C H A P T E R E I G H T

Abi's POV

It was dark.

Pitch black.

"Hello...?" I called out, walking around what seemed to be an eternal darkness.

There was no floor, but I was standing.

I continued to walk, not knowing where I was headed.

Every direction looked the same.

Every time I turned my head, I saw the exact same thing.

Darkness.

"Hello!" I called out, louder this time. I cupped my hands around my mouth, hoping to be louder.

Still, nothing.

Sighing, I sat down on the ground. Wherever I was, someone had to get here eventually.

After a few minutes of waiting, a voice finally echoed through the area.

"Hello, Abigail."

I flinched, not expecting the sudden greeting. "Uh, hey? Who are you? What is this place?" I asked, wasting no time in getting up.

"You will figure it out" it stated, now taking the form of a lavender light.

My lavender.

"Follow me" It instructed, before flying away.

I jogged to keep up, turning every way it went. This thing was like a tiny purple firefly, and boy was it exhausting.

"We there yet?" I asked, starting to pant.

"Almost" it reassured, picking up speed. Groaning, I did the same.

After a few more minutes of constant running, we made it.

"Here" The voice echoed.

It...it looked the same. As every other place here.

"Where exactly is here?" I asked, incredibly confused.

"The hall of memories." The voice answered, now taking the shape of a luminescent lavender tiger.

Whoa.

"Wait, are you...Kawan?" I asked. I had a suspicion that it was him when I saw the purple light, but seeing it in person was...surreal.

"Yes. I am Kawan, but I am also you, as you are me" he stated, pacing in front of me. He was the only source of light here, illuminating myself, though the rest of wherever we were remained enveloped in darkness.

"Whoa..." I mumbled again, reaching out to the purple feline. My hand went right through him, as if he was an illusion.

Suddenly, the whole area lit up with a blinding white light.

"Aughh!" I winced, shielding my eyes.

"Open your eyes" Kawan ordered.

"What!? Are you crazy, no!" I shot, trying my best to block out the light.

"Hold my paw." He instructed.

I reached out my hand, as he placed his paw in it. It was now solid, and very padded. Soft, but experienced.

"Open them." He ordered again.

Obeying, I did as I was told. To my surprise, the light was gone.

Then, after awhile, the area slowly lit up with a dimmer white light this time.

I looked around in awe as I stood on a floor-less ground, in a place surrounded by this white glow.

Honestly, it felt like I was being taken up to heaven or something.

Still in the form of a lavender tiger, Kawan instructed me to look straight into his eyes, and then at the space in front of me.

I did as he told, gazing into his lavender eyes, which were my eyes. I then shifted my gaze towards the blank space ahead of me, waiting for something.

Suddenly, all the space around me changed. Now, it looked like we were standing in a hospital.

"Is this..."

"When you were born." Kawan nodded, as we stared at the scenario in front of us.

A slightly younger version of my mom laid in a hospital bed with two towel wrapped babies in her hands.

Two babies.

"Aaron" I whispered, staring at my twin brother. I extended my hand out, expecting it to make contact.

"This isn't reality. Think of it like a movie. You watch." Kawan informed me.

I nodded, holding back tears.

This is just so...crazy. I can't even describe it. I get to see Aaron again, as if he was still here. The sound of our crying filled the area, ringing in my ears. I could hear him. All over again.

"Don't hold in the sadness. Let it all out." Kawan instructed.

"I- I cant." I replied, stuttering.

I've gotten so used to bottling all this up, I've forgoten how to let it out. Keeping stuff locked up inside like this is practically instinct at this point.

"Yes, you can. Just let go." The purple beast urged.

I squeezed my eyes shut. I'm usually fine under pressure, but this physically and mentally hurt.

"ARGHHH!" I cried out. I feel like there's a python around my head, constricting me. The pain is almost unbearable.

"Breath, relax." Kawan soothed, as I squeezed his paw with my hand.

The scene still played all around me, the sound of crying, Aaron's voice, haunting me.

I tried to slow down my breathing, and exhaled as much as I could. My inhales were sharp and quick, but eventually did slow down. The pain however, remained.

I massaged my temples with my free hand in an effort to soothe the pain.

The light around me dimmed again, returning as a new scene.

The pain slowly disappeared, as the show in front of us unfolded.

Aaron and I were now toddlers, around five. It was Christmas, and Zora was about eight years old.

We were running furiously down the stairs, tripping over each other to get to the Christmas tree. We still lived in Virginia at the time.

"Oh, I remember this! Chris came over, right?" I asked, the foggy memory slowly clearing up.

"Yes." he nodded.

As soon as we reached the tree, our doorbell ringed. I skipped over to the door in an attempt to open it, but I was too short.

