Monday, 14th of March.
Harper was right, she had woke up the next morning, feeling like shit. Her body was freezing despite the intense heat in the room, and sweat ran down her face in large droplets. She regretted walking in the rain yesterday, she should've waited until it stopped, or called for someone to pick her up. Not that she had many friends she actually caught up with outside of university.
Harper groaned as she looked over at the clock, and saw it was only five o'clock in the morning. She had to be at university in three hours, since she had an early lecture on Mondays, and she was sure that her sickness wouldn't just suddenly disappear in that short amount of time. Much to her disappointment.
She reached a hand up and placed it against her burning forehead, she rubbed softly to help ease the pounding in her head. Screw the rain, was all Harper thought as she tried to fall asleep, but to no avail. She laid awake for the next two and a half hours until her father came running in, ready to wake her up and tell her she overslept.
"What happened?" Harper's fathers whole demeanour changed as he walked over to his daughter, he sat on the edge of her bed, and pushed some of her hair off of her sweaty face.
"Walked to and from the café, in the rain." Harper sheepishly mumbled to her father as she wiped her stuffy nose with the back of her hand. She groaned at the feeling of her fathers cold palm against her burning forehead, she tried to push him away, because she just wanted to sleep, but he was having none of it.
His gaze was one of concern as he removed his hand from her forehead, his doctor side showed. "Is your mouth red? Harp, I can't help you if I don't know what's wrong."
"It's just a cold, I'm sure of it." Harper mumbled, her voice hoarse. It sent a sharp pain down her throat every time she uttered a word.
"You're not the doctor here," Logan chuckled, "I know you're right though, but it's always good to be safe Harp."
"I know, dad." She smiled and briefly closed her eyes, her body overcome by exhaustion.
"I'll get you some medicine, water and food for today, so you don't have to come down." Harper smiled at her father, before she closed her eyes and slowly, fell asleep.
She dreamed of storm boy, out in the rain again, but this time he turned around and caught her staring at him. Everything was different in her dream; Luke ignored her, and he knew where she lived. The thing that most annoyed Harper about her dream was that there was always rain, or a storm of some sort.
When she woke up a few hours later, Harper noticed a plate of food with a glass of water and a pack of tablets sitting next to it on her bedside table. She grabbed the note that was placed by the items and opened it, knowing straight away it was from her father.
Harp,
I had to go to work, and you were sleeping so I didn't want to wake you since I know you'll need some sleep to overcome this sickness. Take two of the pills on your bedside table every four hours, try eat as much of the food as you can, and drink lots of water.
If you need anything give your mum or me a call.
Love you and have a good day xx
P.s- am I doing this note thing right?
Harper laughed at the last bit her father wrote, she didn't think her dad had ever written a note to her, he was a far to immature parent for that. He'd usually just wake her up and tell her whatever he wanted to, which annoyed her because half the time it was just him saying that he's going to work out. Harper couldn't help but to crack a smile as she placed the note back down.
She grabbed the pills and water, grabbing two and swallowed them before taking a couple gulps of water. She crinkled her nose in disgust, she hated taking pills. Harper put the bottle back on her bedside table as she rolled over on her bed to try get in a comfy position, which was proving hard as she tossed and turned for a few minutes, before her body finally succumbed to the sleep she so desperately needed.
•
Luke groaned as he woke up, he had gotten no sleep last night. Instead he had gone out for a run late last night while it was raining, and once he had gotten home he had started reading through the files on the Potestas that were here, and hunting for any Tractatori in the area.
Luke knew he didn't have to worry about blowing his cover yet, he had been hunting the Potestas for a while now and knew how to hide his powers from unwelcome eyes. What Luke didn't know how to do, was to protect Harper. It was a fifty percent chance: they go after her once they find out what he is, or they leave her alone as if she never existed. Luke preferred the latter.
Luke knew he was going to have to kill them before they discovered what he was, and if they discovered his true identity then he was going to have to kill them before they could pass the information on, or get to Harper- whichever fate decided, or more so which one occurred first.
