Perfection.

Chapter Eleven: My Thoughts

Sunday

The rest of Saturday left me with thoughts of the small door and circular room. The pending question of, Change the world? It was hard to fall asleep, but I eventually did. Sunday came fast and I was awake again. I did the normal morning routine and now I'm strolling down the silent street of my neighborhood. The town made a rule that Sunday was a quiet day. So, you have a normal day, but you just keep the noise low.

Normally on Sundays, I would walk the street and it would be peacefully quiet. Not today, of course. I could hear the carrying voices of the Blackdales. Dominic's parents making a commotion on quiet day. This would normally be odd for me, but from the already known problems of the last week, it isn't. I make my way to his front door and stare up at the despairing house.

"LILYTH, YOU CAN'T GO ON LOLYGAGGING WITH SOME OBNOXIOUS FEMALE! YOU HAVE STUDYING TO DO!" The father yells.

"I ALREADY STUDIED!" Lilyth yells back.

"JUST LEAVE HER LONE!" I hear Dominic. Next comes a loud thud. I sigh and keep on my walk. I know I can't do anything and that this isn't normal. Something is going on and I have to find out what it is. I make my way to the park. I spot the familiar figure of Raven on the swings. I sit next to him.

"Hey, Raven. How's it going?" I ask. He doesn't bother looking up.

"I made a mistake." He mutters, continuing to stare at the ground.

"What mistake?" Now he looks up at me. His eyes are red.

"I didn't only lose Maia, I lost Shu too." He sighs. The edge of my vision blurs as it normally does.

"I'm sorry, but I'm sure you can talk it out," The darkness comes closer to the center of my vision, "but I have to go. Don't worry I'm sure it'll be fine."

"Yeah, maybe." I walk off, away from the swingset. Something must have happened after the meadow incident. I decide to head over to Kate's and check on her. When I reach her house I ring the doorbell. Her mother answers and smiles at me.

"Oh, hi Caroline. I haven't seen you in a little while." She says.

"Hi, sorry about that. Is Kate home?" I ask. She frowns.

"No, I don't believe so."

"Could she be in the treehouse?"

"No. She left earlier this morning."

"Oh, alright. I'll see you around."

"Bye, Caroline." She waves as I walk away. Maybe Keaton is home and knows where she is. I head to Keaton's house and bang on the door. It swings open a few seconds later revealing a short boy. He looks up at me.

"Yes?" He asks.

"Hi Flint, is Keaton home?" I ask.

"Yes." He stands there.

"Um, could I talk to him?"

"Yes." He still stays in his spot.

"Can you go get him?"

"Yes."

"Now?"

He sighs, "Fine."

"Thank you." I smile. He turns and heads back inside. The blurring of my vision happens again as I wait. I ignore it. Keaton comes to the door a few moments later, Flint watching from behind him.

"Hey, Keaton. Have you seen Kate?"

"No, I haven't." Keaton keeps glancing back inside. I peer past him to see Blaise arguing with Phoenix while his mom is trying to get Azara to stop crying. Vincent stands awkwardly in the corner. I send a little wave his way, which he returns, "Sorry, we're kind of busy."

"I see that. I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"Definitely." With that, the door closes. I stare at the door for a moment. What do I do next?

Change the world?

No. I can't think of that. Dominic said it was dangerous. How does he know it's dangerous? Did he try something? Is he not actually from the UK? What did he do? Is that why everything is so off? My vision begins to blur more. I lean against the wall of the house to steady myself. I have to confront him and make him tell me what he did. I know he did something. Shaking off the blur, I race back down the street. I run past my house, spotting Heather and Jay talking at the door. I keep running until I come back to the Blackdale's house. The yelling is still going on. It seems to be worse than it was.

I don't bother knocking. I open the door and head inside. The hallway is dimly lit, but I find my way to their living room. It's comfy looking with a long sofa, big tv, and a casual coffee table. Two lamps stand at either side of the couch. I walk through the entrance and find the kitchen. The yelling is coming from upstairs. I pass through the dining room and to the stairs. I head up slowly, the voices getting louder.

"CAN'T YOU JUST MAKE PERFECT GRADES!?" The father yells. What does he expect her to be, perfect?

"I TRY." Dominic yells back. I pause. It's not Lilyth with bad grades? Wait, now he's yelling at Dominic? What happened to Lilyth. I quickly head all the way up and into the new hallway. I take a left to find Dominic in his doorway, his father in the hallway, and the further two doors closed. I take another step and the floor creaks. They both turn to me.

"Who are you?" The father asks angrily.

"Caroline, Caroline Loreley." I say with more boldness than I felt.

"What are you doing here?" Dominic asks.

"You know this intruder?" The father asks.

"Oh, right, I am intruding. Sorry about that, the world and its morals are a little off for me at the moment." I grin sheepishly. Dominic gives me a worried look.

"Yeah, this is one of my friends." Dominic responds. Friend. What an odd word.

"I heard the yelling and came to make sure everything was okay. It's Sunday and in our town we've made this day a quiet day. You'll have to forgive me for checking out extremely loud noises on this quiet day." I explain, though it seems silly to me. I wasn't checking because it was loud. I was checking because I need Dominic to explain what he's done and....because I care about him.

"Quiet day, eh?" The father asks walking towards me. Dread fills my stomach. The further left door swings open and a woman steps out. She looks exhausted and there's mascara running down her face.

"Dest, just leave the poor girl alone. She simply cares about her friend and if I were her I'd check out your loud mouth as well." The father, Dest, turns to her. He stomps towards her and her face fills with fear. She backs up into the room. Dest follows her and the door slams. I turn to Dominic who looks back to me. I walk quickly over to him and pull him into a hug.

"I'm so sorry." I whisper.

"It's alright." He mutters back. I pull away.

"It really isn't, but that's not why I'm here. I need to know what you've done."