"Well, you're still handcuffed to me. And who said that you were returning to the HIA? Or the GCA? We're just dropping Rylee and Connor off." Laura snapped. Imraan didn't want to land. But he had no choice.
Rylee performed the emergency landing, then he and Connor left. Connor was greeted with a warm hug from Rebecca, who was apparently a lot better. They walked off together, talking to each other as if nothing had happened.
****************
Laura flew away from the HIA and began to head north.
"Where are we going, Laura?" Kalyia asked.
"Someplace that I know well,” Laura replied. She had unlocked the handcuffs, and Imraan sat in the back, rubbing his wrist and staring at Laura menacingly. Kalyia and Laura ignored this.
****************
"I told you that this would be a bad idea." Katie whispered to Sarah. They had walked straight into a trap.
"Maybe they're friendly." Sarah replied.
Katie seriously doubted it. She couldn't be mad at Sarah now, though. She had to focus on the present, and on the current situation that they were in. There were 5 really big Samoan guys, even though they were in Tonga, or maybe they were Tongan and just looked like they were Samoan. Katie couldn't tell. Point is, they were really big, and the odds were 5 to 4. With one of them untrained, it was really 5 to 3. Tyler started by tasing one of them. The man just laughed. Tyler groaned in frustration. Sarah dug into her pockets for a certain gadget that would knock them out. Katie thought of an escape plan; well, she tried to. Armaan was behind them, itching to fight these big guys. He finally broke through and made his first hit.
****************
Gideon Mather looked at his eight sons. He had assembled a meeting to address their current situation, and he was proud that every one of them was present. Gideon glanced around the room. “I believe we should rebuild the Supreme Assembly of the Great Unprecedented Brotherhood. The FNTTMS is failing as a corporation, the CGG, or the Chrys Ghoad gang, is currently under abeyance. The SIASS is growing weaker by the minute, and the Union to Cure America of Privileged Societies, the UCAPS, has barely made it past Primitive Corporation rebuilding since the last time it was destroyed. The Secret Society to Augment Women’s Political Status is our only true standing ally at the moment. I have devised a plan to set in place that should cure the world of this growing evil. We will stand as USS, the United System of Societies! We will bring all the business entities together and form a union out of all our allying corporations. We will be mighty!”
Five of his eight sons cheered with him, but Gideon didn’t notice that the others did not. He knew the majority agreed with him, and it didn’t matter what they thought anyway. He was going to do what he wanted, no matter what. He only told them so that some of them could join him and make the union stronger. He didn’t care for those who did not.
****************
As soon as their father left, the eight sons turned to each other to discuss what had just happened. “This will be a great improvement for the brotherhood,” Lorand said. “It will help us join together as one and strengthen us by sheer numbers.” There was no question in his voice, and no doubt as to why his name meant “brave warrior”.
“I only want what’s best for everyone,” Lev said. “As long as everyone is pleased and satisfied with this choice, I will fight with the union.” Lev was always very courageous, yet his lion-hearted ways made it hard for him to do certain things. He always wanted to please everyone, help everyone, and do the things that would be best for everyone. It was annoying to the rest of his brothers.
“Oh quit it, Lev,” Lykaios said, rolling his eyes. “You know you can’t always please everyone.”
“It is in my best interest to try,” Lev answered.
Lykaios snorted. “Someday that thinking will get you killed,” he answered with a half-smile. It was no wonder his name meant “wolf-like”.
Latif spread his arms out in a soothing gesture. “Please, brothers. We will get nowhere quarreling like this.”
“Yes, let’s listen to what the pansy has to say,” Lykaios said with an evil smile, turning to his younger brother.
“I just think we should try a different approach for this,” Latif continued. “Maybe fighting isn’t the best answer.”
“Ha! Listen to him now!” He spread his arms around the table. “He thinks we should stop fighting!” Then his face grew serious and he turned back to Latif. “Those who make themselves sheep will get eaten by the wolves.”
“Maybe the sheep and the wolves can learn to be friends,” Lev suggested.
“You’re an idiot,” Lykaios spat at Lev. Then he glared at Latif. “Sometimes you have to side with the wolves to get what you want.”
Latif lifted his eyebrow and said calmly, “I hope you enjoy being a wolf, because some day the bulls will come and spear you in that dark heart of yours.” He leaned forward. “And bulls don’t eat sheep.”
Lykaios jumped up from his seat. “Come here, you little—” He tried to jump across the table, but Lev held him back.
Lekel stood up. “Everybody calm down. Latif is right. We are brothers; we should not have to fight one another to come to a compromise. Even if we do not agree, we should still try to keep our cool.” Lykaios plopped back down into his seat, and the tension released. Lekel always had a way of calming down his brothers so they could keep their heads. “Let’s hear what Lann has to say,” Lekel suggested, sitting down.