Luke felt as if his mind was going a million miles a minute as he laid in bed, the covers were thrown towards the end of the bed from his constant tossing and turning, as he let his thoughts run loose. Luke glanced at the clock hanging from his wall and saw that it was already seven o'clock, he must've zoned out.
"Luke? We are going to do more research on the Potestas that are in the area. Find weaknesses and such, are you going to join us?" Michael poked his head through the small gap in the slightly ajar door. Luke turned his head to Michael and gave him a nod, signalling that he would be there soon, Michael nodded back and closed the door behind him as he left.
Luke took in his appearance in the bathroom mirror, he had large bags under his eyes and he knew he was in need of a shower. Luke quickly showered before walking into his walk in robe, grabbing a plain shirt off a hanger and a pair of shorts of a shelf which he quickly chucked on, before making his way downstairs and into the office, where the boys were all coercing quietly.
"What do we have?" Luke asked as he sat down beside Ashton who was staring intently at a piece of paper in front of him.
"It says her name is Abby, she's registered at the local high school along with a boy named Andrew. The third guys name is Larkin he's older and we can't find any information on him, he's also the legal caretaker for Abby and Andrew. So either they're family or they're undercover." Ashton furrowed his eyebrows in frustration as he glanced over the papers in front of him.
Luke nodded as he took the new information in- he knew that this job wouldn't be easy, just like every other one. All Luke needed was to find one weakness and he could take them down but as the group kept searching Luke's hope began to fade: the didn't seem to have any weaknesses.
"How about we take one of them and use them as bait? Draw the others out and kill them." Ashton suggested, he just wanted to get this job over and done with before they could kill anyone else.
"They never split up and it'll be harder for us to take on Larkin- he's older and from what I can tell, he has more experience and power." Calum spoke up, placing a file he had in his hands down on the desk.
"It'll be too risky anyway, there's civilians everywhere we go." Luke wasn't one for violence in front of humans, they couldn't protect themselves and if they got involved the only way they would be uninvolved would be death. Luke didn't want that to happen, ever.
"Collateral damage." Ashton shrugged as he stood up and walked out of the office, slamming the door shut behind him. Luke guessed he had had a rough day already and looking through those files for countless hours wasn't helping him. Being an Ignis meant that he always had energy to kill and alongside it a fiery temper, it was best to let Ashton calm down by himself, Luke had learnt that the hard way.
"Let's take a break." Luke spoke as he stood up and made his way out of the office, not waiting for an answer from the other two boys as he grabbed a jumper and walked outside. He breathed in the fresh air with a smile on his face as a hand was placed on his shoulder, Luke turned to see Michael smiling up at him.
"Wanna go for a run?" Michael asked as he tied the laces on his running shoes. He looked up as he waited for a reply from Luke who nodded and quickly ran inside to change into his running clothes.
"Through the Forest?" Michael asked Luke. Luke nodded, knowing that Michael would run through the Forest whether Luke wanted to or not. Michael was extremely close with his element, and every chance he got he was out here with it, training to get even stronger- unlike Luke.
"Don't look so down." Michael said as he started off at a steady jog which Luke gladly matched. The boys decided that they would only go for a 5km run, and once they got back they would hit the home gym.
"What if they decide to look into Harper?" Luke asked Michael the question that had been on his mind since he had seen the Potestas- Abby- at the café. Luke heard Michael sigh as he picked up the pace again, leaving Luke the choice to match his pace or fall behind.
"Let's just hope they don't." Michael was probably the wisest out of the small group of four. It came with his element.
Luke sighed and pushed his body to go faster. He knew Michael would not offer him any more information than that, he just hoped Michael stuck to his promise and was watching Harper from afar- keeping her safe from danger. It was all his fault, he had decided to bring this innocent girl into his dangerous line of work. Luke wasn't sure that he would be able to live with the consequences, if the Potestas were to involve Harper.
Of course, Luke knew he was probably overthinking, but he couldn't help but to feel a sense of worry as he thought about the girl with the Forest eyes. He could tell she was something special, by the way her eyes lit up when she talked about the Forest, and how she loved nature. Luke knew she must love the Forest, the way her eyes lit up were exactly the same way his do when he talks about his love for storms.
Luke would call her Forest girl.