THE RUNAWAY

I still had to train Alex and go on missions with him since my hands were tied, but he was his old self again.

He bullied everyone but especially his sister and had a very dangerous vocabulary.

He also tended to steal from us and use his light to commit crimes in the city which made a worse name for enlightened humans who were still hated after the war over seven years ago.

I was taking a nap while Alexa watched some TV, and I sensed everything that was happening, including the sounds from the TV.

I then sensed something fall and jumped awake to see if she was safe from her brother...she was, but she was also watching the TV with her legs over her head and her feet on the floor.

I realized she had also put a cloth on me, a pillow below my head and some food by my side.

I stood up and stared at her in awe as she effortlessly pulled her legs back one after the other, then stood up to look at me.

She greeted me and by what she said, it was evening.

' I have been sleeping for five hours? ' I asked myself.

I brushed the thought aside then asked,"Alexa, since when could you do that?"

"Do what?"She asked, confused.

"You know, twist yourself like that."I continued.

"Oh that? I've always been able to do that."She said.

I mumbled to myself then asked,"How would you like for me to give you a little gymnastics training?"

She widened her pretty eyes then yelled,"Really?!"

Squeakers jumped up because of the noise and when it saw there was nothing wrong, went back to sleep.

I nodded then she jumped around, doing basic cartwheels, but she was actually quite graceful, more than I was at her age, she was quite flexible...

***

We were at dinner one evening but Alex hadn't eaten at all, he was just fidgeting with his fingers and rolling the rice into balls.

My mom asked him to eat then he glared at her, so much that she was stunned. Then he continued fumbling.

After he was done poking holes in it, he took some raisings from the dessert and put them as eyes, after that, he launched one of them at Alexa.

It froze in the middle of the air and my dad banged the table angrily. He then yelled,"I've had it with you, Alex! Why do you act like this?! Your sister has done nothing but show you love and affection and all you do is either love her too much or hate her! Go to your room! And don't come out until your character has been moulded properly."

Alex was frowning and glaring at him, we all thought he was going to attack him or do something rash but rather, tears started to stream down his face then he ran away.

My dad angrily took his seat but I felt bad for him, and it seemed Alexa did as well.

We went to his room and I sensed him crying on his bed.

Alexa knocked the door but he told us to leave, so we slowly opened the door, pushed some food inside with a letter we wrote, then closed the door.

***

I woke up the next morning and had high hopes for Alex as right before I fell asleep, I sensed him walking towards the gift.

I walked to his room and opened the door to greet him but he was gone, the food was scattered all around and his window was open.

The letter we had written was turned over, and there was a note which said,"I hate you all and wish you'd just die!"

I didn't want anyone to see the note, especially my dad who was still angry at him and wanted to search for him on my own, but it was too late, Alexa had already followed me.

I looked at her and she looked scared then asked,"Will he be okay?"

I couldn't even sense him anymore, he was really far away.

I knelt down to her level, placed my hand on her shoulder then said,"I wouldn't let anything happen to him."

"...I wanna help."She said, eagerly.

I smiled then said,"You can help by making sure mom and dad never know."

She nodded slowly then left and I activated an illusion to show me what happened.

He was on the bed, shedding tears, long after we placed the food down.

Then he had a temper tantrum and threw his room out of order and kicked the tray to the wall and wrote the note.

Then he ran out of the window and blasted water out of his hands and feet to fly...

I activated Memory Lane to find out where he went then took a deep breath.

' Good luck, my little brother... ' I thought.

Then I leaped off and was shrouded in a hawk made of water and ice...

***

Alex had been flying for hours and his arms and legs ached but he didn't stop till eventually, his light was too exhausted to operate.

He fell down through a canopy of trees and tried to grip a branch to use it as an uneven bar, but his arms were drained.

He fell on his back and everything went black...

He woke up to raindrops falling on his face and sat up.

His light still couldn't work, but his legs were a little bit stronger.

He struggled to his feet and fell down several times but held a tree bark for support then started to limp.

He couldn't feel anything on his body as he was tired and famished, he couldn't even feel the bruises he got from falling down.

He was weak, but managed to reach a decent house.

He rang the doorbell then fell to his knees.

A woman came to meet him and was enchanted by his features as she stood there, ogling for several seconds.

He spoke eventually, in South Korean,"I need a place to sleep."

She snapped out of her enchantment and said,"Where's your family?"

"...they hate me and I hate them."

She felt touched by the feelings of anger this young child held within him then welcomed him inside.

He immediately went to lie on the couch and by the time she had gotten to him with food and a first aid kit, he was asleep.

He woke up and saw all his wounds dressed then looked around, she was gone.

He started to heal himself as is light was recharged.

She came back with some food for him and was surprised as to how fast he had healed, without a scar, like he was never hurt.

She didn't want to bother him since he was probably stressed out so she just gave him the food.

He looked at it for a few seconds before he began eating.

The food wasn't the same quality as he was used to and the ingredients were cheaper he could tell, but he tried his best to manage, but he eventually vomited it all out.

The woman looked shocked when she saw he had messed up her polar bear fur carpet and almost cried, but held back her tears and called a servant to clean him.

The servant undressed him and saw he was actually quite muscular for his age, then the servant saw something for the first time and fell backwards.

Alex was confused then remembered his gills.

The man was horrified and asked fearfully,"What are you?"

Alex didn't know what to say then he heard the doorbell ring.

He looked out the window and saw me then he got terrified, ran past the servant and took his clothes.

The woman looked me up and down and was surprised at my features, then I spoke,"Excuse me, I'm looking for my brother. He's eight and looks exactly like me with beautiful sea blue eyes, I know he's in there."

"Oh...oh yes! I just took him to my bathroom, please, come in."She said.

I walked in then sighed and said,"He's gone."

"How do you know?"She asked.

"I have my ways, here's my number, please, call me if he comes back."I said then left.

The woman was actually interested in this boy a third her age, love knows no boundaries...