Chapter 2: Two Life's Apart

It's been two weeks since the girl gave Scarlet the journal and her number. Scarlet still couldn't decide what to do. But she was use to keeping things from her parents. It was easy because they had always been working. Her parents never always had time to really check in on her or cook dinner or spend anytime with her. But this time they didn't come home.

She knew she shouldn't be worried because she had told herself that her parents were just working late.

She turned on the television but as soon as she did she had heard something that had caught her attention. She sat down and listened.

"Hello this is news reporter Dan Leen. You are witnessing a car crash down on the streets of New Jersey. The two citizens that were in the vehicle is Ms. and Mr. Popper. They have been taken to the hospital as soon as possible. People say that another car had made this vehicle drive off road. People know this married couple has a young daughter named Scarlet Poppers. We don't know what will happen next but we do know that the police will investigate this crime scene as quick as possible. But we do say to please remain calm. Everything will be handled smoothly and calmly. This is reporter Dan Leen signing off." The reporter said with a calm voice.

Scarlet quickly turned off the TV, trying not to shed any tears from she eyes. She heard a knock on the front door worried that it might be the police coming to take her away. But as she opened the door she had seen that it was the girl that she had met two weeks ago.

"What are you doing here? The cops are probably going to come here any minute to take me away." Scarlet said as she looked around.

"I'm here to ask or should I say, tell you to come with me. Yes the cops will be here. But they're also going to decide if you should be in a care center. I know that sounds amazing but it really isn't" Autumn said looking around her to see if anyone had followed her to her location.

"How do you know that? You don't even know this city like I do. This is a great place. I'm not going to leave just because you make up something false." Scarlet said.

"Scarlet, you don't understand. For the past few months I've been here it's been tough. Plus I've been in the care center myself. It's like prison but for the kids that are lost on the streets and that have no more parents. It's not good. I have a place you can stay. I promise it will be much better than the care center you would be put into. Please, we really don't have much time left." Autumn said with a worried face.

Scarlet thinks for a few seconds. Then finally makes her decision "Ok. I'll go with you."

Scarlet goes upstairs and packs a few clothes and books, and the journal that was given to her. When she was done, she raced down the steps and went out the door, closing it behind her, than follows Autumn.

As they kept walking Scarlet looked around her and saw so much damage being done to New Jersey. She had mostly stayed in the house so she never actually got to go outside. But her first time seeing the outdoors she was disappointed on how it came to this. She kept seeing robberies of the smallest stores. Police unable to actually catch the criminals. She looked down not wanting to watch any longer.

Soon Autumn had stopped at an abandoned motel called Molly's Motel. The sign had looked ten years old and scratched up. They walked quickly to a room labeled A4.

"Hey Streak I'm here." Autumn shouted as a girl with purple and black streaked hair came out of a closet.

"Oh so who might this be?" She asked as she looked at Scarlet right in the eyes.

Autumn turned around and looked at Scarlet with an eye signal telling her to say her name. Scarlet quickly got the message and looked at Streak that was still looking into her eyes as she waited for an answer.

"Well my name is Scarlet, Scarlet Po-" She said unable to say her last name without thinking of her parents.

Autumn saw how upset she was and finished her sentence. "Poppers. She's Scarlet Poppers. But you can call her Spring. That's her really name anyway."

Scarlet held her head high with a frown. "I never agreed to that. Like I said two weeks ago. My name is Scarlet. I am an only child with two parents that might just be dead." She said with an angry tone in her voice.

Autumn looked Scarlet in the eye's. "Haven't your parents ever tell you that your different or that you have abilities that could possible change this whole world?" she said in a serious tone.

Scarlet stood in silence, unable to answer the question that was asked of her.

"I'll take that as a yes. You choose to not believe it because you doing want this, you don't want to change. Well your life as changed already. All of ours have, and you and all of us have to deal with that even if you like it or not. Your not alone it this. You have me and streak with you." Autumn says smiling at her.

Scarlet finally takes a deal breath. "Ok. I guess my name is now Spring. You guys are all the family I've got. So we're going to have to make it through together as a family and team." She says smiling at Autumn.

Autumn grabbed her bag and slipped out some papers. "You two can go get to know each other in the other room if you want. I have work to be done and lots of reports to follow up on." She said as Spring and Streak walked into another bedroom and shut the door quietly as Autumn had began to focus.

"Does she work a lot?" Spring asked as she sat down on the bed.

"Not all the time actually. I've known her for a while so she's just saying she's working so we can get out of her way and get to know each other more." Streak said as she sat next to Spring.

"Oh, well shouldn't I be getting to know her better since she claims to be my sister?" She asked looking at the door.

Streak looked at Spring as she stared at the door. "Spring, I'm going to be here to. I don't want you and I to be strangers forever. So please just work with me here." She said with a frown.

Spring stopped looking at the door and looked at Streak as Streak began to smile. "Ok. Tell me somethings about yourself." Spring said smiling as well.

"Well, I never knew my parents. I was homeless. I was taken to the care center were they punished me for living on my own." Streak said with a frown.

"That makes no sense. Why would they blame you for be homeless?" She asked in shock.

"They didn't know I was homeless. But they didn't let me speak my part of the story. It's a good thing I made it out alive. I got my hair colored like this in the care center by force. That's how I got the nickname Streak." She said with a sign.

Spring was shocked. She didn't know Streak had been through this much trouble. It made her think of how Autumn was right. All of their lives did change, and all three of their lives had changed in the worst ways possible.

With Spring's silence, Streak continued. "My real name is Joules Poppers."

Spring was shocked "Why do you have the same name as me and my parents?" She asked with her jaw dropped.

"I don't know. But calm down. Me and you are not actually related. Your a Relic." She said with a smile.

Spring didn't like it when she said a relic. For some reason it had bothered her some much.

"I don't like being called a relic. I'm not just an object you can place on your shelf." She said with a serious face.

Streak saw that she had taken it personality when that's not what she had wanted. "I'm sorry. I know that. I didn't mean it that way."

Spring yawned covering her mouth "It's fine. But I'm pretty tired."

Streak smiled "Ok. Well I'll just go check on Autumn. Goodnight." She said getting up from the bad.

"Good night...Joules" Spring said getting into the bed and slowly falling asleep.