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That’s how it all started. I couldn’t walk right for months so Alya and I would sit around and talk. Eventually we built up a routine of it.

Chapter II

I woke up one morning, the house was dead silent. There were no sounds of Alya downstairs or Atrimes flapping around the halls. I got up and cautiously opened the door to my room. I almost jumped out of my skin, “SURPRISE!” She started laughing.
“What the hell?”
She smiled and held up a small cake, “I thought we’d celebrate.”
“Celebrate what?”
We both sat down on the bed, Atrimes landed on the side table next to Alya. “Well, it’s been six months since…you saved me. I thought that since we didn’t know your real birthday, we’d just have it on that day.”
I smiled, “Thanks. It’s really been six months? Seems longer.”
She lightly punched me in the shoulder, “Ha ha, very funny.”
We smiled at each other for a second before she said, “Cake!”
She didn’t cut pieces, just in half and put the halves on plates. We sat there, eating chocolate cake reminiscing about the last half year. Finally she got up, “Well, I’ve gotta go. See you after work.”

After spending most of the day outside I came in from working on Alya’s garage. She never parked her car in it and when I looked inside I understood why. It looked like it might collapse any minute. I sat down on the couch and flipped on the TV. I decided that I needed a shower before I ruined her furniture. About twenty minutes later I toweled my hair out and started washing a load of laundry. I heard a car pull in and looked at the clock, it was Alya, right on time.
As the door opened I poked my head around the corner of the laundry room and said “He-”
I stopped mid-word, Alya was crying. The door slammed behind her. She ran to me and threw her arms around me. I held onto her, “What’s wrong?”
I couldn’t get a coherent word out of her, she was sobbing, half hysterical. I led her to the couch and she sat down. I went into the kitchen and got a bottle of water. I sat down next to her and waited for her to settle down a little. Finally, after she did, I handed her the water. When she was finished I asked, “What’s wrong Ly?”
“They took her. They came in and took her. James tried to stop them but they shot him. She tried everything she could but nothing worked on them. I thought I might have been able to help James once they left but one came back in and shot him again. God they shot him again and again until they were sure he was dead.” She sobbed, bursting into tears again and buried her face in my chest.
I hugged her, “God, I’m so sorry Ly.” I knew who the ‘they’ were. The Council’s pets. They were called Hunters. They went where they wanted and did what they wanted. Lately they had gotten more aggressive, they would rip people from their homes, jobs, straight off of the streets, anywhere. The ‘her’ had to be Megan, the only Inhuman that Alya knows other than me.
“The only thing I could think was how glad I was that it wasn’t me. I was happy they had taken my own friend and not me. I couldn’t stop thinking that it could have been me, if I had been with her at some day, some time when someone saw something and reported it, it could have been me too. God I’m such a coward.”
“Hey, don’t ever say that again. What do you think you could have done? You would have just gotten yourself killed. Think Megan would want you to get killed trying to help her? No, she’d want you to keep going and wait for your chance to get out.”
“I’m so scared.”
“I know. Don’t be.”
“I can’t help it. I know that they’ll come for me too and I won’t be able to do anything.”
I gently pushed her back and stared at her, she wouldn’t look me in the eye still. “Ly, look at me.” She slowly did, “Look, I’m not going to let them touch you, okay? I won’t let them come near you.”
She hugged me, I hugged her back, “I know it’s impossible but, don’t worry. I’ll be there if it comes to that, I promise.”
She leaned forward and brushed her cheek against mine and whispered, “Thank you.”
“Welcome.”
She suddenly pulled back, “I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t-”
I cut her off, “It’s fine. You okay now?”
“No.”
I sighed, “I’m sorry. Why don’t we watch a movie or something?”
She nodded sullenly, “Okay.” I got up, “I’ll be back in a minute, you start the movie.”
Before she could say anything I slipped into the kitchen. I was filling a pot up when Alya came in, “What are you doing Kira?”
“Nothing, go relax and watch the movie.”
She left but came back a few minutes later, “Do you want any help?”
“No, now go watch the movie.”
