SAYING THE WORDS aloud made me feel like a monster, like a selfish little girl trying to jeopardise a happy relationship - if that's what you could even call it. I knew deep down that he would have felt more betrayed if it had been Klaru who'd dropped the bombshell on him, that was if she had ever intended on him finding out. Perhaps she had hoped to keep playing the innocent princess and would have continued to play her little game for a while longer, pretending to actually be interested in him all in order to take the title role and break him completely. That would have been more heart-breaking for Louis, a wound too deep to heal. So I knew that it was better he heard the truth from me. Never had I felt so guilty, as if it were my fault, and the look of disbelief Louis gave me made me feel even more uneasy and thoroughly disgusted: with myself for delivering the news, and for Klaru, the feature of the news. But there was no choice, he had to know. Reminding myself that I was doing a good deed, I nodded and squeezed his hand tighter before I told him everything.   

Throughout my retelling, I couldn't help but glance up at Louis every so often, only to find that he had been frowning for the entirety of it. I forced myself to keep going, surprised that he hadn't asked me to stop or questioned anything I'd said; he just listened. I was glad he did in a way, because it made it a whole lot easier to just gush it all out. I think he knew that I was desperate to let it all out.

At some point Jason had appeared and he sat down on the bed beside me and wrapped a protective arm around my shoulders. He too didn't bother to interrupt me, except when he brought me my drink. With him being the newest member of our little group, it was good for him to hear exactly what was going on. 

As I wrapped it up, Jason was the first to speak. "So, your girlfriend is actually a psycho?" he asked Louis over the top of his mug. He asked it so casually, as if he and Louis were best mates who went back years. 

Louis looked bewildered, speechless. His mouth was slightly open, as if he wanted to speak, but didn't quite know what to say. How could he think of something coherent after finding out his other half had been planning a betrayal for so long? My heart broke for him, and the look of vacancy in his eyes made my throat tighten. I wanted to cry for him, but at the same time I wanted to be strong for him. I'd cried enough in the past twenty-four hours because of my own problems, so I would be tough for him when he was dealing with his.

"I'm so sorry, Louis," I whispered, entwining our fingers together. He didn't pull back right away, but when he did, the look he gave me was not hurt, nor confusion; it was anger.

"Are you informing me that Klaru is behind everything that has happened to me?"

I could only nod, a lump forming in my throat as I struggled to say, "I'm afraid so."

His jaw clenched. "Wow," he whispered, looking down at his lap. "I'm not quite sure what to say, Flora."

That was fine, I didn't expect him to be fine with it, especially after he'd told how much the pair of them respected each other. I couldn't imagine being in his position. "I didn't expect you to be too thrilled with it," I admitted. "But I don't know if you truly believe what I'm saying. Do you?" I had to know if he did or didn't believe me. I'd be crushed if he didn't, and without any sort of proof to show him, I would be treading on thin ice.

Jason cleared his throat and took our empty cups in his hands. "Anyone want a refill? Coffee, perhaps some alcohol, either is good I guess."

Louis and I both declined his offer and with a nod of his head, he left the room. Thankful that he had been able to feel the tension in the room, I smiled at him over my shoulder and mouthed the words 'thank you' as he left for the stairs. He returned a sympathetic smile. And so Louis and I sat there on the bed, in silence as he mulled over everything I had told him. If someone I loved betrayed me in such a way, I wouldn't know where it begin, what action to take or who to confide in - but then I remembered that David had fúcked me over in the past. As someone who had carried a heart of steel for so long and finally crumbled for the first time in years, I could easily relate to how the prince was feeling. I knew how he felt; alone, completely betrayed and confused. His only friends on this planet were Jason and I, and his entire crew back at the ship, but they weren't entirely easy to reach. 

"Louis," I urged, lifting my hand to place comfortingly on his shoulder. He flinched however, and I retracted, hurt for a second and worried that he had decided not to believe me. Why would he, after all? I was a friend of a couple months, not someone he had known since childhood, who he was engaged to and expected to be in love with while ruling an entire planet at the same time. Compared to Klaru, I was nothing special; I was just me, a little human with no clue and big dreams.

"I'm sorry," he eventually managed, looking at me directly for a couple of seconds. "It's just ... I do want to believe you, Flora. You have no reason to lie to me, and it's not as if you would make up something so extravagant. It's just... I mean, surely you must realise how difficult it is for me to try and take in, to accept. It's overwhelming."