"Let me help you." Zora offered, walking over and lifting me up. She unlocked the door while I ecstatically twisted the doorknob, revealing the Howlmans, and more importantly, Chris.

"Hello Abi! Hello Aaron!" Chris greeted, booping us on the nose.

"Hi Chris!" Aaron and I said simultaneously, laughing.

"We did that all the time." I laughed, as a tear crept down my cheek.

The scenes changed again and again, and with every change, more years passed. Tears poured out with each memory. Slowly, I was letting all my sadness pour out.

Now, we were at the part where Aaron disappeared.

We were playing hide and seek in a cluster of trees near our house. It almost resembled a forest, but was too small for that. Aaron has always been a really responsible child, so our parents trusted us enough to be out here. We were seven or eight years old.

"Ready or not, here I come!" I yelled, uncovering my eyes. I walked around the forest, excited to look for my twin. I roamed around aimlessly for an hour, and I still couldn't find him.

"Aaron? Where are you? I give up!" I yelled, cupping my small hand round my mouth.

Nothing

"Aaron? AARON! AAAARON!!!" I yelled getting worried.

Tears were falling down my face, on current me and younger me.

I was watching the worst day of my life all over again.

"Stop, make it stop!" I begged through sniffles. "I don't want to see this!"

The scene changed again, and now an eleven year old me stood at the airport.

I walked out of the woman's restroom, trying to find my family.

Oh, this is when we landed in Texas for the first time.

I walked forward, looking at my phone. I was texting my parents, asking where they were.

Suddenly, my nose smashed into a strangers chest, almost knocking me down. I stumbled backwards, but caught myself.

"Dallas" I said, wiping a few tears away.

"Owwww" I grimaced, rubbing the spot on my face that made contact with the mysterious person.

"Sorry about that, I wasn't looking where I was going." I apologized, looking up at the tall figure in front of me.

He simply nodded, and walked away.

"Wow, okay then." I mumbled, walking on.

"That's the day you met your friend Dallas, correct?" Kawan asked.

"Yeah." I nodded. "After that day, we kept bumping into each other, almost everyday. Literally. Then we finally became friends " I smiled, remembering the day I met my best friend.

"That's all I wanted you to see. How do you feel now?" Kawan questioned.

"Happier...Kinda. I feel conflicted, really" I answered hesitantly.

"To unlock your full potential, you must completely let go of all fear, doubt, anything that holds you back. For you, that's your brother. You must accept that he is gone." Kawan declared.

"I don't think I can do that." I admitted, looking down at my feet.

"I know you can." Kawan smiled. Well, I think he smiled.

"Touch the mark of the wild if you would like to contact me. I'll be here. Bye now" Kawan instructed, before he slowly faded away.

I sprung upright on my bed, suddenly awake.

That was a dream???

I lifted up the sleeve of my romper, which I still had on. I gently grazed the mark of the wild, as it glowed a faint purple.

That was real for sure.

Sighing, I rubbed my forehead as a headache came over me. Too sleepy to change, I kicked my shoes off and pulled my blanket over me.

Wait till the Wild Souls hear about this.

Dallas's POV

"Dallas? Hello? Dallassss!"

"Hmm...?" I yawned, groggily rubbing my eyes awake.

I looked around and realized I was still at the hospital. I fell asleep here I guess. Good thing we had school off today.

"Dallas! Your awake!" My sister cried.

"Vanna? Your okay!" I rejoiced, pulling my sister in for a gentle hug.

"Yeah! I'm fine! I'm strong y'know " She laughed.

I sighed, ruffling her long wavy hair "Yeah, I know." I chuckled.

Abruptly, a short, stubby woman walked into the room. She had a kind expression on her face, and wore a stethoscope around her neck.

"Hello Havana! How are you doing today?" She asked, walking up to where we were.

"My head hurts a little, but I'm fine!" Vanna grinned.

"Nothing else?" She questioned, as my sister shook her head.

"Well, I think you'll be ready to go home tomorrow. Stay here for today and rest, okay?" The nurse advised.

"Awww do I have to?" Vanna groaned.

"I'm afraid so. We have a TV you can use thou-" The lady started, but was cut off my knocking on the door.

"I'll see who it is." She said, walking over to the door. Once she opened it, Abi stood in the doorway.

"Hola Havana!" She greeted, dogging the nurse and walking over to us.

"Hey Abi!" Vanna grinned, giving Abi a hug. "Look at the bandage on my head!"

"Yeah, I see it! Your so brave!" Abi laughed, releasing Vanna.

"Hello to you too, brown bear." She smirked, lightly punching my arm from across the hospital bed. I sat on a chair which was pulled up by the bed, and she sat on the corner of the bed itself.

"Hey," I smiled sheepishly.

"Oh yeah, are you okay? You passed out yesterday." I asked, remembering how out of it she was.

