Violette grabs my arm and starts pulling me towards the subway so we aren't late; I unintentionally groan in pain as she does. "Ainsley, what was that about? Were you hurt when he kneed you earlier? If so, we definitely need to call mom and Roger so they can handle the reunion prep and we can get you to a doctor!" I stand there and let out a small chuckle as I scratch the back of my head.
"Haha, umm actually yeah, I'm having a bit of a hard time breathing right now, much less walking. I'm pretty sure when he kneed me in the gut earlier, I broke a few ribs and it hurts a lot. I'm also kind of scared about hurting any organs with the broken bones, which I know is making it worse since that is causing me to tense up but I can't seem to get the thought out of my head. Could you call them? I really don't feel up to talking much right now," as I say this Violette slowly walks me over to a bench and I sit down.
"Of course, Ainsley, don't worry I'll get ahold of them soon! You just sit there and stay still," Vi says this and pulls out her phone. She puts her phone up to her ear after pressing the call button; she hears "Sorry but your phone is no longer in service please refill service by xxx or your number will no longer be active, goodbye...." "Seriously, of all days!! I'm sorry Ainsley my phone is out of minutes, I'll run down to the station, there should be a phone there you just stay here and I'll be right back." I simply nod and motion for her to go. She quickly starts heading to the station, and I start thinking back on the fight and think about how many ways that could have gone wrong. Lord, I really do need to be more thoughtful. I could've died for some random stranger's bag I think to myself. As I'm thinking this I notice that the old lady I helped out earlier is heading this way along with an older gentleman. Hmm, there's a lack of people in the area. Is it just too early for too many people to be out, or could it just be one of those dead times people talk about where almost no one is in a specific part of town for no particular reason? I think about it while I wave at the old woman with a smile. For some reason, I feel like I can trust them.
"Well hello there, young man. My husband wanted to thank you for your help earlier," the old lady finishes her sentence with the loving voice of a mother she smiles at me with kind eyes. and the older gentleman nods before continuing to walk towards Ainsley and sitting next to him.
"Yes thank you, young man. That was very brave of you. We are sincerely thankful for your help, please accept this as a token of our gratitude." As he says this he pulls out a wad of cash and goes to hand it to Ainsley.
"Oh sir you are being far too generous I definitely don't deserve this!" Ainsley says this while pushing the money away.
"Young man well if you don't want to take this as a reward then take it as a reimbursement for the injured ribs you got earlier" Ainsley's eyes widen in surprise as he opens his mouth, the old man interjects " Yes we knew my wife was able to see the whole thing, so just take the thanks and use the money to fix those ribs... okay?"
I smile "Of course, thank you sir! But how did she know I hurt my ribs I thought I did a pretty good job at keeping it hidden"
"Hahahah" the old man laughs heartily, " my wife has some exceptional eyes not to mention her instincts. Either way just take the money" the older gentleman stands up and smiles one more time at Ainsley. Then right as he turns around he speaks in a low quiet and surprisingly serious voice "Oh yes there also a note In that money take care to read that before anyone returns here you've got at most 5 minutes" the old man says this and just disappears in front of Ainsley.
"Wait what! Who, how, what just...." he says this and digs out the note and sticks the money in his pocket.
[Don't trust Roger or Veronica, don't go to that reunion, only trust Violette and yourself trust your instincts, or if you feel you have any friends from your school you can trust with your life go get them and keep them close in 3 days head to Vientar mountain we will have other allies waiting for you there. but don't wait for your guardian to get to you today you'll die so be careful and you can't go to the police they'll die as well, in that wad of money is a small pill taped to the innermost bill similar to where you found the note, it will heal you
so use the money for your trip. Roger and Veronica are the reason we had to leave 5 years ago. Remember to trust yourself above all else! Never forget we are proud of you and love you more than anything else!]
As Ainsley is reading this note a couple finally stop running after they put a couple hundred miles between them they look at each other with tears in their eyes and begin to morph back to younger versions of themselves, "I am so glad he is okay hopefully he listens to our warning!" as the now younger lady says this she is embraced and they just stand there together holding each other for a moment.
"Of course he will be fine you saw him today even without our training he was strong and fast, just as I would expect from our boy there is no doubt he will be a strong ancients in the future we just have to make sure he is safe from Roger and the other myths. At least until he can reach the starting line!" as the younger man says this he looks to the woods and narrows his eyes. "hmm they were faster than I thought they'd be."
"No need to think about that, the others are going to stop him, he won't reach the starting line, but don't you worry about that you'll reach your finish line far before that." a tall handsome man with well-defined muscles walks from the woods with black eyes and smiles cruelly at the couple, "well hey there brother, Amelia you look good despite our last meeting."
Ainsley finishes reading the note as tears stream down his face "they're alive!! and I get to see them in three days!!" he smiles widely happier now than he has ever remembered being in his life just glad that his parents are fine and that he was always right and they didn't just leave for no reason. alright so what do I do? how do I do this without dying, hmm I wonder if this will work?