Cosmic Collisions (Novel)

Chapter Five

Chapter Five:

Meanwhile, Finley paced up and down his small bedroom, unable to sit still for a minute. Nervous energy raged inside him and however hard he tried to sit and sketch he just couldn't. He kept imagining Luca's glassy green eyes when the Intergalactic Federation officers took him away and the more he thought about them the more they morphed into glassy blue ones. Finley shivered at the very idea and shook his head as if that would clear his mind. Elliot was going to be fine, he kept telling himself, but he couldn't help thinking back to the look on his face when he came out of the emotional trialing room. He had been pale and sickly looking and when he had caught him as he fell the sound of pain Elliot had made broke Finley's heart.

His thoughts gradually moved on to both Isla and Charlotte. He also desperately hoped that they were okay, especially Isla. Isla had always been like an older sister to him and the thought of her being hurt made him feel awful. Of course he cared for Charlotte deeply also, but she didn't take the time to talk to him much and when they were alone the silence could stretch on and on. Finley finally stopped pacing and sat on his bed, with his head in his hands waiting to hear the announcement that the Trials were over.

Finley stood up from his bed and walked over to where his sketchbook lay. Elliot stared back at him from the drawing he'd shown Isla. He still couldn't believe that he'd told her that and wondered who she liked. Finley brushed off the thought, irritated with himself.

"The Trials have finished. Please meet back at the Headquarters in 10 minutes!" The loudspeaker boomed, bringing Finley away from his thoughts, making him jump.

He hid his book underneath his bed and watched the luminescent dragon that happened to pass by at that moment. Walking to the Headquarters, his worries about what he would see next returned with a vengeance.

***

Isla sat on the orange velvet sofa after she'd gone to change her clothes, which, due to the jellyfish venom, turned out to be extremely painful. Now she waited anxiously for the others to come as she heard the announcement. Cosmo flew beside her wrapping his wings gingerly around her waist, earning himself a hissing sound of pain from Isla. She appreciated the gesture though and stroked the top of his head. They stayed like that in silence for a while. They saw Charlotte coming towards them with Dylan and Roman on either side of her. Isla gasped as she saw the state she was in. It looked as if her arm was broken and bandages covered both her right arm and the left side of her head.

Shifting slightly, Isla winced as the pain moved through her in waves. She felt as if every little movement was agony.

"What happened to you?" Both Charlotte and Isla asked in unison. They smiled as they spoke at the same time.

"Hi Isla, your mum and dad are coming soon. They are putting the last touches together for the party," Dylan and Roman said, staring at the webbed pattern on her face.

They obviously wanted to ask what had happened to her, but before they could Isla jumped in and said, "Hi, why don't you go first?" turning her head towards Charlotte.

Just then Finley and Elliot came through the front entrance to the Headquarters. Elliot also had webbed arms and his hands looked even worse. The family hugged each other then and Isla turned her head away, tears threatening to spill over. She was never going to be held like that ever again. Luca was gone and there was nothing she could do about it. Perhaps sensing her discomfort, Finley came and sat next to her, his hair almost matching the sofa.

"What happened everyone?" Isla asked, getting their attention once more.

Charlotte started speaking with a tremor in her voice, "Well, they put me into this large box, sort of like a room with windows from top to bottom..."