CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE: A STRANGE FAMILY (Draft 1)

Flame tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep. He couldn't stop thinking about how strange the Greens were acting. Frankly, he felt uncomfortable at the number of times he caught them staring at him with a wicked smile on their faces. 

Why were they so surprised when they found out he was Gio's friend? Were they the reason G didn't want Flame to come over in the first place? Flame frowned - something told him he didn't want to know the answers to those questions. Yet, he was too worried about his friend to stop thinking about it. Was he not being treated well? 

'Stop.' He told himself. He was being paranoid about a few creepy and awkward interaction and was jumping to conclusions. He sighed wearily; he was probably acting that way because of what he'd found out about his mother. 

He was relieved to finally know who his mother was. He didn't necessarily like it, but he was happy to think she could still be alive and out there. Nevertheless, he was still hurt that she left him. Did she not want him? He was only a baby... But what hurt him even more was the fact that his aunt never told him the truth. Did she think he'd end up like his mother? A criminal? 'Well,' he thought, with a smile on his face, slowly realising the irony of it all. In a way, he was going down a similar path as his mother. He's broken into his aunt's study - going through her documents, books and files - he's even gone as far as to break into the police station and steal something from a safe. He chuckled, his aunt never told him anything to prevent him from resorting to such activities, and yet, he was doing everything to find out what she never told him. 

He sighed, disappointed in himself. He shouldn't judge Gio's family just because he was upset with his own. 

He sat up and turned towards the bed. His friend was sitting up and staring out the window. 

He smiled, "Hey G, what're you doing up?" 

His friend didn't answer. 

Flame frowned, growing worried. He got up slowly, careful not to make any noise, before tiptoeing towards Gio's bed. He couldn't see his face, which caused him to grow increasingly worried as he got close. He sat next to him and placed a hand on his shoulder, "G?" 

Gio slowly turned towards Flame, revealing his trembling hands. His pupils were dilated, and his breathing was shallow, "Flame..." 

Flame's eyes widened as he muttered, "Gio... what's happening?" 

"I..." Gio responded his voice cracking and sounding more robotic, "I don't kn-know..." 

With that, he began glitching, causing Flame to pull his hand away in shock. Gio looked down at his shaking hands, which were also glitching rapidly, and looked back up at Flame, fear in his eyes, "H-h-help me-e..." 

 

There was a knock on the front door as Gregory and Lillian Green slowly turned away from their lab. Behind them, the unusual walls that Flame had seen earlier that day were replaced with multiple screens, with one huge one in the center. 

"She's here," Gregory muttered with a grin. 

His wife shared his wicked smile, "Finally." 

They opened the door to reveal a beautiful woman. She wore a black coat with a red shirt and black jeans underneath it. She had freshly rouged lips which were a dark shade of red that matched her shirt and heels. Her wavy, ginger hair was tucked behind one ear, which revealed a gold hoop earring. She wore a strangely satisfied look on her face as her green eyes twinkled with mischief. 

Anyone would have mistaken her for Alexandra Speed if it weren't for her sinister smile. 

Gregory and Lillian bowed down to her, greeting her graciously and in unison, "Welcome ma'am." 

The woman held her chin up high, acknowledging them and walking in, her heels clacking behind her with every step she took. 

 

"G... who did this to you?" Flame breathed. 

It had been a few minutes after Gio stopped glitching. His hands had also stopped trembling, and his breathing had returned to normal. 

"They did," Gio mutter, looking away. 

"They who?" Flame growled, anger bubbling inside of him. 

A single tear fell from his friend's eyes, "My parents..." 

Words couldn't describe the shock Flame had felt at that moment. He was angry, confused, sad. He didn't know what to say. 

They sat in silence for a moment before he finally asked, "But... how?" 

Gio took a deep breath before looking back out the window, avoiding eye contact with Flame, "It's a long story Flame..."