Chapter Nineteen

2317 Words
WATER When Aileen didn't show up at lunch, I panicked and I could tell Mason felt the same way, but it was a bit reassuring to see Alex so calm and nonchalant as if her best friend wasn't missing.  "Aren't you worried?" Mason asked in confusion as we headed back to the common room. It was Alex's idea that we should spend the day getting to know each other while playing a game.  Confused by his question, Alex raised an eyebrow and shook her head. "No, why should I be? Aileen used to do this quite often at the orphanage. She can socialize only so much before she gets too overwhelmed by people. It's just a way she recharges, that's all," she said with a shrug as she walked past Mason and me who were sharing a look of uncertainty.  After we witnessed Aileen unable to control her abilities, I wasn't so sure that Alex was right this time. She might know Aileen, but Aileen with uncontrollable powers was something different. Mason still didn't want to say anything to her so she wouldn't worry and interrogate her friend which could cause her to snap again. We still weren't sure what was going on with her.  "Unless you both are not telling me something I should know," Alex asked, making us jump and quickly look away from each other. She was staring at us with a teasing smile but I could tell she had noticed the look Mason and I had been sharing before she turned to face us. She raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything as she kept on walking.  Kalani was further away from us, she seemed lost in thought and I decided not to interrupt her. Instead, I grabbed Mason's arm and held him back as I waited for Alex to walk further away from us. Once I was sure she was a safe distance away, I turned to Mason.  "Do you know where she is?" I asked in a half-whisper. Mason shook his head and sighed. "Not a clue. But I did feel something. I'm almost sure she lost control of her powers when we finished eating. I tried to reach out to her and ask her what was going on but she told me not to worry, that she was okay. After that, she cut our connection and I wasn't able to reach her anymore. I don't know how she did that, I didn't even know it was possible." I stiffened and nodded my head. We would have to be patient until she came back and we could see for ourselves if she truly was fine.  "Hey, you're falling behind. Let's go," Alex called from in front of us. She had hurried up to catch up to Kalani and the two of them were watching us with curious gleams in their eyes.  Clearing his throat, Mason nodded his head and said, "we're coming. You guys go on ahead." Alex hesitated for a moment, but when Kalani shrugged and turned away, she followed her lead and kept on walking.  "We need to find out what's going on with Aileen. Maybe she's sick or maybe it's something normal and it's bound to happen to all of us," Mason said thoughtfully and I shook my head. "I doubt both of those things. You checked her and said she was fine and if it was something that was supposed to happen to all of us then I would have already gone through that," I said and Mason shrugged. "Whatever is going on. I hope we figure it out before she gets hurt," he said as he started to follow after the girls. I walked beside him as I said, "what do you feel when she loses control? Is it anything in specific?" Mason frowned as he thought and then he turned to me, "I guess I feel hurt and... anger. I'm not really sure. It's difficult to make out which are my own emotions and which are hers when we're in sync. I'm still learning how it works, you know?"  I chuckled and nodded my head as I recalled the only few times Aileen and I had shared a connection like that. I couldn't help but wonder why it didn't happen anymore. ... Back in the common room, Alex was picking out a board game from a drawer while Kalani sat stiffly on one of the couches in the room. When she saw us come in, she smiled slyly and pointed to Alex. "Should I be worried that she's been looking at the same game for ten minutes?" Mason and I chuckled as we saw Alex looking down. We couldn't see what she was looking at from where we were but she seemed very concentrated on it.  "No, she's like that. She takes her games very seriously," I said as I took a seat in the furthest place from Kalani.  She didn't say anything, but I could tell it bothered her slightly by the way her shoulders seemed to fall slightly. "What are we going to play, Alex?" Mason said as he walked up to her and placed his hands comfortably on her shoulders. Alex jumped at his touch and shivered before turning to look at him with a wide smile.  "How does Monopoly sound?" She said as she handed him the box we all knew so well. I think it was one of the games everyone has played at least once.  "Sounds good. What do you guys think?" Mason asked as he turned to us. I nodded my head and raised a thumbs-up while Kalani nodded her head. Alex jumped to her feet and walked over to us.  She set the box down on the coffee table and took out everything.  A couple of moments later, she looked at us and extended her hands to each of us, revealing the game pieces on the palm of her hand. The dog was no longer an option so I took the boat. Mason took the car and Kalani chose the shoe. "Okay, let's see who goes first," Alex said as she put the rest of the pieces inside the box and grabbed the dice. In a moment, she let them go and the next four hours went by very quickly.  Alex would ask questions each time she rolled and she expected us all to answer. She would ask things from our favorite color to our favorite meal and even our favorite childhood memory. At some point, she had convinced Kalani to tell us about how she ended up with the Himmlers and I could tell her response shocked Mason by the way he tensed. "Hold on, you're telling me that you were never in an orphanage? You were always supposed to end up with the Himmlers?" Mason asked in bewilderment and Kalani slowly nodded her head as Alex rolled the dice.  "Yeah, apparently. That's what my parents told me and I have no memory of ever being in an orphanage and my parents have pictures of me as a baby. Why do you ask?" Kalani said as she looked at Mason hesitantly.  Mason didn't say anything at first as he pursed his lips together and tried to think of how to respond. I could sense what he was feeling, envy. Kalani had gotten the easy path while we struggled a bit more. I was beginning to think that out of all of us orphans, Alex and Aileen had ended up in a good place whereas Mason and I were left to fend off by ourselves.  "I don't think it's fair, that's all," Mason finally responded bluntly and Alex quickly placed her hand on his arm but he didn't look at her.  "Mason," I said in a low voice.  Kalani looked at him and held his gaze and raised an eyebrow. "It's not like I chose it. My parents did. My real parents. They decided to kill two birds with one stone. My mortal parents wanted a baby and couldn't have one, and my birth parents wanted the best for me. I don't know why your parents didn't want the same," she said with a shrug and I flinched. Ouch. That sounded harsher than she probably expected.  Mason stiffened even more but he turned away and grabbed the dice as he kept playing. "Like you said, some of us didn't have a choice. In my case, I was kidn*pped from my father and taken to the mortal world, just like Mason and Andrew," Aileen said coldly and we all turned to the door. She was leaning against the door with her arms crossed in front of her chest as she looked at Aileen with a smug look on her face. Kalani pursed her lips together and didn't say anything while Aileen walked towards us and sat down on the couch next to me. I was surprised she had decided to sit next to me but I wasn't going to question her. I had missed her. I had missed her reaching out to me even if it was only slightly.  "That was the whole point of taking us to the mortal world. To make us more humble. To teach us about the joy of small things and to value them more so that one day, when we had to stand up and face our destiny, we would because we'd do it for selfless reasons," Aileen said with a shrug as she looked at the board with a slightly sad look in her eyes. "Are you saying that I'm not humble, or that I'm selfish?" Kalani asked with a raised eyebrow.  Outside, I could hear the wind picking up and I quickly gave her a look that said, snap out of it. Don't fight here. She ignored me and kept her eyes on Aileen who didn't seem fazed by the Princess of the Skies. She was in her realm, after all. What I feared was that Aileen would lose control of her powers again and they would finally snap and try to hurt each other. "No, I don't know you enough to be able to tell. You thought of that on your own," Aileen said as she finally turned to look at Kalani with a calm look on her face as she leaned back on the couch. I was surprised by Aileen's neutral tone and I wondered where she had gone to that she seemed like a much more controlled person now.  Kalani didn't respond and Mason handed her the dice, breaking the ice.  I cleared my throat as I watched Kalani roll the dice and count the numbers to the spot she was supposed to land in. "That's mine. You have to pay me 30," I said and she awkwardly handed me the paper money. "Tough luck," I said teasingly and a chuckle went around the room as the tension started to break off. I looked at Aileen who was smiling. "Do you want to play?" I asked slowly and she shook her head. "No, I'm fine. I can see that you're already a long way into the game. I'll watch. Besides, you have my monopoly piece," she said and I raised an eyebrow. I would have never thought Aileen would pick a boat to play with. "Really? Why the boat?" Mason asked in confusion, beating me to it. Aileen shrugged as she looked at him. "I don't know. I guess I have always wanted to be on one. Maybe on a cruise or that sort of thing. And Alex always picks the dog so that's not an option for me," she said teasingly as she looked at her friend who was smiling and nodding her head. "It's true. The dog is mine," she said with a smirk as she handed me the dice. We kept on playing for a couple more hours until Alex finally won, leaving us all in tremendous debt. She asked if anyone wanted to play another round but we all shook our heads. It was dark out now and I was starting to feel hungry. I wasn't sure of how late it was but I knew we should probably head to the dining room if we wanted to have dinner.  "What time is it?" Kalani asked as we all got to our feet and stretched.  "It's half-past ten," Aileen said as she looked at the clock and we all froze. How long had we been playing? "You guys really lost track of time, I came to find you around six or seven," Aileen said with a chuckle. "Darn it. I don't think Alessandro would be pleased if we go tell him we want something for dinner," Alex said with a frown. "He's probably already gone," Kalani said. "But we do know how to cook," Aileen said with a shrug and all eyes turned to her. She was right. We didn't need Alessandro to cook for us. A smile crept into all our faces. Everyone except Kalani, who shifted uncomfortably. All eyes turned to her curiously and she crossed her arms in front of her chest. "What?" She demanded defensively.  "You don't know how to cook?" Mason asked and Kalani blushed and turned away. She didn't need to respond after that, her reaction had already done so. "Well, not exactly. I mean, my mother is the one who cooks and if she doesn't, there's always a cook at our home or a restaurant nearby," she responded sheepishly and Mason's eyes widened.  "Well, it was something we had to learn as foster kids," Aileen said with a shrug as she turned away without looking at Kalani and heading out the door.  No one said anything as we followed after her, hungrily. I hadn't realized I was starving until the game ended and by the looks on everyone's faces, I could tell they felt the same way.
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