•Chase•

*Wow. Kellin managed to knock Raine down. I can't even knock her down with just a punch. Good for him.*

"Gods, Raine! Are you okay?!" I asked.

"Owwww . . . . ."

She repeatedly rubbed her chest, probably out of pain.

"That freakin' hurt, you asshole!" she shouted.

"I'm so sorry! Here, let me help you up." Kellin said.

Kellin approached her, and helped her stand up. Raine brushed off her jeans and sat back down.

"Next time you're gonna pull something like that, inform us. Otherwise, you might get thrown back the same away." Raine said.

Kellin bowed his head in apology.

"Yes, I will."

*Good thing Raine didn't lash out at him. That would've been trouble.*

"Well, now that we have established Mr. Ward's Essence, Raine why don't you give him yours?"

"What?! No way! I'm not giving him my Essence!" Raine shouted.

"Now, now, Raine. You know that without Essences, Mr. Ward would be just a hindrance to you and your missions. But we need him. So, if you would."

Raine is visibly annoyed at this. One thing I know about her is that she takes pride in her skills. She handles her Essence really well, and improves on it every chance she gets. But she doesn't handle competition that well.

"Raine. Just trust in Mr. Sol. If he says that this guy is worth it, then he must really be." I said.

Raine scratched her head, and let out a deep sigh.

"Fine. Give me your wrist, Kellin." she said.

"Oh, okay." Kellin said.

Kellin extended his hands to Raine. She eyed his wrist, and immediately grabbed one of his bracelets. It was the steel one that looks like a chain. She concentrated for a bit, and the bracelet started to have a blood red glow.

"Whoa." Kellin whispered.

The bright glow from the bracelet made me squint. After a while, the glow disappeared and Raine took her hands off of Kellin's wrist.

"There you go." Raine said.

"Thank you, Raine." Sol commented.

"No problem." she responded.

"I would very much like to know what that one does. But I'm afraid you're going to have to test that out another time. I have more things to do. For now, you are dismissed."

Sol snapped his fingers, and the table went down along with the block that hit me earlier. I looked behind me and noticed that the door was back.

"FINALLY. Let's get something to eat, Chase. All this talk's making me hungrier, and I'm craving for ice cream." Raine said while stretching out her arms.

I chuckled at her. She was always that hungry.

"Sure." I said.

I glanced at Kellin's way. He was opening his body bag and took out his phone. He seems to be texting someone.

*Maybe we should invite him with us.*

"Hey, Kellin. Do you want to join us for lunch?" I asked.

"Uhhh . . . . sure. If you guys don't mind." he reluctantly said.

"Not at all. Right, Raine?"

"Yeah, sure." she said.

From behind us, Sol spoke.

"I'm afraid you're going to have to join them some other time, Mr. Ward. Please, follow me." he said.

"Oh, okay. Sorry, guys." Kellin said.

I smiled at him. He went on to follow Mr. Sol.

"Another time, then." I said softly.

I can't say I'm not disappointed. He seems like an interesting guy. I'd like to know more about him. But that's going to have to be at a later time. For now, me and Raine's going to get lunch.

We went out of the room, and into the lobby of the underground facility. There, staring at the monitors, were two familiar scientists. One of them was wearing a forehead band and, had his hair standing up in a tidy quiff. And beside him was his friend with a buzz cut. That's how they stood out for me. I always thought they had good hair.

"Fancy meeting you here, Bookmaster Verison." I said to them.

They looked behind and Verison shot me a look. I smirked at him and he smiled back.

"Hey there. I heard what happened. Chief Algard briefed me earlier while you guys were at that room over there." he said.

"Yeah. It sucks. But Mr. Sol said I have to do it so . . . . Guess I don't have any choice."

Verison put his hand on my shoulder, and his other hand patted my head.

"Don't worry. I'm gonna take care of the title for you. Plus, you're gonna be a Seeker. You're gonna do better at it than being a Bookmaster." he softly said.

I couldn't help but blush at him. He's always been like this. Optimistic. I pushed his face away with my palm, then I crossed my arms.

"You better. Make sure not to stain the long line of Bookmasters now."

"I won't. I promise." he said, while grinning.

I heard Raine whisper something under her breath. I think it was "Ugh, go get a room, lovebirds.". She never was one for corny stuff. I looked over at the guy beside him.

"If you became Bookmaster, that means Hayn here becomes Vice." I said.

"Yep! Personally appointed by my father, thanks." Hayn said.

"Good for you." Raine said to him.

Hayn's face lit up as Raine congratulated him. I think I remember Verison telling me that Hayn likes her.

"Thanks!" he said, with a big smile.

"Speaking of, how's Mrs. Algard, Hayn?" I said.

"Oh, she's doing good. She just had my baby sister two days ago. Little baby Laerin."

"Oh, it's a girl! Tell your mom I said hi, okay?" I said.

"Will do!"

Raine poked my back.

"Hey. I'm hungry." she said.

She kept poking my back.

"Okay, okay, we're going. You two want to join us?"

"Uh, sure. Ridley's?" Verison said.

"You know it." I said.

The four of us went inside the elevator, and went back up the lobby. As we stepped out of the elevator, I saw Kellin go inside of Mr. Sol's office.

*I wonder what they're talking about.*

We proceeded out of the lobby into the outside garden.

"Now that I'm Bookmaster, I'm now permitted to use the car." Verison said with a grin.

"That means I'm driving." Hayn said.

Verison punched Hayn's arm lightly. He's 19, yet he still doesn't know how to drive.

"Well then. Let's go. I'm starving." Raine said.

We hopped inside the car, and Hayn went over to the driver's seat.

"Strap in, everybody." he said.

Hayn started the car, and we drove off to Ridley's. We went in and Raine immediately picked us a seat. As we sat down, Verison went ahead to order us our usual food. Hayn took his phone out and showed us pictures of his baby sister Laerin. And I'm hoping Kellin could join us someday. He seems like a great guy.

But I'm gonna have to wait for it.