Lann, the oldest, stood up from his seat. “If the only way to get our rights and our freedom back is to fight, I say let’s fight. If we are weakened and have to strengthen ourselves by bringing the alliance together into one eternal union, I say let’s unify ourselves. I had never agreed with unnecessary quarreling, and I have never believed in torture. But I see this unification as being our only instrument to regaining our sole purpose: to rectify and reform the world so it can be strengthened by the brotherhood. Latif, I know you always try to see the way out of these situations through peace, and sometimes I agree, but today there is no other way out. We have been given an opportunity, and we should take it.” Lykaios smiled victoriously at Latif. Lann turned to him. “Lykaios, my brother, it saddens me to see how blind you are to the good choices in every situation. It pains me that you will never experience true happiness and purpose of being. You will always be a great fighter, but a true warrior comes from within. A true warrior has love, kindness, a sense of compassion and mercy. I see you lack these things, brother,” Lann said solemnly. Lykaios looked away, ashamed. “In due time, it is possible that you may learn.
“Now, brethren,” Lann continued, gesturing to the men sitting before him, “I don’t know you’re personal feelings or thoughts on this, but I have told you mine, and I will support you in whatever choice you make. The choice is yours.” Lann sat down, and the room was quiet. Everyone was thinking about what Lann had just said.
Then suddenly, Lawler pushed his chair back, rose, and walked out of the room. Some of his brothers watched him, surprised. A few glared as he left, and the others hardly even cared. Lawler had always been the soft-spoken one. Father always called him “Mumbler” because he was never one to express his thoughts out loud. As soon as the doors closed behind Lawler, the brothers turned back to the table. They hardly even looked at the empty seat. It didn’t seem to matter. Lawler had always been just an empty seat. The Brotherhood could continue with just seven brothers.
****************
Finally Conner couldn’t stand it any longer. “I had these strange dreams about you,” he said.
“Aw, you’re dreaming about me. That’s cute,” Rebecca teased.
“No, I’m serious. The dreams felt different. Almost like you were really there,” Conner explained.
“Dreams tend to do that,” Rebecca answered with a smile, but she had been thinking about the very same thing in her dreams of him.
“It was like…” Conner searched for the right words. “It was almost like your subconscious was there with me, like we were living the same dream.”
Rebecca’s eyebrows knitted together. “Okay, tell me what they were about.”
Conner closed his eyes, thinking. “I was in a car, coming here. I was awake, and Imraan was asleep. You appeared in the middle seat.”
Rebecca’s eyes widened. “Continue.”
Conner thought for a while. “I don’t remember exactly what you said…” Then he nodded. “I was wondering why you were there, how you could be with us because you hadn’t been captured. You said you were sleeping.”
“I wanted to wake up.”
“Yes, you kept saying that. ‘Wake up.’ Over and over again. I told you we were both dreaming, and you stopped. I tried to tell you where Imraan said we were going, but you started to disappear.” He opened his eyes.
“Anything else?” Rebecca asked.
“No. I woke up almost right after you completely faded,” Conner replied.
“You said you had dreams…?”
“Right. There was this other one, in a cavern. It was glowing.”
“Was it white and blue?”
“No, it was reddish brown, like rust-colored. Wait, why do you ask?”
Rebecca shrugged. “Just wondering. Keep going.”
“Well, I went into this tunnel, and it kept getting smaller and smaller. I got stuck as soon as I reached the entrance to a round room.”
“It led up to an exit, through a hole in the sky,” Rebecca continued his story. “You saw me on a flat rock, tied down with restraints. You needed help getting out, but I couldn’t help you because I was stuck. You said you were dreaming and woke up.”
Conner looked at her, wide-eyed. “How do you know?” he questioned.
“Because I dreamed the exact same thing. I was on the rock, you came through the tunnel, I couldn’t break loose and you disappeared. The bonds loosened as soon as you were gone, and I was able to move around. I looked for you, but you weren’t there. Then I watched the cavern fade away and I woke up,” Rebecca explained.
“That’s so weird! I knew we were having the same dreams! I can’t believe it happened twice!”
“Three times,” Rebecca corrected.
“What?”
Her eyebrows knotted together. “You were in that soccer dream, right?”
“Oh, yah!” Conner said, remembering. “I had forgotten about that one.” He rubbed his neck. “Wow, three dreams. That’s so coincidental.”
Rebecca stood there for a few seconds, looking off into the distance. “I don’t think so.” She turned and started running back to the school.
“Where are you going?!” Conner shouted after her, and started to follow.
“To find Malyssa,” Rebecca said to herself.
****************
Lawler started to think. His brothers, as idiotic as they were, were dangerous when put together with a goal in front of them. He never agreed with his father. That's why he always mumbled. Lawler was actually an outgoing guy. He was the youngest of the eight, and he always kept his distance if he ever could. Only 18 years old, Lawler knew he needed to play a part in saving the world. He walked to his car and started the engine. He needed to warn his friends; he knew that they were in danger. Lawler knew where he needed to go. He hit the gas and drove off.
****************