Episode 4- Relationships

He was confused. William's parents weren't killed in an accident? They were murdered? But what he most confused about was that William didn't have a Stelles. He didn't think it was possible for a person to be born without a Stelles.  He thought she was making up a story to explain William's reaction. When he thought about it made sense. William never said anything about his Stelles and when the talk came up, he was uncomfortable and didn't join in any discussions. Noah was also confused with how traumatic William's parents' deaths were. Then he remembered William's reactions in school. When they were in school and it was their physical education class, he would always look away or turn pale when someone scraped their knees while playing basketball or soccer. When they walked and saw stalls cooking, he would avoid them and walk at a faster speed. At first, Noah had assumed that William didn't like seeing people in pain or that he didn't want to be tempted by food, but now that he heard the real story, he couldn't deny it. He had thought that he had a hard life. Of course, he knew that William's parents had passed away, but he never knew the reason. His parents were alive but they were always traveling because of their jobs. He was always alone at home but his family was rich so he had money to spend and use to buy things to entertain himself. While he did have all of this, he liked being with William the most. William was entertaining to him and a good friend. His grades were good and he didn't flaunt them like others. And most importantly, he never took advantage of his friendship with Noah. Noah used to have many "friends" who tried to get on his good side and have him buy them things but when he met William when they were 8 in school, he left them. His first impression was that William was a cool, smart guy who liked being alone. That was far from the truth. While it was true that he was smart, he was also clumsy and he didn't like being alone but he was too shy to talk to others. He got hurt often and was always pale. But other than that, he was kind. He never asked for anything from Noah and he always helped him if he needed it. When they realized that they lived across from each other, they would always stay over each other's houses and play video games until it was morning. He had thought that they were similar. They had never felt real love from their parents and they both had a kind of atmosphere around them. One that signaled others not to get too close. Now that he had heard William's story, it didn't affect him as much as he thought it would. William was William, his precious friend. He looked up at Emma. She looked like her nerves were on the edge.

"This is all true, right? You aren't lying?"

She nodded.

"Then it's fine. William is still William. Nothing has changed. Even if he doesn't have a Stelles, we're still friends."

She let out a sigh in relief.

"Thank you."

"It's fine, but I just want to know. Why did you guys keep all this a secret?"

"It's because we still don't know. We don't know who the attackers were nor do we know why his family was attacked. It might put you in danger if you knew."

"Well, since I already got attacked, it doesn't matter anymore."

"No. We don't know that for sure. If they made contact with you then they might come again."

"Who is they?"

Emma caught herself. She only had her suspicions so it was not certain but if she was right then they were in more danger than she thought. The Konals were secretive and if it was them, they would be powerless to stop them.

"That I can't say. I have an idea but it might not be true."

"Fine then. Now that I know about Will, tell me about the Lylle. What is it? Why did that person want its power?"

"The Lylle huh?"

She let out another sigh and looked at William. He was still sleeping on the couch and his breathing was steadier than it was before. Would it be alright if she told them? She still needed to investigate herself. Then she saw the clock. 9: 26. The investigation. She almost forgot about it.

"Ah! I'm going to be late!"

"Late?"

That's right. She was a police officer and she needed to go to work. Emma ran to the front door. Before she left, she turned around.

"Could you take care of Will for me? I'll come back around 7 so just stay here and I'll explain to you."

"I have school though!"

She slammed the door closed behind her before hearing Noah's answer. He sighed and sat there. He was gonna skip school for the first time.

"Noah. Where's Emma?"

He looked up in surprise and looked over at William. He was awake but he looked pale. Noah got up and checked his temperature with the back of his hand. He was still hot.

"She went to work. Let's go to your room."

He wrapped William's left arm and strapped it around his neck. Noah supported him as they made their way to William's room and put him on the bed. As Noah was about to sit down, the doorbell rang. He got up and headed for the door.

"Stay there and sleep. I'll check to see who it is."

He went to the front door and opened it.

"Eh! Noah? Am I at the right house?"

"You imbecile. Why aren't you at school?"

"Cause I didn't see Will there."

"So I'm nothing to you then?"

"Yea. That's right. Why?"

"Anyways, how did you leave school?"

"Oh, that's easy. I told the teacher that my grandma was sick and that I needed to go home because it was an emergency."

