About twenty minutes later, Desiree returned home and sighed lightly. She knew that there would be likely questions asked by Darrell, considering who it was that had saved him. She knew that they hadn't mentioned her brother at any point, and would have prefered him not coming up at any point, either.

"Hey! I'm back!" She called as she kicked off her shoes, not sure where anyone was. Instead of just waiting for anyone to say anyrhing o rwhatever, she made her way to the den.

♫Born of graves and left below ♪ Painted ashes, painted snow♫

"Hey there." Desiree said before sighing.

"Someone I hoped you'd never meet." She answered as she took a seat in one of the chairs there.

"More specifically, his name is Deryck, and he's your uncle."

♫Born of graves and left below ♪ Painted ashes, painted snow♫

Desiree just sighed, heavily.

"Because..... he hated me growing up." She answered honestly, not going too in depth.

"Him and Mother teamed up against me." She added. "I would much rather not go into detail, but I will say this. I met Jaden because he found me half dead in an alley after I was on the run from my brother." She glanced to Jordan after saying that, wondering if the chidl was paying attention, which it seemed she wasn't. Jordan was too enthused with the milkshake she had.

♫Born of graves and left below ♪ Painted ashes, painted snow♫

"I... wish I could answer that." was all Desiree said before sighing, heavily.

"I... really wish I did." She added. "I really do."

"Anyway, the main point is that you're safe." She then said before looking to Jaden.

"Perhaps we should consider giving him a phone or something. Tracking purposes if something like this happens again, and we aren't around."

♫Born of graves and left below ♪ Painted ashes, painted snow♫

"If anything, you'll get my old phone." Desiree commented.

"You know, the one with satellite connections, along with unlimited data." She told him.

"It's an older model though."

♫Born of graves and left below ♪ Painted ashes, painted snow♫

"Battery isn't the best, so I'd probably pass it to Leo to get it up to snuff first." Desiree answered.

"I'll get ahold of him to do that." She added before pausing. "... once my phone charges."

---

Jordan was silent as the class let out for lunch. She was slow getting to her feet, finding that she was having a harder time breathing. She did manage to get out of the class with little difficulty, and outside, thinking maybe the fresh air could help.

She sat down at one of the tables out there, and sighed, trying to breathe properly. She could breathe, yeah, but it wasn't the easiest.

When the bell rang for lunch to end, she got to her feet, but just sat down again. She was starting to feel lightheaded, due to the lack of proper oxygen intake.

and she was most certainly feeling it.

♫Born of graves and left below ♪ Painted ashes, painted snow♫

Jordan was silent for a moment before, carefully, shaking her head.

"N...No." She answered honestly, having to be careful with speaking for the moment. She couldn't breathe properly, and had no idea why.

"What's going on?" They asked.

"Can't breathe properly." Jordan managed to answer after a few.

♫Born of graves and left below ♪ Painted ashes, painted snow♫

Jordan was silent for a few seconds.

".... off for a couple days." She answered.

"This bad, about .... half an hour?" She asked, knowing that they wouldn't know, but also knowing that it needed to be said.

♫Born of graves and left below ♪ Painted ashes, painted snow♫

Desiree paused where her headset beeped. She didn't know who was calling her, or why, but didn't really think much of it as she reached up and pushed the 'answer' button.

"Hello?" She answered upon answering. She had no call display on her headset, after all. Along with that, she hadn't had her phone on hand to check.

I ... really hope it's nothing serious. she thought, not entirely sure what to make of what was to come.

♫Born of graves and left below ♪ Painted ashes, painted snow♫

"I..." Desiree started before sighing. That one breath had plenty of emotion to it, as well.

"I'll tell Jaden." She said simply.

"Thank you for the information. I also assume you're going to be checking everyone else at the school to see where this came from, as I will be here at home." She added.

♫Born of graves and left below ♪ Painted ashes, painted snow♫