I nodded, unable to verbally agree with him because I couldn't - I was still nervous of him choosing to brush it off as a lie. However, when he continued to sit there with a sad face, I realised he couldn't even bring himself to think otherwise. I realised that he'd have no choice to believe me, because everything just clicked into place - the Councillors having cast him from the ship in the first place, all to help rid Junites of their 'problem' at the same time as helping out Klaru.

"Was she in a human disguise?" Louis asked.

I nodded. "Yeah. Red hair, yellow eyes and all. Pretty, but not on the inside it would seem."

Louis just chuckled quietly, looking into my eyes as he said, "She always seemed to be ... I don't know, distant? Whenever we were required to be with each other, there was always this uneasy feeling I couldn't quite decipher. I always assumed it was because she was having second thoughts, you know? That she was suddenly realising how unfair the whole arranged marriage thing was. I thought she was hurt deep inside. But I guess if what you say is true, it was malice all along."

Wrapping my arm around his shoulder, I told him, "I wish I had some sort of proof to show you." Anything would do, like a recording of her grand betrayal speech or some sort of wound she had inflicted-

"Oh, my God," I gasped as I wrestled to push my sleeve up my arm. "There is proof."

"There is?" Louis asked, genuinely concerned. It were as if he had been doubting it the whole time and could finally breathe. 

"Mm-hm," I mumbled as I turned and showed him. "I completely forgot to tell you about this - when I woke up, I was connected to this machine and she was transferring alien blood into my system. She was planning on taking us both to Junito after they caught you. Probably to kill me you know, but that doesn't matter just now."

Louis inspected my arm carefully, looking at the slight raise under my skin where the needle had been embedded. In fact, it was the first time I had had a chance to have a peek at the small incision. It wasn't too big, maybe slightly larger than your normal injection sized needle and the swelling was a little inflamed. 

"Am I going to die?" I asked humorously.

Louis looked me in the eye. "Maybe," he said.

My smile faded. "What?"

Then he laughed and slapped my knee gently. "No, I'm just messing with you." He laughed for a moment, hugging his stomach as he slowly calmed down. "Are you glad I've learnt to make jokes?"

I wanted to remain serious with him, but I couldn't help the giggle from escaping my lips. He was so innocent, so naive and so terribly in danger.

"No, you won't die," Louis continued, "but you may feel slightly light-headed and sick for a few ... hang on." He frowned all of a sudden, inching his face closer to my arm. 

From downstairs, I heard a commotion in the kitchen. 

"Jason, you alright?" I called.

"Um, I'm not sure. Are there supposed to be creepy looking guys with big knives coming towards the house?"

Louis and I exchanged a look of uncertainty, my brain taking a moment to realise that the people Jason were referring to could only be the Councillors. Louis knew this too, for we jumped in unison to the window to look down at the street. To my horror, Jason hadn't been joking; the three of them - Malor, Norkar and Heras - were marching towards my home from three different directions, Striking Blades in hand, sparking with electrical currents. Klaru was nowhere in sight, I noticed. Where is she? 

"It's them," I whispered.

"I can see that," Louis returned, nodding to my arm in the process. "It's because of that."

I looked down at the uneven skin and shot him a quizzical look. "The transfer?"

"It wasn't a transfer at all. It was tracking serum. She planted a bug in your system in case you managed to escape. Clever, because she knew you'd come straight to me as soon as you made it out."

My heart sank to my stomach as I took in his words, recalling the evil glint in Klaru's eye after removing all the needles. "Sneaky bitch."

"Guys!" Jason was suddenly at the bedroom door, panting. "I may be wrong but I think we should get the hell out of here."

Jason grabbed my hand, I grabbed Louis' and we all grabbed the first chance to evacuate the building, rushing out of the bedroom door and down the hall. Clueless and in a panic, my head spun this way and that, trying to grasp onto what the plan was. Did anybody actually have a plan? As Jason led us down the hall into the spare cupboard, I could only groan.

"This is your idea of getting out?" I snapped as he closed the door behind us. There was no space for the three of us to stand comfortably, elbows banging off each other and the walls as we squirmed closer to the back. "The noise alone will give us away."

"Well sor-ry," Jason huffed. "I panicked, OK?"

Louis rested a hand on my shoulder, a frown etched on his brow. "I may have an idea. But I'll need both of you to trust me."

