Farah hadn't realized how dark it was getting until the sun was gone. Suddenly, her heart began to race. She was in the dark in an unknown environment. She walked again by the same corner she had before, and for some reason, the men were still there.
"Hey, gorgeous!" one of them yelled at her. "How much for that ass?"
Farah looked away and sped up, but suddenly, strong fingers caught her wrist. She whipped around and immediately smelled the cigarette smoke and alcohol on his breath.
"You listen to me when I'm talking to you, babe. Got it?" he snarled close to her face.
Farah reeled back and pulled to get her arm free. "Let me go!" she demanded.
"Oooh, feisty!"
Farah's fear got the better of her, and within seconds, her eyes glowed. She shoved him backward with a powerful blast of magic before sprinting away.
The other men called out and wolf-whistled as her skirt flew, but Farah didn't care. She pulled out her phone and shakily dialed Aiki's phone number. "Please," she whispered, trembling. "Please pick up."
Aiki and Eiji's ears pricked at the sound of an explosion and both of them bolted in unison towards it. Aiki used his fire to light the way, and Eiji kept close to their side. Their hearts were racing and they couldn't help but feel that this explosion had to be connected to Farah.
Suddenly, Aiki's phone started to vibrate and they pulled it out of their pocket. Noticing it was Farah, he quickly picked up and held the phone up to their ear. "Farah! Where are you? Are you okay?" He asked worriedly, still running at full speed with Eiji.
Farah sighed with relief as she heard Aiki's voice. "Yes, I'm alright. I have no idea where I am, though." Then she paused, then her eyes glowed at the feeling of two worried presences moving quickly through the streets. "You're here, aren't you?"
"Um… alright, stay where you are. We'll come to you. Stay on the phone, okay?" Aiki and Eiji paused for a moment, taking in their surroundings to try and figure out exactly where Farah was. Soon, they took off again, drawing nearer to where Farah was.
"Alright." Farah was still trying to catch her breath from sprinting so fast as she felt the twins come closer. "Please hurry."
"We'll be there soon, I promise. Just be careful." After another couple of minutes, Aiki and Eiji came into the area and looked around until they spotted Farah in the midst of everything. They dodged and weaved through the sketchy people who were around at this hour so they could get to her. "Farah!"
Farah whipped around and saw Aiki and Eiji. She made her way over to them and sighed with relief. Then she frowned. "I can't believe you're both here at this hour."
"Well, we had to come find you! It's not safe out here in the city at night. The night people are gross and creepy." Aiki huffed, and Eiji sighed softly in relief to see that Farah was alright.
"I know," Farah remarked, absently touching her wrist where the man had grabbed her. "But that means that you two are also not safe being out here. Let's go."
"We'll be fine. We've never been attacked here before." Eiji insisted. Aiki was distant for a moment, and they didn't say anything. "But yeah, we should get going anyway." Eiji led the way, and Aiki followed in the back of the group.
Farah knew the thoughts in Aiki's mind without even needing to use her abilities. "Can we hurry?" she asked Eiji, glancing behind her to check on Aiki. "Come on," she urged, offering them her hand.
"Yeah, we'll be back pretty soon. We're not too far…" Eiji hummed thoughtfully as he led the group. Aiki accepted Farah's hand and held tightly to it, following closely behind the group, but remaining silent for now.
"I…" Farah hesitated before speaking. "I'm sorry for earlier. I shouldn't have snapped at you boys like that. I didn't mean it."
"It's fine… we're not angry." Eiji assured her with a soft smile. "We've got some leftover dinner at home for you if you're hungry, alright? Have to make sure you're taking care of yourself."
Farah nodded, slipping into silence with Aiki. She was thinking, and thinking hard.
Eventually, they made it back to the house and headed inside. "We should probably get to bed soon… it's pretty late."
Farah nodded. "Right," she agreed, walking absently up the stairs and to their sister's room.
Aiki and Eiji went to their own room and got ready for bed. Aiki didn't get much sleep, however, and looked exhausted in the morning.
Farah looked the same. She'd had a dream about Saul coming through the gateway to bring her back. In the dream, she'd cried tears of happiness, but when she woke up, it turned to tears of anguish. She darted into the bathroom before anyone could see her so she could clean up her face.
Aiki and Eiji were already eating in the kitchen by the time Farah came down. Aiki had put a little concealer under their eyes to try and hide the dark circles, but it didn't really help. Eiji looked up and waved when he saw her. "How did you sleep?"
Farah forced an easy smile and sat down beside Aiki. "As well as I could." Well, it wasn't a total lie…
Eiji nodded. Aiki was still keeping quiet as they ate, but he glanced up at Farah with a nod of acknowledgement. "Alright… we should get going soon, yeah?"
Farah looked confused for a moment before she realized the twins still had school. "Yes. Right."
"Um… if you don't want to go again, you don't have to. You can stay here if you want." Eiji offered. "My mom stays home, so I'm sure she wouldn't mind, but you're welcome to come to school with us again."
"I'll come with you," Farah promised with a small smile. "I don't mind."
