Break the Norm

Chapter 5

Chapter 5





~*~ Drake





I sat in the empty tree house totally confused and alone. Laura just got ridiculously close to me, but not only that, it was weird cause it was Sean's body. Sure, she morphed it, but it's still weird. The fact that there are two people in one body is also really weird. It took me awhile to get used to Laura being a Vym. Well it took longer for me to accept that such a thing could possibly exist. Now all the strangest things are happening too fast and nothing feels real anymore. Sean just ran off for some reason I don't know and he keeps taking his shirt off.





I sighed. And all I can do is to wait for him to come back.





Sean's wet hair stuck to his forehead. That much I could see as he climbed up through the floor. He grumbled and hesitated some before finally pulling himself into the tree house. Then I saw why. "Sean, what just happened?"





His stomach and chest were covered in scratches. His back looked the same. He had a scratch across his right cheek and a few on his legs and arms. Overall, he was covered in blood.





"Someone doesn't understand the equation of high speed plus distraction equals disaster. Normally this would sound stupid, but I tripped. I fell into a ditch with what else but roses at the bottom. Falling into it was the easy part, getting out of it was hell…I'm going back outside so the rain can wash the blood away. I don't want to stain the tree house." He slowly began to move back to the exit. He seemed too pissed to worry about just thinking to Laura. He screamed back to her so I could hear half of the conversation. "Oh shut up! Yes, the tree house is important to me. No, I don't want it to be stained. I knew you had a lot of questions, but did you have to ask that one as I was running? How did you get past my wall anyway?" His head disappeared as he continued climbing down. It was silent for a moment. Then through the rain I heard, "Of course I'm grumpy! I'm covered in my own blood and in pain. There are thorns in the bottom of my feet. Would you like to take over here? Go ahead. Feel the pain I'm feeling." It was quiet again. "Drake! Could you throw down that wet shirt?"





I tossed it through the hole and waited. I heard Laura say a soft "Ow." I laid down on my stomach with my head over the exit so I could see. She was picking thorns out of her feet. She was biting her lip and even though it was raining, I knew she wasn't crying. She found a way to stitch up the cuts on her feet with energy. Instead of draining her own energy she was using the rain's. It seems weird but the rain has a lot of energy. She 'healed' all the cuts except the one on the cheek. I watched in confused awe as she turned into Sean. It really was a creepy thing to see.





Sean pulled the shirt off again. I could just imagine Laura complaining and sure enough I heard Sean mumble "Shut up." He came back into the tree house. "My cheek still stings." He touched his cheek and saw blood on his hand. "Laura, you missed one."





I smiled. "I think she left it there on purpose."





He sighed. "Really? The face? Why couldn't you leave one on my arm? That would've been cooler. The scar- "





Laura seemed to find a way to speak to both me and Sean so I wouldn't be left out. The scar ruins your perfection.





Sean's face blanked. "Oh…so." He didn't seemed to be able to talk or think. Damn it. I didn't realize…





Sean's voice was too weak to speak. He spoke through his thoughts and had Laura push them through to me. I almost felt included until he told her he needed to talk to her privately.





~*~ Sean





I didn't realize how much it mattered.





Laura pretty much laughed at me. I rolled my eyes. "Drake, I have to talk to my parents." He looked worried, but nodded. I jogged home to waste sometime. I guess I lied earlier then.





Laura felt a tiny bit of victory for being right, but she felt guilty for pointing it out. At least you don't brag.





I sighed. I'm sorry I'm full of so much vanity. Just cause of a stupid scar on my face I started freaking out.





Laura was quiet for awhile and I started running, there wasn't much left to talk about. It's gone now.





I slowed down again to ask what she meant. I was going to be careful with any distractions from now on. I put my hand to my cheek and the cut was gone. I was right outside the house, but I knew better than to try to walk in with this circumstance. I pulled out my phone. It was water proof. My parents knew me too well. It didn't take long for my mom to pick up. "Hey I'm outside. There's a problem. A big problem." She told me to come in. "Um…I can't. Just come out here for a second. Then I'll come in."





Laura was confused. What do you mean you can't?





I laughed. Let's just say this is no ordinary house and it has no ordinary security. If anyone in the house senses anything weird the place goes on lock down. It's annoying, but helpful.





My mom came out carefully. Laura didn't notice her, but I knew where to look. I took off running toward the beach. She beat me there. Vyms and their teleporting.





My mom's eyes were squinted before I even got close to her.





"What is inside of you?" Her voice sounded harsh, but it didn't bother me.





"First things first, Drea's back."





She didn't believe me. "That's impossible."





I didn't bother arguing, I just explained. "Four years ago, she moved her soul into Laura's body. Three years ago, her body died. Now, she's still alive. She kicked Laura out and has a body again. Instead of killing Laura, I got stuck with her." I mentally stuck my tongue out at her.





My mom was already planning and plotting. "Wait, why you?"





I looked down for a second. "Because I was there. Laura was having an attack. She started thrashing. Her dresser almost fell on her. I had to go in. I'm not sure why Drea chose now, but she's out there."





My mom nodded. "You think she went back to the Den."





I looked at her sarcastically. "Mom, where else could she go?"