This time, Jason and I exchanged a look, no words needed for me to know we were both wondering the same thing: what is he going to do? We had no choice to mull things over, so I nodded for us both and suddenly, Louis was out of the cupboard and turning further down the hall to the large window ahead.

Oh, no, I thought. He wants us to jump.

"You're not serious?" Jason hissed, looking over his shoulder as a loud bang sounded from downstairs. The Councillors were inside. 

"We don't have a choice," I told him. "Trust Louis, Jason. He'll help us like we've been helping him." My voice was shaking, not sure I even believed my words. 

Jason looked over to Louis doubtfully then back over his shoulder where things were being tossed about. All I could think was, I'll kill you if you break any wine bottles.

Louis was heaving the window open before I could ask how exactly we were going to get down. Surely he wasn't expecting us to jump? I was about to point out that us humans were more fragile when he suddenly launched himself out of the window.

"Louis!" I gasped, flying to look over the window sill. I exhaled loudly when I saw him standing on the grass below, smiling up at me. "How did you-"

"Never mind that just now! Just jump!"

"But I'll break my damn legs!" I complained. Right now, in the middle of an alien chase, I wasn't planning on crawling anywhere. "Isn't there a way we can-"

"Not unless you want to get hurt," Louis said calmly. "Trust me Flora, I'll catch you.  Kind of."

"Kind of?!"

"Flora, budge," Jason said all of a sudden as he pushed past. He didn't even hesitate to kick his legs over the pane and push himself out into the chilly night air. I watched with morbid fascination as he fell for a moment ... and then nothing. He just stopped in mid air, hanging several inches above the grass. "Holy crap," he muttered, looking back up at me. "Flora, it's Louis being all alien-y. C'mon now, jump!"

I heard footsteps advancing up the stairs and my heart began to race faster. For someone who had always wanted to travel the world and go bungee jumping, I sure was thinking about giving it all a miss. If I couldn't just out a window, then to hell if rock climbing was ever going to be a plan any more. I kicked my legs over as fast as I could, just balancing myself on the edge when a booming voice called out from behind me. 

"The girl!" Malor exclaimed, pointing a long finger in my direction, his eyes narrowed. Before I knew it, he was charging right for me, hand out-stretched as if to grab me and pull me back inside. I had no time to sit around like an idiot, so I flung myself out of the window and fell. I seemed to drop for ages, my whole life flashing before my eyes as I plowed downwards, the cold grass being last thing I would see. But then, just mere inches from the ground I halted as if there were an invisible barrier supporting my weight. But when I regained my breath, I looked up to find Louis standing just around the corner, out of sight, his hand held out and shaking slightly. It took me a moment to remember that he possessed telekinetic abilities and I mouthed a thanks to him before I gently landed on the turf and took off round to meet them.

"We need to head back to the ship," I panted as we turned left onto the street. "Quickest way is by car."

"Where are your keys?" Jason asked.

"Inside, by the door." I slapped a hand to my head. "What are we going to do?"

"I'll get them," Louis said as he took off to the beat down door. He was quick on his toes and slipped into the house without making a sound. From the upstairs I could still make out some sort of ruckus as the Councillors tore through each room in search of their missing problem. And Louis was still inside. Perhaps he would camouflage into his surroundings like he had once shown me?  

I'd been right, for a second later a voice to my left said, "Got them. Now let's go."

"How'd you get there?" Jason blurted, spinning on his heel to face the empty air. I grabbed his arm and tugged him towards the car, snatching the keys floating in the air before I unlocked the car and ordered every one to jump in. In no time, I pulled the quickest U-turn of my life and took off down the dreaded path that was the one way exit out of Hoveton. 

Slightly rushed but hey-ho, it's an update, yay! 

A massive thank you to you all for being patient with me, it's been a really busy year for me, especially the last few months considering I lost hours at my job and had to look for a second one (which I got, by the way and I'm now juggling two jobs and a social life whoo-hoo), trying to make time to visit my dad, my great-aunt died (rip) and also I've been super not motivated to write for some reason and it's been driving me mAD. But I am back for now.

TERRIBLE SELF PROMOTION but check out my new Louis story 'NIGHT OUT' if you like a bit of dirty stuff, wink wink. 

Alien Joke: What do you call a magician that flies around in a UFO? A flying sorcerer! 

Cazza x