Benefactors

Chapter 21: A Look To the Past

August 14; 1840 HRS

Manhattan, New York

I looked around us, we were at the front door of an apartment building. Syth seemed about to fall over, so I rushed to her side and helped her stabilize herself. I put her arm around my shoulders. Ben rushed to the door of the complex. I helped Syth waddle through the door and up the flight of stairs to the second floor. Thomas, Athena and Ben followed behind. The place was kind of shady, a few marks of graffiti here and there. There was one light-bulb that seemed broken for months and dusty glass shards lay underneath it on the floor. The walls seemed that they could use some repairing, not too much though. 

We stopped in front of the apartment door 2B. There was a crumbled up paper that came from the other side of the door. Knowing Dad, I signaled for someone to pick it up, as I was still helping Syth. Thomas stepped to it, picked it up and read it aloud in a hushed voice. "' Natasha and Ben, we went to bed early. Couldn't sleep last night. Do not wake us up or you're doing laps around the block. Left it unlocked, be sure to lock it. 

Thomas turned the knob and it clicked open. I sat Syth on a dining room chair and went straight to the couch to pull it out. Athena locked the door behind us. Ben went to the closet, pulling out as many blankets and pillows as he could, ending up with a small pile of two blankets and three pillows. I guess one or two of us can go without blankets, it's only the middle of summer." Ben stated. "Syth will need one if she doesn't want to get sick." Athena inquired. Syth opened her mouth to protest but, figured it'd be better not to. 

"I can sleep without a pillow." I offered. Soon, we planned how it would go. Syth gets a pillow and blanket, I sleep on the pull-out mattress with her and share the blanket. Athena sleeps in the chair, no blanket or pillow. And Ben and Thomas slept on the floor, each with a pillow and sharing a blanket. We changed to different clothes in the bathroom one at a time and set our backpacks behind the couch. 

After all the lights were out and we started to settle down, I checked the time that lit on the kitchen stove. 7:23, that didn't take too long. The sun already started to set behind the buildings towering over the apartment complex. Unsure if the others were still awake, I called Athena's name quietly. A question had been roaming through my mind since Ben suggested we came here, I figured it was finally time to ask. 

"Yeah?" Athena questioned through the dark, only a few feet from me. "Why did we never go back to HQ?" I asked. 

There was silence for a couple minutes, as I think she was collecting her thoughts. "Our last tank of Omnesium had a gas leak. Almost everyone had found time to evacuate the premises before mutations could occur because Vladimir had warned them after noticing the complication. Vlad found a gas mask after being temporarily exposed though. We're now waiting for it to clear out, which could last a few days, we don't know."

"Is Vlad alright?" I almost popped out of bed to hear what she said next.

"He'll be alright."

That was the last thing I heard before I felt my eyes close to the darkness and letting it envelope me in the grip of sleep. (Ironically, the author went to sleep at this time too)

August 15; 0712 HRS

>>><<<

I woke to the sound of voices arguing almost inaudibly, the smell of bacon protruded everywhere.Which woke me up? Probably the bacon.

I smoothed my hair down and covered up the claw marks on my arm with the sleeve. Sitting up, I looked at who was arguing, it was my parents. "Good morning, people who gave me a life." I smiled. They waved their hellos and went back to whatever it was they were mad about. Probably the fact that I brought three people when I said only Ben and I were coming. The other four were still asleep. I looked at my watch. Wow, 13 hours of sleep, good job Natasha. The knocking sounded through the door again. I rubbed my eyes, yawning loudly and got off the pull-out couch, trying not to wake Syth. Then, I lept over Ben to get over to them.

"I'm sorry for the intrusion guys, but our place had a really bad gas leak and we hadn't much cash on us to get a place. 

They seemed to calm down a little bit after that explanation "And Mom, since you're a nurse... Do you think you could take a look at Syth?"

"What happened?" Mom asked. Dad went over to the bacon to flip it. "There was an accident, and she was impaled by a rock. It's not too bad, but we thought we could use a nurse and bandages. I may have also tried to give her a temporary fix," I rose my voice in defense. "mainly because, we were in an extremely bad situation."

Mom looked at me worriedly,  "Why didn't you take her to a hospital."

I looked at her, unsure how to explain that doctors might not think highly of an alien element in Syth's system. "Long story." I said finally. "Why didn't you come to me last night?" Mom asked. "Because, I'm an idiot and I didn't think of it." I shunned myself. 

1628 HRS

>>><<<

By now, everyone was awake and Mom had fixed Syth up by now. "Natasha and Ben." Dad called. We went up to him, front and center and replied "Yes, sir?"

"I want you running the block. Three for every guest you brought here." he commanded. Dad was pretty mad. "Dismissed." Dad's voice rang. "Yes sir." we shouted in unison. Why'd Dad have to be in the army, I thought. He wasn't anymore, now he was a tow truck driver for our cousin's family business. "Guys." I called all of them, trying to keep my voice as low as possible from my parents. "Dad wants Ben and I to run blocks for you guys. Should I just tell him now? So, I don't freak out the city?"

"Natasha," Athena started " You can run past without people seeing you."

"True. I'm freaking out over nothing, aren't I?"

"Possibly."

I shook my head, what the heck is wrong with me? "I guess I'll wait it out at an arcade or something. Heck, I don't know if I can go slow anymore."

"You're just lucky you don't have to run like I do." Ben put in.

"Just text me when you're on your way back." I rolled my eyes, "I'll let you win." Loser always had to run an extra lap. Ben smiled at my offer. 

1639 HRS

>>><<<

We were at our starting line. Ben on my left. In a minute, we'd be off. The clock ticked to four forty "Go." I shouted. Ben was off as fast as his normal legs could take him. It was just me and him. I stood at the start, waiting for the clear. There were a few people and I couldn't just take off with them looking my way. I looked at the clock, four- forty seven. How long does it take for people to turn away?

Eventually, they did look away. So, I bolted. Straight for whatever place I could find first. In a few seconds, I was about to pass Ben. A thought occurred to me, like something I couldn't place. I had a feeling it was from a long time ago, but at the same time, it was very important. The green sparks started forming around me. What? No. I'm not thinking of a memory. Am I?

I tried shaking it off by saying a Captain America reference to Ben as I passed his left. But next thing I knew, we were in a dark building, very little light. "Angelina stop running, you're in your time-travel state!" Ben yelled a few seconds too late. "Anton, my name's not Angelina."

"My name's not Anton." Ben stated. I looked at him in confusion. "Did I really call you Anton?" He nodded. "What's going on?"

>>><<<

HEY WATTPAD LOVERS, WRITERS, AND READERS! Confused? Here's a hint---> Go read the first book. And if that doesn't help, wait for the next chapter! Have a good one guys! I'll try to get the next one up ASAP.

>>><<<

RECONSTRUCTED