5 What about family?

Deep in the forest,

Thwack!

A dry branch struck Adam on the forehead.

Staggering back, he glared at Mae.

"My bad." Mae giggled, skipping along with a smile.

He pushed on another branch, ducking before it hit him in the face.

"Dahlia, it would be nice if you used your ability to make it easier in these woods," Adam whined.

"Let nature take its course," Dahlia calmly responded.

'How the hell does that help in this situation?' Adam's brows twitched in frustration at her answer.

"How can they weigh this much?" Adam complained as he pulled the wooden raft.

On it, lay an unconscious Sylvester and a sleeping Lila being dragged into the thick cover of the forest.

Dahlia countered. "Probably you're losing your strength."

Boom!

The ground shook from the explosion as a thick cloud of fire sprung up from the collapsing building.

They all turned to witness the destruction of the facility. A smile of satisfaction spreads across all their faces.

"One strike to Collux Haven, a big victory for us!" Mae whooped.

Setting her eyes on a large tree trunk, Dahlia alerted the others of their brief stop.

Regrouping with the rest, Adam stared at the siblings.

They all turned to Dahlia, wondering what they would do with the two awakeners.

"You could share your ideas which will determine the fate of these two." She suggested.

Sharing knowing looks, they turned to Adam, to begin by revealing his thoughts on the pressing issue.

"He's too dangerous." Adam blatantly turned down the idea.

Folding his arms, Rai chimed in. "We can't leave the child. I say let's take them in."

"I wouldn't be a part of that, not after what I went through trying to assist this demon." Mae countered in protest.

"He's as human as every one of us." Dahlia chastised Mae.

Reminding Mae of the fact that she had survived because of Sylvester's second thoughts after persuasion.

"What happens if he wakes up and we are his next target?" A girl pointed out, shaking her head at the idea.

"I agreed to a rescue not to get killed by those we rescued!" Another bickered.

Pointing at the other three teenagers that they had rescued. "Do they look bloodthirsty like him?"

Ready to defend Sylvester, Rai stood in front of the siblings, pointing back at them. "That doesn't justify the–"

"Enough!" Dahlia shouted, shunning all for making a big fuss out of her suggestion.

Instead, she took a different route. "If you would like for the two to stay with us, raise your hand in favor."

'One…'

Stopping at Rai's raised hand–being the only person who had shown his support.

"I am sorry, Rai." Dahlia patted Rai's shoulder.

Shrugging off her hand, Rai points at every single one of his teammates. "Tell me you didn't feel a sense of accomplishment seeing those corpses?"

There was an eerie silence among everyone.

"Come on! You all can't be cruel to fellow awakeners!" Rai criticized, shaking his head in disappointment.

"That's enough, Rai," Dahlia spoke through gritted teeth.

Angered and in disbelief at being shut out, Rai's fists clenched by his side. "I won't be a part of this."

"Then it's a good thing you aren't the leader." A girl snapped, rolling her eyes.

Storming off, Rai grumbled as he muttered incoherent curses at anything he laid eyes on.

Sprinting towards Rai, Adam waved his hand to the rest, "we'd be leaving first, don't take too long."

Rolling her eyes, Dahlia brought her attention to the rest.

"The votes are in, we have no choice but to let them fend for their survival," Dahlia announced.

Pit!

Pat!

Raising her head to the sky, Dahlia opened her palm to feel another droplet.

"We should get going," Dahlia said with a sigh.

Creating a dome covering out of vines and leaves, she encased the siblings, giving a nod of approval to her work.

'That should keep them safe until he wakes up.'

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An hour later,

Opening his eyes, Sylvester stared back at the darkness he had been in.

As he held onto his head, it had him thinking about where he was.

Closing his eyes once more at the thought of all he was experiencing as a dream, he hoped to wake up in a better condition.

Pit!

Wiping his face, he frowned at the feeling of a droplet of water.

'Not a dream.' He concluded.

Pushing out the thought of what might be awaiting him outside the encasement, he tried to recall what he had missed.

'Lila!' He recalled in a panic.

With his heart thumping loudly at the thought of losing her while he was unconscious, he frantically searched his surroundings.

Feeling her cheeks, he let out a sigh of relief. 'You're by my side.'

Kicking against the constraint repeatedly, he momentarily stopped when he saw light seep in.

Deducing the shape and color of the encasement from the reflection of the light, he realized it was nothing more than overlapping vines.

'If only these vines could unwrap itself.' He thought with a sigh.

Splash!

The water that had gathered on the vines doused his and Lila's body as the vines unwrapped, spreading all around him.

'It had protected us from the rain.' Sylvester internally facepalmed.

Wincing to the headache that soon followed, he groaned in pain, punching the wooden surface repeatedly in frustration.

'What the hell is going on?' He lamented in confusion.

Wiping down his face as the pain gradually subsided, he pushed back his hair as he stared at the dark clear sky.

Looking at Lila lying a few feet away from him, he crawled toward her.

Sitting upright and leaning against a tree, he pulled her in his arms while caressing her hair. "You can wake up now, your brother is here."

Yawning, Lila mumbled. "Brother Sylve?"

"Yes, it's me." He replied in a whisper, elated that she had responded to his call.

While in the facility, he had been skeptical about his sudden urge to soothe her to sleep when he placed his hand on her forehead.

Seeing her awake made him delighted that he had gone with his guts.

Lila stared at Sylvester with tears brimming in her eyes. "I'm not a monster."

Her body quaked at the recollection of what she had been told while being confined.

Trying to shake off the horrors she had been through from the numerous people she had been forced to touch against her will.

Snuggling further into Sylvester's arms, she sobbed into his chest.

"You never will be." Sylvester soothed as his voice cracked from the heartbreak of her sudden outburst.

Snff!

Slowly drifting back to sleep as she sucked on her thumb whilst enduring little spasms rocking her body.

Looking down at her in worry at his sister's dwindling mental state, he wiped his eyes, biting down on his bottom lip to stifle the tears that threatened to fall.

The real monsters had been their parents who had mistreated them since their awakening and ultimately sold them out to the government.

'How about we pay a visit to mother and father?'

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Author's note

¶ Do check out the weekly auxillary chapter[Bonus chapter task] to know how you can participate.