Colin's posts

"Kiah!" Hal said to her quickly, causing her to pause and look behind her.

"What is it?" she asked. "Time is of the essence." she told him.

"I know." Hal responded.

"So... why not run down to the medical wing and tell them to prepare for Hazel to suddenly appear in a spare room?" he asked, lifting his hand up and putting his fingers together.

"Make sure a room is cleared, tell Angela about this, and then call me and arrange for Hazel to be brought there." he went on.

"Surely that would be quicker, yes?" he asked.

Hal was silent for a moment, before nodding.

"Of course." he responded, snapping his fingers.

"He now has a temporary key to her place." he told her. "Temporary, in that it was crumble and dissipate in a half-hour." he clarified. "I'm sure Hazel doesn't want copies of her house keys strewn about." he reasoned.

"Though it must be bad to warrant THIS level of concern." he then said further.

However, before Kiah could properly answer, her phone rang. And it was Ilias. When she answered, she didn't even get a chance to say much, as he spoke 5 words, panic and worry laden in them;

"Get a medic here! NOW!"

"All right." Ilias responded, before they ended their call, he hung up, and sighed.

"...damn it." he cursed. "What is going on in there? What's going on? Period." he wondered aloud.

"Hazel!?" he called in, knocking once more.

'Please... PLEASE answer...' he pleaded internally.

Meanwhile, Hal was sitting in his office, pondering how to word an email, when he heard his receptionist buzz him.

"Dr. Remmington is here to see you." she said. "Says it's important." she added.

"It usually is." Hal responded. "Send her in." he said.

He then looked at the door, as it opened, revealing Kiah... with a bit of a concerned look in her eyes.

"...something wrong?" he asked her.

Ilias thought for a moment more, and then nodded.

"Well, firstly, the more I think about it, you're right." he said. "This IS still one of her days off, so it's not surprising that she's not here." he said further. "However, you're also right that her not answering her phone is concerning." he then admitted.

"So yeah, I think I'm going to go and pay her a visit." he continued.

"I'll call with updates." he told her, before leaving.

Sure enough, about a half-hour later, she received a call from him. And it was with news she did NOT want to hear.

"The lights are on, but nobody's answering the door." Ilias said.

"I'm calling her again, and I can faintly hear the phone inside, too. That's even MORE worrying."

Ilias nodded.

"I did." he said.

"2 or three times." he told her.

"A couple of times earlier this morning, and once just before I came to you." he said further.

"They all just go to voicemail." he commented.

"...I'm not going to lie, it's concerning me slightly." he then admitted with a small sigh.

Ilias looked around for a moment, scratching his head.

"...huh." he muttered, as one of the snakes under his hair came out and sniffed around, before going back under.

"Weird..." he said, before making his way to Kiah's office and knocking on the door. When she beckoned him entry, he did so.

"Hey, Kiah?" he addressed her.

"Is Hazel around?" he asked. "She was supposed to be in this morning, yeah?" he asked further.

"I've checked around and nobody seems to have seen her." he went on.

"Did she check in with YOU or anything?"

Gabriel turned around as she spoke, and raised his eyebrow at the pile.

"...all right, I'm impressed." he said.

"I had expected enough for something like a throw, but these could genuinely make a proper one." he said further, possibly causing Aimee even MORE confusion.

"Anyway." he then muttered, digging a piece of paper out of his pocket and handing it to her. When she accepted it, she saw it had an address written on it. In America. In San Diego.

"You're good at making pillows." he told her. "Make one up and have your son deliver it to the person at that address." he said further, almost in an authoritative and commanding tone... before he paused and cleared his throat a little.

"....please and... thank you..." he added sheepishly.

Gabriel just sighed.

"...I really do." he said.

He then reached over and grabbed the cup, popping a few into his mouth.

"Anyway." he then muttered, before turning his back to her.

"Catch." was all he said.

Then, before Aimee could ask what he meant, his wings unfurled in a quick and rough manner, causing hundreds of feathers to shed from them, floating all around, and down towards her.

"....oh. I see." Chris responded.

It was clear he was habouring some guilt about that, too. But he cleared his throat, before looking around.

"...A... Ayla..." he then said.

"I... I have a confession to make." he told her.

"And... it's something I've been meaning to say for a bit now, ever since I made the decision to liberate you from Vanessa's clutches." he went on.

Meanwhile, somewhere in France, Aimee was sitting in one of the chairs in her backyard, enjoying the nice weather, when she suddenly saw a familiar pillar of light touch down several metres away from here, fading to show her effective brother-in-law, Gabriel. Insomuch as Gabriel was Uriel's 'brother'.

"...." Chris was silent again for a moment.

"I..." he stammered.

"Wait..." he mumbled, thinking about it again.

"I know I wished for you to be able to communicate with others..." he went on, though he had forgotten to mention that to her earlier, so as not to get her hopes up for potentially nothing. "...but is THIS that wish?" he wondered.

"What happened to you?" he asked.

"And... wait, Ayla, have you always needed the bird to speak?" he asked further.

Chris looked back and forth between the bird and Hazel, before resting on Hazel.

"Ah... all right, then." he said.

"Good... good luck with that." he told her, before Hazel left to get her wounds treated.

"...what's going on, here?" Chris then asked.

"That bird can talk? And really well, too?" he asked further, before pausing.

"Wait... a familiar...?" he muttered.

Chris was silent for a moment, before turning toward Hazel.

"Wait!" he said.

"...I don't mean to delay your going to get treated but... couple things." he told her.

"First one being, where did that bird come from?" he asked.

"Second being... are you all right?" he asked her.

"Aside from the wounds. Just... in general."

Meanwhile, inside the building, Ayla and Chris were sitting in one of the rooms, and Chris sighed.

"...so I don't know what's going to happen to ME." he told her.

"Seems you'll be getting off pretty much scot-free, because you are truly nothing more than a victim of Vanessa, and not an accomplice." he went on.

"But they're debating MY fate, still." he lamented.

"Not entirely sure what'll happen."

Gabriel looked in the direction of the approaching bird, and raised an eyebrow.

"...huh." he said.

"There's something you don't see every day." he commented.

"Hope it finds who it's looking for." he went on, before looking at Hazel again.

"And you're welcome." he told her.

"Bye-bye." he finished, before disappearing in a pillar of light.