Chapter 15: Bugged

Drake and Erika sat on the bench for a moment in silence. Then, just as Drake was about to speak, his phone beeped. He had somehow missed a call. He debated whether or not to check it, then grabbed it and flipped it open. The missed call was from Beschermer. "I'll wait a few minutes and see if he leaves a message." he thought. Moments alter, another beep. 'NEW MESSAGE' displayed on his screen.

"Erika, I'm sorry, but this will have to wait a little longer. Message from Beschermer, could be important." said Drake
Erika looked up at him and smiled feebly. "Alright...we can talk later." she said

Drake dialed voicemail and stood up, walking over to the water fountain a few feet away.

"Drake, this is Beschermer. We've located another and we're on our way back to you. No more in north America, so we'll be moving on soon. Don't want to give away too much, because we could be listened in on. We'll talk in person tommorrow, I believe you said you have a three-day-weekend?" ~CLICK~

"Well, it sounds like they've found another one like us... and they'll be here in the morning to talk to us. They're moving on to another continent, I guess...no more here in North America. I guess we can't have all the fun." he said
"That's good. Hey, I've got class in a few minutes...walk me to my locker?" she asked
"Yeah, sure." Drake answered. "I guess we can talk on the bus or something...our class together this afternoon isn't a good place to try and talk, we'll get caught."
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"Mistress Belinka!" said the excited young woman. "I've intercepted a phone call from Beschermer to the boy with the Thunder crystal...apparently they've found another crystal, the last one in North America."
A shadowed figure moved in the corner of the room, making it's way into the light. "Nice work, Claire. That saves us the trouble of looking for any more in North America...did he say where they were going next?" said Belinka.
"No, mistress. He mentioned something about not wanting to reveal too much, in case they were being overheard or intercepted. He simply said he would be back in the area to talk to them, and they would be leaving again soon." said Claire.
"Doesn't miss a trick, Beschermer...We need to find out where he's going next... so we can track a different area entirely. Send an agent to follow them wherever they go, while we go somewhere else. We'll cover twice the ground that way, and do half the work." she said, laughing.
"Marvelous plan, Mistress. shall I contact the child of flame to watch the others?" asked Claire
"Yes, I think it's best to do that. Get her to find out where they're off to next. Tell her to maintain her cover, I think that kid with the Thunder spirit still thinks she has the potential for good." she said, a grin on her face. "I mean, I'm the one who sent our darling Inferno there to begin with..."
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Drake's next class was one with Fern, and he was surprised to see her sitting in her seat next to him when he walked in the classroom. She had the tiniest hint of a smile on her face when she saw Drake walk in, then it vanished in an instant. She saw him notice it. Drake sat down and prepared himself for yet another class, just trying to get through it so he could talk to Erika again.

The class went by fast enough, it was uneventful and boring. Drake and Erika met up outside their last class, which they had together. Another uneventful class went by and Drake and Erika parted ways after, going to their respective lockers to get ready to go home. They met at the bus and sat in their new usual spot, in the back.

"Finally!" Erika exclaimed. "I've been dying to get away from that wretched place for what seems like forever!"
Drake chuckled. "I know what you mean...I've been waiting to talk to you." he said
"About what?" asked Erika, hoping against hope that her heart wasn't about to be broken.
"About...well, about us, I suppose." he said licking his lips so they wouldn't stick together and gum up his words.
Erika silently sat there a moment. "Alright, go ahead." she said
"Well...Like you said this morning, we're friends. And then all this happened today. It kinda got me thinking, well, I had already kinda been thinking..." he started.
"Oh crap, here it comes..." she thought
"I- I think we could...well, if you feel the same way, that is. We could maybe be more."

Erika's heart was racing. "Wait, seriously?!" she asked
Drake's heart sunk. "Well, only if you wanted to...it's ok if you d-"
"No, no I do!" she said
"Really?" asked Drake, a smile appearing on his face.
"Well, yeah! I'd been kinda thinking for a while too, but I figured it might be too early to bring it up."
"Alright then, great! Um, well, there's not really much different, I suppose, is there? I mean we've kinda bonded pretty well really fast." he said
"Well, now we can actually show it in public, I guess. I don't know. We'll talk about it later, I guess. I think we need to get in some extra practice tonight if he's coming in the morning." said Erika
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Well...?" asked Belinka.
"I made the call, it's been taken care of..." said Claire.
"Excellent." she said.


END Ch 15