan and digitize small nonliving matter, and store it as binary code. She had gone into hiding once before, and this shouldn't be any different right? Grant it, this time there was a sub-humanoid dark matter freak coming after her. The hardest part that she needed to focus on now though would be getting out without everyone in the mansion knowing or trying to find and stop her.