"Yeah, I need to talk to you about that later." She noted. "Oh, and thanks for getting me to my room"

"How'd you know about that? Were you conscious?" I questioned.

"Nah, Zora told me." Abi responded.

"I'm sorry, only family is allowed to visit at the moment" The nurse informed Abi.

"She is family" I responded, putting a protective arm around Abi, and earning a smile from her as well.

"You three good in here?" The nurse asked, when I realized my entire real family had left.

I glanced out the window, and saw that they left my car. That's a relief.

"Yup!" Vanna smiled, as the nurse walked out of the room laughing.

"Holler if you need anything!" She called out, before closing the door behind her.

We were silent for a few seconds, before Vanna broke it.

"Abi, you look so pretty!" Vanna gushed.

Huh, I was so caught up with Vanna that I didn't realize how much fancier than usual Abi looked. She wore a white halter romper with black stripes running down it. Her hair was wavy and she had clipped a few pieces back. A pair of sunglasses were casually propped on her head, and she had on white wedged sandals. A couple of gold bracelets and the look was complete.

She looked...pretty.

"Thanks Havana!" She smiled, as my sister made more room for her on the bed.

"Modeling?" I asked, diverting my attention to the window.

"Yup. My training starts in an hour, so I thought I'd come visit before then." She explained.

"You excited?" I asked, now facing her.

"Honestly? Not really. I have to pose." she shuddered, wrinkling her nose.

I chuckled. "Well, have fun. Drew will be there, right?"

"Ugh, yeah." She responded. "Oh oops I forgot I don't hate him anymore."

"Why did you hate him at first?" I asked, as Vanna reached for the TV remote.

"Ughhhh he was such a jerk! He acted like he owned the whole modeling place." She spoke, acting with her hands. "I put him in his place, and he apologized, so we're good now."

"Yeah, he's got some pride." I nodded.

We sat in silence for the rest of the time Abi visited, watching whatever Vanna put on.

"I gotta go now, bye! Get better soon, Havana." Abi claimed, after an alarm on her phone rang.

"Adios!" My sister and I waved, as she waltzed out.

She might not know it, but she's going to be a great model.

Drew's POV

"Andrew, Jessica, I'm leaving!" I announced, walking out of my room.

Last night was sad. Very sad. I don't wanna talk about it.

My adoptive mother sighed, as I made my way to our ridiculously large living room.

"Drew, you can call us mom and dad dear. We love you!" She proclaimed, sitting next to Andrew, who was my adoptive father, on our couch.

"Yeah, you were so close to calling us that yesterday. We were getting really close son, just try it." My "dad" pleaded.

"I know. I just won't." I sternly called out, passing the living room and leaving out the front door.

I feel bad, I really do, but I can't call them mom and dad. It feels wrong, like a betrayal to my real parents.

My real parents.

I sighed, and straightened my yellow and blue striped shirt. I live fairly close to Aurora, within walking distance. I checked the time on my watch, to make sure I wouldn't be late. I had twenty minutes, plenty of time.

Heads turned towards me as I made my way through the crowds of people shopping at stores near the modeling studio.

"Oh my god! Is that Drew?"

"Whoa, he looks even better in person!"

"Does he have a girlfriend?"

People's chatters and whispers about me filled my ears. This wasn't uncommon, in fact, it's quite the opposite. I'm pretty well known around here, and it can get pretty annoying, though the attention does well to my pride.

I stood up taller, and quickened my pace so I wouldn't have to hear the whispers I've been hearing since I joined Aurora. The same questions get old.

After a few more minutes of walking, I finally reached the place.

I headed inside, as the rush of cool air hit my face. Today's a planning day for teachers, in both the school I go to and the school the rest of the Wild Souls go to, so we had the day off. Well, most people did. Us modeling kids, we had training.

The people who already model here get to teach the newbies today, which is why I'm here.

I made it in with time to spare, so I decided to kill it by checking my Instagram. I have about two million followers, and a bunch of notifications. I sighed, annoyed. I get way too many notifications. I slowly checked each of them, and responded to necessary DM's.

After a few minutes, Abi walked in, along with Lola and her other friend.

"Hey Drew!" Lola cooed, sashaying over to me.

"Hey," I grinned lazily, slinging my arm around her shoulders.

"Whatcha doing?" She asked, looking down at my phone while leaning her head on my shoulder.

"Instagram." I replied, getting back to working through the boatload of notifications.

After losing interest in what I was doing, Lola walked away, probably went over to one of her friends. She's a really social person, and quickly makes friends with everyone.

Immediately after she left, I received a text message from Abi:

We need to talk.

A/N

Hey guys! Thanks for reading ;)

Sorry it's a day late again 😣 the chapters will probably come out a day late from now on.

See ya next week

-Tigersx1 🐾

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