SOL - Generation Three - Chapter Six
My laptop is seriously on its last legs X_X It always overheats and dies, but at least I remember to save often, *sigh*
I also realised you don't know the kids' traits, so here goes:
Izzy - Brave, Good, Virtuoso.
Quinn - Clumsy, Genius, Computer Whiz
Ayr - Absent Minded, Friendly, Party Animal
Also I apologise if I accidently call Ayr Quinn. I have combed through and corrected as many as possible but there may still be a few mistakes xD
Enjoy!
Last time - Echo cried, and this prompted Lukas to propose. After that he went over to Law's house to explain the situation and now things seem, well.. Not fixed, but better between those two. Then the kids had a school trip to the park where Ayr met Cara Hope, a dance loving, happy go lucky girl and Quinn hung out with his friends Alex and Callum, the 'geeks' of the class. Isabelle finished the chapter off with seeing a strange teenage boy in the park, who knows her name...
Isabelle ignored his warning and took the seat opposite him. "I bet you're just saying that to scare me, Mr."
One pale eyebrow quirked up. "Or maybe it's true."
"Speaking from experience?" she shot back, folding her arms.
"Very much so."
That would have effectively killed the conversation, had it been anyone else. But Isabelle was far too curious to let it drop.
"Then I'll get to know you so you're not longer a stranger. What's your name, Mr?"
The man tilted his head, just a little. "031290," he answered. "But another calls me Kian."
Izzy watched him for a few more moments, legs swinging back and forth under her chair. "What's with the numbers?"
"It's my real name."
"Huh. Cruel parents."
Kian laughed a little for some reason. It didn't sound particularly humorous. "Ah, perhaps. Perhaps not."
She frowned at him, even more confused than before. "You're very... mysterious, aren't you?"
"Hardly. You aren't asking the right questions." His eyes - they were red, Izzy realised - were sparkling with amusement. The corners of his lips were twitching up into a near-smile, but there was nothing malicious about him.
"I have to go now," Iz pouted, glancing over to where the teacher was rounding up all the children. "But I'll come back with better questions, Kian." His name was sort of funny, she thought. Kee-ann. Then again, her siblings didn't exactly have common names either. "Where do you go when it gets dark?"
"Sometimes I stay here. Sometimes I go elsewhere. Occasionally I visit a friend."
"Stay here?!" she repeated, dumbstruck. "But it gets cold! Never mind, I'll bring you blankets for tomorrow, and then you'll be warm." She hopped off down from the seat as Kian watched her, a strange look in his red eyes.
"You are quite a strange human, aren't you?" he murmured as she waved and skipped away. "Very strange." Very kind. The innocence of children, he supposed. That naviety could cost her, though.
It had costed him a lot when he was her age.
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"C'mon, kids. Story time," Lukas called cheerfully.
"Don't start the story without me! What's it this week, daddy?"
"Ah, you see, this week it's a little story about spooky creatures."
"Sounds like my kind of story," Ayr grinned, flopping down on the sofa.
This was a weekly tradition. Since they were getting too old to be read to sleep, they insisted on stories in the evenings sometimes instead. And today Lukas would take the opportunity to properly warn them about Vampires.
Finally, when everyone was seated, Lukas began.
"Now, there are certain kinds of people out there that are dangerous, especially at night. They're faster, stronger and more cunning than normal humans, with glowing eyes and pale skin."
"Vampires!" Izzy put in excitedly.
"Yup, vampires. They're deadly, kids, and if you're smart you'll stay away from them. They'll trick you into doing what they want, or they'll just bite you," he said, laughing when Izzy squirmed and said 'eeew'
"I vant to suck your blooood!" Ayr giggled, doing an incredibly bad dracula impression. It made Lukas laugh, even though this was serious.
"They do, kiddo. But they can do things a lot worse to you too. Just promise me you three.. You ever come across someone you think is a vampire, just run, okay?"
"Promise," they answered in unison, much to Lukas' relief.
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"
"You really have got to stop with the vampire stories, Lukas," Echo said as soon as he arrived upstairs.
"If they grow up with the stories then at least they're more prepared than I was. Just let me be paranoid, alright?"
"Fine, fine," she rolled her eyes.
"
He lay beside her on the bed, tickling her until she moved over for him.
"I want to protect our kids, E. That's understandable."
"Of course it is," she whispered back. "But they're human. You said that your and your fathers' so called 'crimes' won't be passed on unless they're vampires too. So relax. Give them some credit, they're not so stupid that they'll willingly be turned."
"It's more the unwillingly being turned that I'm more worried about."
Echo sighed, looking up at him. "You're being paranoid," she said gently. "It'll be fine, alright? We'll all be fine."
Lukas paused, reaching out and softly brushing his fingertips against her smooth cheek. "Okay, okay. I give in," he finally sighed.
"Good," she said, pushing up up so that they could both sit up. She kissed him lovingly, pulling away only for a few seconds. "Stop focusing on the vampires. Focus instead on the wedding, mister."
And there was plenty of that to focus on.
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"No -" Lukas sighed as the speaker on the phone cut him off and started speaking what seemed to be another language about dresses and shoes. "Look, I'll get Echo to ring you back. She at least knows what you're on about," he grumbled down into the phone.
He finally put it down and let out a long, deep sigh, running a hand through his hair.
"Stressed, dad?"
"You could say that. What you playing, kid?"