"Crafty as always aren't you?"

"So where's Will?"

"He has a fever and he's sleeping."

"Is Emma home?"

"No. She went to work a few minutes ago. Just come inside for now."

Amber Teya. Her brown hair was tied up in a ponytail and she was wearing a leather jacket and shorts. She was a friend of theirs and was one of the few people who were able to interact with William without making him feel uncomfortable. Of all times why did she have to come now? No. Her Stelles might be able to help him. Her Stelles, being able to go into a person's dream as long as she was within 5 meters and being able to alter and change it into anything she thought of.

"Come here and help me a bit."

He dragged her to William's room and opened the door. William had fallen asleep but his face was in a grimace.

"Use your Stelles. He's probably getting a nightmare because of the fever."

She was confused but she knelt down beside the bed and raised her hand. She closed her eyes and tried to invade his dream. She saw flames spreading and blood dripping from a body. A knife flashed downwards and there was a scream. She opened her eyes and shook her head. She had to do her job. She closed them and again and imagined a white space and transformed the dream until all the flames disappeared she there were no more sounds. She opened her eyes again. She gasped and looked over at William. His breathing slowed and his face relaxed. What kind of dream was that?

"Hey, Noah-."

"Not here. Let's go outside and let him sleep."

She followed him out and closed the door. They went to the living room and sat down.

"Can you explain to me what's going on? What kind of dream was that? Do you know why he had it?"

"What did you see?"

"Flames, a knife, splattered blood."

He put his head in his hands and sighed before looking up.

"What I'm about to tell you, is something that Emma told me. But since you're one of the few people we can trust, I'll tell you. But while I'm talking, could you go and make some porridge for Will? I can't cook."

She looked at him in disbelief and headed to the kitchen. While she was cooking, he talked and told her what Emma had told him. When he finished, he was worried that her feelings for William might change. This must have been how Emma felt. It was silent. She put a lid on the pot and turned around.

"If... if what you're saying is true then the knife doesn't make sense."

"What?"

"Like I said before. I saw a knife but if Will's parents were killed because of fire, why would there be a knife?"

"No, wait. What about Will?"

"What about him? Am I surprised? Yes, but I already noticed that he was afraid of fire and blood. What if he doesn't have a Stelles? My love isn't that shallow."

He smiled. Of course. This was the kind of person she was after all. Bright and brutally honest and observant. Of course, she was too direct sometimes but this was what made her a good friend, unlike the other girls who would stalk Will.

"Back to the main topic. Why was there a knife?"

"What knife?"

"When I invaded Will's dream, I saw a knife being stabbed down and there was blood but I didn't see who was holding it or where Will was. And I'm sure it was something recent he saw because the image was clear."

"A knife. From what Emma told me, his parents were killed by fire but other than that I don't know. We don't know what Will's parents' Stelleses are either. Apparently, Will never told Emma."

Amber looked down, thinking. If that was true then the knife must have been from something that Will saw and experienced himself. Dreams usually depicted things that were related to a person's own memories and they took different forms but William's dream was clear. This meant that it was a recent memory. But how could that be possible?

"Well. There's no use thinking about it. Let's ask him ourselves."

"Wait. What? Amber?"

She headed straight to William's room and opened the door. His eyes flickered open.

"Who-?"

"Amber! He still has a fever!"

Amber? What was she doing here? His head was spinning and his body was hot. He sat up.

"What is it?"

"Do you know what your parent's Stelles are?"

"What?"

He looked at her in horror as Noah sighed behind Amber.

"What do you mean? Why?"

His palms were soaked and beads of sweat were dripping from his face. He was still dizzy and he was shocked by the question.

"Sorry Will. Emma told me. About your family. And your trauma. And I told Amber just earlier. Why didn't you tell us any of this? We're friends aren't we?"

"Why?"

His voice shook. Even though Emma told him to keep it a secret. Even though he knew the way they thought about him would change. He had kept this secret and was always careful. Now everything was out. He stared down in despair, clutching his blanket. Noah looked at him. He could feel his fear and his face was struggling to find words

"It's fine. You don't have to tell us, Will. It's fine. Amber, let's go."

If only he could have stopped Emma. If only he wasn't asleep during that time. He could have stopped them from finding out. If only time turned back.

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