YP – B3:QtNoWLM – Chapter 39 (Chapter 136)

161 Days Until Mystery And the Uncertain End (part 1)

The group had taken a room that Evester’s father had not dedicated to his notes. They’d gotten as best rest they could as Evester had started tracking and writing down as much of the notes as he possible could. Kim and Phil were helping record it all into digital displays so that he did not have to copy it all by hand. Shawn, Kori, and Heia looked over their supplies and made plans for the next few days on what they had to do. Zeydar sat recuperating as the rest of the house worked with Kony by his side, monitoring him. 

Upon reaching the house, Heia had understood a few things. The first was that the house looked exactly like the remains of Evester’s home when the Aralax had attacked. Kim said that it proved that the attack had been staged by Evester’s father, like they had thought. The notes were about things she did not understand and was not sure she would ever understand. They were more for Uly, if anyone. 

Heia hoped that by searching their house, they’d find a clue on where Evester’s father was. All she knew was that they were lucky to have found anything. Shawn was quick to remind them that just by finding the notes did not mean the man was alive. Evester had not cared.

So Heia had not.

“You doing okay?” Kim asked her as she looked over lists of their supplies. Lots had been broken and made bad from the way they had thrown it into the car. Their space heater worked, luckily, however with the freezing temperatures, Heia was worried about how much longer it would work for. They needed to get somewhere warmer, and soon.

“Tired.” Heia answered her. She looked to Kim, who’s hair was braided back. She had bags under her eyes like Heia did. Her cheeks ere flushed from the chill, and she looked more worried than Heia had thought she’d show. 

“We all are. We all are.” Kim stretched her back, arms above her head, puffy jackets lifting to show his small shed’ become with their rationing. “I’m never going to sleep off these bags.”

Kim, who looked as ethereal as she always looked, just a bit paler, more tired, a bit more worn, was nervous about it all. It made Heia all that much more worried. Kim’s eyes met Heia’s and Heia felt her body shivering from the look. They had slept next to each other, but the aching in her heart told her that she wanted more from Kim. The looks Kim gave her, told her that Kim probably did too, but she was too well trained in EverDarnger code, unlike Evester.

Evester…

“Evester found anything?” Heia changed the conversation quickly.

“Nothing yet.” Kim admitted. 

“We waiting on Zeydar?” He was probably going to be the only one who could track Evester’s father. 

“We don’t want to ask him until he is stable again.” Kim sat next to Heia. Her hands behind Heia, dangerously close that Heia could feel the heat of her body.

“I gave him enough not to fully freak out but he still did not get as much as before.” Heia told her, trying to focus on Zeydar only and failing miserably. 

“At least we are back to human doses for him.” Kim looked to Heia’s list. “I just feel bad.”

“Why?”

Kim met her eyes. For a moment it was only them, their eyes meeting, and Heia’s motivation to lean forward growing. That was, until Kim spoke. “Imagine that for your whole life you lived in the dark and with ear muffs on. And suddenly the lights turned on and the ear muffs were ripped off while in a concert.” Heia did not understand. She thought that the drugs were supposed to make everything more, not less. “Rayda says that the drugs hit him differently. Its a limiter for him, that’s why the Stars gave it to him. Thus he’s been living in a black and white picture and is just learning color. It takes time.”

Heia had never thought of it that way before. She had only been thinking of it as a normal detox for Dreams. It explained why he reacted so viciously like he were dying. He was having a sensory overload, a magic overload, and the typical detox symptoms wrapped into one. And trauma, she reminded herself. He had trauma too, which is why he ran to it. “Have I been too harsh on him?”

“We have to be.” Kim answered her. “We are the ones who will save the world and we need him.” 

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