"Oh, Alex let me borrow this game so he can convince me to get my own copy. Then we can all play online, you see."
It seemed to be that each of the triplets had their own personal lives now. Lukas didn't understand what they were talking about half the time. Games and TV were as foreign to him as wedding dresses.
"Ugh, I hate that annoying oversized bunny thing! My mum and dad always told me to watch it when I was younger because of its 'educational properties.'"
Ayr laughed. "Sucks to be you. Your parents are kinda strict, aren't they?"
"Yeah, they so are. I don't think they like me coming over here either."
Ayr sat up straighter. "What?! Why?"
"Don't take it personally, Ayr, my parents are just super strict when it comes to things like having kids before marriage. I guess they think you're a bad influence."
Ayr frowned. "That's not fair! It's not my fault mum and dad are only getting married now!"
"I never said it was your fault," Cara gasped. "I don't think it is. I mean, you're parents are happy, right? That's the most important thing."
"Yeah, it is. Hey, mum said we can invite a friend to the wedding. Seeing as you're my bestest friend, wanna come?" He grinned.
Cara grinned. "Yeah! Weddings are always such a blast! We're going to have great fun, Ayr."
Ayr grinned. Cara could be kind of bossy at times, but that was fine. She really was his best friend, and they had even made a pact to stay best friends in highschool. He couldn't wait until they were older.
When it got a little darker Ayr dug out a torch and began to tell a ghost story - Cara was rolling her eyes and going along with it just for him more than anything.
But it turned out Ayr wasn't a bad storyteller at all. Cara even jumped when Echo came up the stairs.
"Mum, mum, sit down and listen about the ghost of Anne Arbour school!"
"....I'm never going to be able to go around school alone ever again," Cara whined to Echo, who just laughed.
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Isabelle had her own matters to attend to. While Quinn played games or read manga and Ayr played with Cara, she would come here pretty much everyday after school to see Kian. She always tried to bring him blankets or food, just in case he was hungry or cold.
He woke up as she neared. "You shouldn't spend the night here, you know."
"Ah, afternoon to you too, little Iz."
"My point still stands!"
He yawned and stretched, making space for her on the bench. "You get more and more sassy every day, kid, I swear. Anyway, it's peaceful here. The stars are above and the ground is below and there are all kinds of animals scurrying around to keep me company."
"You're really strange, you know that right?"
Kian laughed. "You don't know the half of it, little Iz. C'mon kid, sit. What have you brought today?"
"An apple from the tree of wisdom," she invented, much to Kian's delight, "and grain from the field of.. of... um, luck!"
"Aah, but luck can be both bad or good, depending."
"Hey, don't ruin it!"
Kian chuckled. "I'm not, I'm playing along."
"Do people ever come over here and ask you why you're here all the time?"
"Besides from a young girl two months ago, you mean?"
Izzy sighed. "Yes, besides from me, Mr."
Kian paused and looked at the butterflies flying over her head. "No. People stay clear. You were the first, and likely to be the last. The butterflies say that you have a nice energy, little Iz."
She has grown used to his strange comments and often ignored them.
"You have been outdoors a lot today, I think. What have you been doing at school?"
He would always make these strange observations, almost like he had soem sort of sixth sense. It was kind of cool, actually.
Izzy reached down into her backpack and grabbed her cycling helmet. She put it on and grinned. "The school has been teaching us how to cycle on the roads safely!"
She began to mime driving and car noises, screeching around corners and overtaking imaginary cars. Kian watched her with some amusement.
"I am pretty sure that is not a bike you are driving, kid."
"Shows what you know!" she shot back.
The butterfly flew right past Izzy's ear and she turned to gape at it. "Oh no, someone's overtaken me! Vrrom, vroooom!"
Her actions made Kian laugh quietly again as he took the apple from her back and began to eat it slowly. It was nice to have this sort of companionship with the kid, even if he had an awful feeling that it would end soon.
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As the triplets grew older their interests changed as well. Although Quinn still occasionally loved playing Xbox games, he began to get into books and board games more. He had changed most out of the three, but Ayr had also grown out of the imaginary games he used to play with Cara.
Lukas went back to working on projects - some even with Law, which was nice - and Echo started climbing up the doctor career, saving up money for the wedding.
They would always find time to spend with each other, of course.
Ayr and Cara still hung out a lot, and Cara had not given up her love for dancing.
To be honest Ayr hadn't either! And, even if he was never going to have the moves like Cara...
Sometimes he could impress her!
But Isabelle... was not as happy.
Kian just stopped turning up at the park one day, with no reason or explanation. It was so sudden, and she couldn't help but worry.
As she waited there for him to turn up, she noticed something.
Some of the bushes were a bit flattened, as if someone had half landed on one. And there were muddy prints all by the lake not too far away... Did it mean something, or was she being paranoid?
Eventually, though, she had to give up and go home.
Cara slumped into the seat next to Izzy and enjoyed the music from the kitty stereo she had brought along.
"Hey, Izzy!"
Isabelle grumbled something back.
"Are you still upset about your friend?"
"Of course I am," she snapped back. The homework was impossible tonight. Maybe she should ask Quinn's help. He always was the first one finished...
"You should get over him, Izzy. I know it sounds horrible but there's nothing else you can do."
"I know," she sighed. "But I'm worried that something happened to him."
And she had every right to be....
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