Lana told him everything without what she viewed as minor details. Her story, what the trees showed her.
Doctor Tall nodded along as he used his ability on the girl then gave her a sedative, "I'll be keeping her here over night. I'll try to get a statement from her in the morning."
Lana nodded and headed for the door.
"Lana, thank you. For trusting me."
She nodded again and was gone. Lana looked at her watch as they left the building.
She grabbed Blaine's hand and squeezed.
Dobin, to her left, "That could have been you."
"But it wasn't."
Dobin stopped her and turned her toward him, "but it could have been! He HAS to be stopped!"
"Yes, he does. Learn your books. We are getting stronger as a team. We'll handle this together."
She turned and resumed walking. Inside, Dobin reluctantly headed upstairs. She turned through the fire doors into her hallway.
Blaine didn't like the look of her face. She took the few steps required. "Let's go inside and talk."
She opened the door and they both entered. She could see Blaine was struggling and could figure out why. "Let him out."
That was all Kyle needed to hear. Blaine was given no choice as Kyle took over his body.
"What's going on? What's the next step to make sure it isn't you next?" as he pushed her against the wall, lifting her up with her legs around his waist.
"I don't know. All I know is I saw something really horrific and I just want to be in your arms. Please?" The tears started welling up again and he held her close. He carried her to her bed and laid down with her, arms tight around her. Soon she fell asleep and he got up slowly and returned to his room.
As soon as he entered, "did Pucket get away?"
"I don't know. She's too upset to talk about that part. She saw everything they did to that girl. Everything he did."
"Is she okay?"
"She's resting but this can't continue. I'm going up to talk to Paul."
"I'm going with you!"
Thirty seconds later, Blaine was pounding on Paul's door. It buzzed and opened after the second hit, only because they were fast. Blaine threw the door open and Chekof closed it softly behind them.
"We need to talk!" he demanded.
"Yes, we do." Paul agreed. This made Blaine pause for a few seconds. "The two of you need to come sit down. I wanted to tell this to Lana but I don't think she's in the right mindset right now."
Paul pulled up a hologram on his tablet and started throwing out news article after news article. While Chekof had read these in full, this was the first Blaine saw them. He was shocked because it was the orphanage Lana came from.
"These are news articles regarding an orphanage, one of four that belong to a research group. Which is a subsidiary of Abel Genetics. When I searched the dark web for the other three, I found similar articles. These articles have been buried and removed from public servers."
"Are you saying my grandmother is behind her poor treatment?"
"I'm not done yet. When the lawyer was here to set up the trust, he necessarily had to access her file to get her account number to transfer money to her card. He needed her account number. He was on the page a bit too long for my liking, so I became suspicious. I flagged her account for anything strange and I noticed extra money being deposited on the back end and being withdrawn almost as soon as it hit. I then noticed the attacks in the forest, those involving Lana and those not, happened soon after these transfers."
Paul paused and looked at both boys. "I hate to say it but it looks like Lana's account is being used to pay the attacker. I have already informed my parents. The Techno Family and the Abel family are now in a silent war. I have my suspicions, but I have been told to stand down for now."
Paul sighed and hung his head, "I hacked into a system earlier in the week. I got a good amount of information but I was discovered. I tried to get out of there and did eventually make it out without them being able to trace it back to this location but it was very close. My parents said it was too dangerous for me to be involved. Mother will be here tomorrow to give Lana a new money card which will double as an identification showing she is a member of the Techno family. Dobin will get one as well. The military money will continue being deposited on the school card to avoid tipping anyone off."
"How are we going to protect Lana?" Blaine said, almost angrily.
"All I can do it keep recording what's happening. My parents are now getting the footage. Both families donate to the military. The issue is, since it's family against family, the military will choose to do nothing and do business with the victor. We just need to make sure we are the victors."
Blaine nodded. "The one place she is alone is Agriculture Club. I guess I'm changing clubs until this is resolved."
Chekof responded, "how is your work into protecting those being hazed?"
"It feels like a losing battle. With the healing ability and being paid with favors by the school for doing it, no matter how much I beat them up, they still do it so I have taken to escorting people around in small groups."
"Give me the schedule. I'll take over that so you can take care of Lana. If you need me to help, let me know."
All three looked defeated there wasn't much else they could do right now. As Chekof and Blaine were leaving to head back to their room, Blaine turned back to look at Paul, "thank you. For everything. Your family took in a stranger and has literally gone to war to protect her. I can't thank you enough."
[Quest Updated: Progress toward friendship: Blaine Abel 75%]
[Quest Updated: Progress toward friendship: Chekof Starskiy 30%]
Paul nodded and returned to his work. He was told not to get involved but his friend was in danger. He was searching for any other way he could help.
Back in their room, Chekof climbed into his bed with a book. It was a new one, having finished the other one. This one had a mostly naked female on the cover, draped over the arms of a werewolf, legs over his shoulders in a pose that should not be in the hands of minors. He held the book making sure the only thing that could be seen was the look of pure bliss on the face of the woman.
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Down the hall from Blaine and Dobin's rooms, a young man was reading a new ability book and he wasn't just understanding what he was reading but he was truly enjoying the contents of the book. He had hoped he would understand when Lana bought it for him but now that he was reading it, he realized just how perfect this ability was for him, how well it fit his personality.
He never wanted to be a leader or have power but he wanted to help people such as himself. This was a terrible world he found himself in and he wanted the power to help those stronger than him make a difference.
In his mind, people deserved the right to have a good life, to not live in fear as he had done his whole life. Living through the years as a level-0 was a nightmare that the poor often suffered from and could never change because they were never afforded the opportunity. Perhaps by siding with someone as wonderful as that Lana girl, he could change his parents' lives, his brother and his two sisters as well.
Duff was the oldest, the youngest was just 6 years old. School didn't expect her to have an ability just yet but the appearance of one's clothing would tell the others straight away that no ability would be forth coming. He had high hopes and was praying that this hope was not misplaced. He made a promise to himself to study diligently and learn this book by the end of the week as requested.
-----------------------------
Somewhere in a darkened room, a level-7 ability user was fuming. He had been foiled again. "I'm going to get that monster. She is always spoiling my fun! And now she sent in her brother? I'll show them both!"
---------------------------------
At 9:30, Blaine was forced to stop pacing the room by a notification on his watch. Lana had woken from a dream, screaming, visions of what happened earlier plaguing her. Anger consumed him.
"Chekof, I need a really big favor. Could you wear my watch on your other arm?"
Chekof raised an eyebrow and Blaine explained. He then extended his arm for Blaine to put the watch on him as he resumed reading. Blaine made sure to have the ability book with him and vanished. While invisible, he looked for a specific ability and phased through the door of his room and ran in a bubble of silence to Lana's room. He decided if he needed more than the three abilities, he'd switch to Kyle but it wasn't needed.
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