The Numbers on Our Arms

Chapter 36

The days flew by for Seraphina in the next few days as nothing changed in the routine of the every day. Maybe the greatest change would be Dianne coming in occasionally to ask any details she had decided on for wedding, but Narcissa had already decided enough details and she didn't care enough that it was rare they would come to any conclusion.

The textbooks were interesting, she guessed. At least she had somehow chosen the books that weren't just course material but explored other details as well. And then there were the university magazines. Her mother would mention over diner about going to the ones that she liked and that was the other change in routine when they had actually gone to visit one.

She hadn't heard from Leilah since she had broken the flip phone. Which, to be fair, was her only way to contact her, so it wasn't unexpected that she couldn't contact her outside of that. She probably would stop texting her in a few days of her not answering, assuming the phone had been compromised. And as she had previously said, she wouldn't put Kayden in that danger.

Studying – no matter what she studied – was the one thing that she could do now. Over time, her phone and laptop had parental controls put on and she couldn't contact John anymore without... She hadn't actually tried that yet. Any letters she could write would be immediately rejected and she had no idea if she had received any letters yet, but she had managed to text John about it before anything happened.

Maybe she could technically try to contact John. It would be impossible over this point on text, he was blocked and she couldn't change it at that moment. She could email John through the school, but he barely emailed during school and now they are outside of school, she doubt he would answer at any point.

Time went by and at one point, Seraphina walked around the house – exhaustion of the repetition of each day causing her to lose focus on her tasks of the day – and the house was just servants. Both her parents were out on their own work trips, not like that was a rare task.

Luckily, they hadn't realised she was without her ability yet. Or they didn't care. Not many people except for John figured out her focused connection to Sepctre.

No one paid attention to her when she walked around the house – she hadn't used her ability in so long so that they didn't need to pay attention to her. There were no eyes on her right then and they never seemed to care anymore. Her heart skipped a beat.

She turned around from where she was walking, making sure to keep the same pace and to keep her head down. She headed back up the stairs and to her room.

The door closed behind her and she slid down on the door. She had her own suitcase.

She kept her eyes on the other as she walked barefoot across her and to the wardrobe on the other side. She pulled the suitcase out and grabbed a number of her favourite clothes and folded them inside.

Her eyes flicked about the rest of the room and she grabbed items off the shelves and put them in the remaining room of the suitcase. Then she walked over to her desk and pulled open the top draw. On the top was a slip of scrap paper where she had recorded the return address of John's.

She slid the full suitcase beneath the bed and continued on to read books throughout the rest of the day.

The sun lowered down in the sky where the blue bleed into the orange and purple and the silver moon took up the sky. The hours ticked on and the noises throughout the house quieted. Finally, she would take to her feet and carry the case throughout the halls.

She didn't see any of the servants walking through so she fetched the key off the countertop and unlocked the door. She locked the door behind her as she headed out and walked up to the gate, which she unlocked too, and then she threw the key into the verge.

Her walk was long by the side of the road until she entered the local town and up to the train station. She took out the remaining cash she had and brought the ticket.

Once she was in the train, there was barely another passenger in sight. The fields passed by the windows and each stop came. She looked up on the different train stops and thought on what one to take. Her fist tightened in her lap in frustration as she couldn't tell which of the two stations would be close – no technology on her. And it was so late at night and she wouldn't know how to find their exact street. She had no way to defend herself – she needed to find their place as soon as she could.

Eventually, she got off the train and walked along the streets until she found the block of flats and climbed up and up at the staircase. She walked along the balconies, keeping her eye out for anyone else around, and knocked on the door.

There wasn't any response for a few minutes as she waited. Would they answer this late at night?

Then the door opened and on the other side stood William. "Seraphina?"

"Hey." She clasped her arm by her side as her hand held her suitcase. "Can I stay for awhile?"

"Yes." He opened the door wider and she walked inside. "I don't have a spare bed here. You probably should take the sofa for the night. John is asleep for once."

She nodded. "I don't mean to be a burden."

"It's fine. I know problems can be difficult with families."

"Can I borrow your phone? My sister has offered to take me in."

"Yes," he replied. "But she may not answer in the middle of the night."

Blyke sat on the bed in the hotel room whilst Remi paced about in the room.

"It's probably going to be fine, Remi," he said.

"We haven't heard from the Authorities in the past month," she replied. "They're not just going to drop the case, but surely they should have contacted us in that time."

"They are probably talking to the lawyers."

"Wouldn't our parents mention it?"

"Well, they clearly haven't. I don't know why."

There was a knock at the door. Remi looked up to it and walked over, looking up through the peekhole. Her face became unreadable as she opened the door and revealed a man standing on the other side. He had tan skin with bright green eyes and cyan hair tied up in a high ponytail behind him.

"Kuyo!" Remi shouted as she hugged him. "It's been so long since I last saw you."

"Blyke's mouth fell open as he stared at a man close to identical to the guy who had saved him the night he quit being a vigilante. And yet, Remi didn't see it.

"I know, I know," he replied as she let go. "I needed to complete my degree and I didn't think your family would want to see me."

"Why wouldn't we want to see you?" she questioned.

"I didn't think you would want to see someone who would remind you of Rei."

"But why would we want to lose everyone connected to him?" she asked him. "And also, you're your own person."

"I... I don't think we should focus on that now," he replied. "But you two should get out of here as soon as possible."

"What do you mean?" she asked. "We aren't to move into the school dorms until tomorrow."

"You both know that you are currently being investigated for being vigilantes." The nodded. "I'm currently working for a company that has a vigilante branch. No, no. Not the Authorities. It's an underground organisation and we know that at this point you need to get out of here and I know a safe place to go."