The Last Four Mates

"They're a pain in my back." - Emilio

"Hey, Emilio!" Lily was leaning over his back and had been trying to get his attention for several minutes. But she only succeeded when she was hissing in his ear.

Emilio had been trying not to think of the searing pain crossing his back every six seconds. He had been able to learn how to make his face go blank over time. Which was helpful because his back had been yelling at him to get out of school and find at least one of his mates for the past three hours.

He was knocked out of studying the tree on the other side of the school yard by his only friend hissing in his ear. The first thought to pass through his head was the teacher was calling on him but looking up he realized that Mr. Brock was passed out on his desk.

Turning around to look at his friend, and ignoring the pain, he gave her a glare. He wasn't trying to be mean but the pain was enough for him to not enjoy turning. "What?" He hissed back at her.

Lily looked shocked for a second Emilio was not the kind of person to be mean, even to someone that hurt him. But he was scary when you hurt Lily, every one knew this.

"Did your..." she started. "Don't!" Emilio hissed again, cutting her off and glancing around. "Why would you bring that up here? You know I dont want anyone to know!" He whisper-yelled.

Emilio looked at his friends shocked and hurt face, "Sorry, you wanna skip and talk?" Lily looked at the still sleeping teacher then back at Emilio who looked genuinely sorry, and nodded her head.

Grabbing their stuff they headed out of the class, ignoring the stares they got as they did. (Nerds never leave a class, even if the teacher is asleep!)

The two were silent as they walked to Lily's Jeep, and drove to their spot.

Lily parked and got out climbing up the tree to their hideout. Emilio paused at the bottom of the tree to push down the pain that was shooting up his back. Looking up to see Lily watching him, he climbed up and sat next to her.

Sighing at the feeling of the cool bark against his back, he looked up staring between the leaves to the sky. "You okay, Leo?" Lily whispered, not wanting to disrupt the quiet, but she was worried about Emilio.

He closed his eyes, and taking in a deep breath he answered, "Yeah. I think so. And before you ask, no, it wasnt HIM." Opening his eyes Emilio looked at Lily, who was frowning at him. "Then what is it. The only time you acted like this was on your 17th birthday..." She trailed off, looking at him in shock, "You have a soulmate mark."

Emilio looked down to his hands and nodded, "Yeah, and they're not weak. I have three. They're a pain in my back."

Then something dawned on him, looking up at her in panic, he whispered, "Please don't tell anyone. I don't want to have to go in."

Lily didn't know what to say, her best friend had been hiding the fact that he had soulmates and that the virus didn't affect him like it affected her. But more importantly she felt betrayed that he didn't trust her.

Emilio took her silence as an answer and stared at her at the betrayal he felt. Trying to keep in the tears he could feel building up he jumped out of the tree running as fast as he could. He knew that if she said something to anyone about him, he was a goner.

He had to leave and fast.

Emilio ran for the his house and snuck in through the tree next to his bedroom. Grabbing his empty backpack he started to pack, only stopping to lock the door when he heard movement from downstairs, he didn't want HIM to come up.

"Clothes, Dolly, Blankets, Books, Water bottle..." he started listing hoping that he wouldn't forget anything important. He felt his neck, with a sigh he smoothed over his amulet, then shoved it back in his shirt hiding it like he always had.

He reached under his bed and pulled a full knife set out. "Well, I will need something to protect me." He said with a shudder, shoving it in his bag, "I just hope I don't have to use it."

He grabbed one more blanket and his jacket, and paused to look in his full length mirror. He was wearing a pear of black skinny jeans, a plain white tank top, his finger less gloves, and some black high top converse. With his black leather jacket his look would be complete.

Emilio didn't think he looked that bad, his black outfit complemented his white hair and his green eyes. He took a deep breath, looking around his room one last time, and climbed out the window. That was the room he grew up in, his mom had painted the walls for him before he was born and just changed the furniture as he grew.

Emilio was broken that he had to leave the small town he knew so well, but he couldn't stay any longer. Not if he didn't want to be experimented on. He knew that the doctors would do anything to get a cure for the virus. Even if that meant a cage and torture a 17 year old boy.