The Den?





My mom was startled by Laura's voice. I got kind of upset, I didn't want to tell Laura about the Den, but my mom would expect me to. "The Bloods headquarters."





Does it happen to be a cave like place?





"Yes. And to your next question, yes."





I expected my mom to look upset about the situation, but she was laughing. "She's more than an excuse, kid." She punched me in the arm and was gone. Moms just know everything, don't they?





I started walking back to the tree house again. My mom would take care of things at HQ and get back to me if she needed to. Laura, about that question you asked while we were running…





Laura felt guilty about that. I asked who the girl was.





I nodded. Do you remember, at the park, you were telling me about a girl you thought was your sister?





She didn't understand the relevance. Yea, Anne.





I almost hurled. I didn't realize you knew her until then.





Laura was extremely lost. Wait a second, you were in love in my sister?





I closed my eyes and stopped walking for a second. You're speaking so carelessly, like it was just a crush. You don't realize…





She stopped me, Sorry, but…does that mean…the sister I've always dreamed of…she's dead?





She spoke so bluntly about such a fragile subject. Yes.





Laura's heart broke, but it was nowhere near where mine was. So…I don't get to try her cookies?





I almost smiled. They were delicious. I had to straighten things out with Laura though. You do know she's not your sister. Her parents were just watching over you because Drea didn't give a damn about you. Anne wanted to be a Hunter, but she wasn't born into the family. She used to ask that if she married in…but that's beside the point. She was just a childhood friend of yours.





We got to the tree house faster than I expected. Laura explained. You started running. You didn't notice? I began climbing back up into the tree house.





~*~ Laura





Sean and I were both confused to see Drake focused with some papers. "Oh! Hey! Just planning."





Sean looked over his shoulder. "Planning what?"





Is it your birthday party?





He looked excited. "Yeah! I'm trying to figure out how you can distract me while you set up and get people in so you can surprise me."





I frowned and explained to the confused Sean that Drake was planning his own surprise party.





Sean smiled. "Finally! We've been wanting to do that forever! Since everyone has apologized and we're all friends again, can I come?"





Drake looked serious. "Only if you bring Laura."





Sean was equally serious. "Hm…I don't know if I can manage that request. I might have to drag her."





In a way, you are dragging me. It's not like I can choose where we're going.





Sean shrugged. "Well that settles that problem. When is it?"





Drake pointed his pen where he'd written it on the paper. "This Saturday at four."





Sean was so happy. He'd dropped his wall a little in such a normal setting. He felt like he had a normal life. Normal friends. Normal family. Normal plans. All he needed was a normal gift. Which he had no idea how to get.





Drake looked like he wanted to ask a question. "Sean, if I look at you, does Laura see it as me looking at her?" We both answered yes. "Well then. Laura." He looked right into my eyes, which I guess were really Sean's eyes, but it felt the same. "Give me my memory back."





I stayed quiet. I didn't want to answer. I blocked myself in. I didn't want to hear about it. I didn't want to fight about it. The seclusion was eerie. I was in a black void and I wasn't substance. I quickly lost my sense of consciousness and felt myself fading out slowly.





~*~ Sean





"Laura! Whatever you do, don't seclude yourself!" I waited a moment. I couldn't hear or feel any sort of response. "Laura? s***."





Drake was baffled. "What just happened?" He was swarmed with guilt in a second. "Was it what I said?"





I felt a small response from Laura as Drake spoke. She had created a black hole that was absorbing energy within my body. I tried to fight it, but the energy was draining too fast and I collapsed.





~*~ Drake





Sean was unconscious. Laura secluded herself? I didn't understand. I grabbed Sean's phone out of his pocket. His mom got a new number every so often and I only had her old one. As the phone rang, I wondered why we never called his dad, but then again I'm sure he's always busy with something. "Hello?"





I sighed, relieved to have someone who wasn't passed out. "Mrs. Hunt, I believe there is a problem here if you could-" She was in front of me before I could hang up.





"Oh my God. What happened?"





I frowned. "I was hoping you could tell me."





She reached out and touched Sean's arm. She lost her balance for a second. "Oh." She laughed a little. "You should be lucky Sean is still barely conscious." I looked down at his sprawled out form. That didn't look like conscious. "You're the solution here."





I was taken aback. "Me? What on earth could I do?"





She shook her head. "Sean seems to think you should just tell Laura to snap out of it and get out of there. Though he used more colorful language." I stayed where I was, unsure of what to do. She waved me over. "Come close. Now just speak the words that seem right."





I hesitantly found something to say. "Laura, come back. Get out of there?"





"Mmmph." Sean was conscious but he was drained. He had almost no energy left.





Drake? Hearing Laura's voice felt like a victory.





~*~ Sean





Hearing Laura speak that name killed me even more than I already was. I felt dead. I looked dead. I let the void take my energy instead of hers. She needed it more than I did. She had to stay conscious or this would happen again and we'd both be goners. Though I guess we wouldn't have to worry about stupid prophesies anymore if that happened. I wouldn't have to watch her die. I just wanted to be the voice her soul remembered. Though the only way that would've happened would be through fear so I guess I got lucky.