She left again. I was almost done cooking when she came in again, “Kira, what are you doing?”
I whirled around and picked her up. She struggled to get away but couldn’t. I dropped her, laughing, back onto the couch, “Stay oot uv mah kitzen!” I yelled in mock anger.
I stomped off and finished the meal. I set a plate in front of her along with a can of pop. She stared down at the food.
“What? I didn’t think it looked that bad.”
She shook her head and looked at me, “No, it’s not that. Where’d you get this stuff though? I know I didn’t buy any of this stuff when I went shopping.”
I smiled at her and sat down, “I know. I’ve been doing odd jobs for people around here so I could help pay for the food and stuff.”
She sighed, “Kira, I told you, you don’t have to worry about money. I make more than enough to pay for us both.”
“I know but, I’m sick of leeching off of you.”
“Kira, if you were leeching I’d be pissed but I want you here. I like having you around. I’m the one who asked you to stay here in the first place.”
I sat back and started eating, “I know,” I said between mouthfuls. “But, I still want to help out.”
Neither of us said much while we ate. I cleaned everything up at Alya’s protest. When I sat down she immediately got up and went back to the kitchen. I decided to let her do what she wanted, she probably needed something to do to take her mind off of everything that had happened. I heard a lot of random sounds then a steady hum. After a few minutes a beep then the sound of tearing paper and something being poured. When she came back she was carrying a large bowl of popcorn and the rest of the case of pop. She sat down next to me and set the bowl on the table in front of us. We kept watching the movie in complete silence.
After almost an hour I felt Alya’s head hesitantly rest on my shoulder. I didn’t say anything or do anything. After a few seconds her head jerked up, she mumbled, “Sorry…I…”
I put my arm around her, “I don’t care.” She leaned against me, looking for some sort of comfort.
I don’t know how much later but I noticed that her breathing had become slow and rhythmic. I smiled to myself and gently picked her up. I put her in her bed and covered her up. I went back to the living room. I cut off the TV and turned off all the lights. I jumped when I turned back to the stairs and someone was standing there. “You okay Ly?”
I could vaguely see her head tilt toward the floor, “Uh…wi-will you…will you sleep in my room?”
I momentarily lost all verbal function. “Wha…Ly?”
“I-I mean, could you stay in my room, just for the night? I don’t want to sleep alone.”
“Ly, if…if that hadn’t happened you wouldn’t be asking me this. I’ll be in the room right next to you. I just…you shouldn’t let everything get ahead of you.”
“S-sorry…I didn’t mean to,” she whirled around and ran up the stairs.
“Ly.” I followed after her, “Ly, c’mon.” I knocked on her door. She didn’t respond, “Ly, I didn’t mean it like that…I just…don’t want you doing something you’ll regret.”
Her door slowly opened, “I just don’t want to be alone. It doesn’t matter, never mind.”
She started to close the door but I stopped her, “Why don’t I sleep on the floor? I’ll only be a few feet away and you know that I’m a light sleeper.”
She looked at the floor, then up at me, “Okay. Are you sure?”
I smiled at her, “Yeah.”
She opened the door and went back to her bed, “I’ll stay up until you go to sleep.”
“Alright, are you sure you’re okay with this?”
“Yes, go to sleep. You look exhausted.”
She was asleep within a few seconds. I sighed, now what was I supposed to do? If something started between us right now it would feel like I was taking advantage of her. What if my memory came back and I already had someone? God I wanted to be with her though. I wanted to be there for her but I didn’t want to ruin anything between us. Damn this was confusing. Finally, with everything still rushing through my head, I fell asleep.
I heard a whimper, then someone softly crying. I opened my eyes and sat up. It was still dark outside. I looked around, Alya was sitting in her bed, her face in her hands. “What’s wrong?”
She jumped slightly, “Nothing.”
“Liar. You’re crying, what is it?”
“I…I just keep dreaming about it. I didn’t really know him but…all the blood. They looked like they were having fun when they did it.”
She broke down and started sobbing. I got up and sat down on the bed. She leaned against me. I held onto her for a while, “I’m sorry. God I wish I could do something.”
She leaned against me more, “You are.”
A few minutes later she was asleep. I leaned back against the wall and went to sleep as well.