V.I.R.A.L

Chapter 158: Nowhere Left to Run

Iris stood out; she couldn't help it. Standing in the open in bloody clothes was a real give away. People tried their best not to stare as Iris leaned against the side of a payphone taking deep breaths holding her wound. She had to wait for Alton that's all that matters. He will make everything right, fix it all. At least, that's what Iris kept telling herself. Like a drill instructor bashing into her head in hopes, she would believe her made-up fantasies. Iris glanced around the busy courtyard and although it was clear some people wanted to help her Iris would always give them the sign not to. No one questioned that further.

It was when she saw serval people. One's she quickly recognised from Frizzle Tooth. They had already found her quicker than she expected. With little to no energy, Iris was forced to stand still, hoping they wouldn't see her. However, they got closer a pair of hands grabbed her from behind covering her mouth and yanking her in the alleyway behind. Iris tried fighting back only for a voice to whisper. "Easy, easy. It's me."

The hands were moved away as Iris felt her kept down feeling bumbling up. "Alton…" She turned seeing him dressed in a white cloak and wearing a dragon mask. He held his finger to his mouth, shaking his head. Iris kept her voice down, hugging him. "I didn't know who to turn to…"

"It's alright. Just lucky I wasn't too far behind. Now tell me what happened? You said Alice tried killing you?"

Iris nodded tearing up. "She did… We were going to help V.I.R.A.L fight the Garden; we were going to sneak out today. I waited for her after our father talked to her… As I waited, she attacked me. I didn't even recognise it was like she was a different person…"

"Just like at the ball… No. She went into that form to protect you. There must be a reason for this." Alton glossed over aiding Iris sitting on a set of boxes checking her wound. "Stay still I'll patch you up best I can."

Alton placed his hand on her stomach, freezing the wound over before wrapping it in bandages. "That will do, for now, I suppose. Can you walk?"

"I think so… Thank you."

"Anytime… It's probably not safe here we should get to the safe house."

"Hey! I found her!" A member of the Frizzle Tooth yelled standing at the end of the alleyway. Iris panicked as Alton rested his hand on her shoulder.

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"Don't worry. I'll take care of this."

Alton walked up to the man yelling to his allies, staring him down through the mask. The Frizzle Tooth member looked nervous, skipping his breath. "Listen… Buddy, we have no business with you. We are just here for Iris. We intend on bringing her back home."

"With that gun?" Alton hisses eyeing the gun. Before the man could respond, his whole body froze over entirely. Alton walked out into the open as the other members saw this. Standing idly Alton noticed there to be four more waiting to attack. Moving from his cloak, Alton revealed a plain hilt with no sword to match. Each was slightly startled by this made worse when the hilt began freezing over creating the blade to match. "Step away if you value your lives."

One of the Frizzle Tooth members vanished out of sight as Alton stood idly by. Tilting his head, he dodged an attack from seemly no one stabbing the sword into thin air. The Frizzle Tooth member appeared gagging as Alton ripped the hilt back keeping the blade wedged in. Holding the hilt to his side, he tore his cloak and mask off, showing long white hair and one yellow eye. The members were now horrified releasing who they were up against. Alton didn't care as he walked up to another member thrusting the hilt into them as the blade reformed again stabbing into them. He tore the hilt away as like the other member she too froze entirely over. The others didn't want to stick around as they fled. Alton raised his hand as shards of ice swirled around. "Freezing shot." Each fragment flooded towards the others each stabbing into them, freezing the last members as well. Alton turned back to Iris with a dead look. "Where were we?"

"Alton… Your eye."

"This? It's a long story. Come on I've got the perfect hiding spot."

****

"So, you can't hold back your Garden form anymore?"

Alton shook his head, nibbling on a bisect. "It's not that I can't. I'm choosing not to. I'm letting part of me be consumed by the Garden to become more powerful but keep myself intact. For now,"

"Why would you do that for?" She questioned sipping on a glass of water. "You said it yourself. The Garden is far too dangerous."

Alton stood up from the set of containers he was sitting on frowning. "These days the Garden is the last of my problems. It's why I've stepped away from Team Rhapsody for a short while…"

"Team Rhapsody… They are fighting the Garden. You should be there by their side."

"The Garden isn't back." Alton declared picking up serval bags of rubbish. "I don't know where that rumour started?"

"How do you know?"

Alton threw the bags to the other side of the room sighing. "I'm a Child of the Garden. I would sense if they returned. Especially those monstrous five stages of grief. I don't know what's going on out there, but they can handle it."

"If you say so…" Iris whispers still not sure. "Tell me, what is this place?"

"An old hand me down, you could say. It used to be a storage building used by the company Sam's dad owned… Oh, you would know her as Unity, right? After… After Sunset Peak, I took this place over as a hiding place in case my father ever caught onto me."

"Your father? That's why you're hiding here? He must be the real deal if someone like you would hide from him."

"He's the one who froze over Sunset Peak and killed my team and my mother…"

"Oh… I'm sorry."

"Don't bother. I don't have time for apologies. This was exactly why I didn't want back in the world of streamers. Yet here I am unable to keep away. You see Iris I've gotten too big. Turned a lot of heads. It was only a matter of time before he would come looking."

"What are you going to do about it?"

"At this moment in time? Nothing. We've got to fix your little mess now. Not only does your sister want you dead but now the rest of the network. I can guess this was an order from your father."

"My father? What reason would he want me dead?"

Alton pulled up a chair sitting on it, leaning on the back. "Did you discover something you shouldn't have? A secret or plot he was putting together?"

"Nothing of the such. My father isn't the sort of person to do that."

"Hmm… What about your sister. You were quite well known about the fact she too was a Child of the Garden. How long have you known that for?"

"Most of my life. It's not something to kill me over. My dad actually is glad, I know. I keep Alice in check and make sure she doesn't break down into that other her."

Alton sighed, scratching his head. "Then I have no clue…"

"Wait." She mutters, looking distort. "For as long as I could remember, our father has always drilled in the idea of his dream. He made sure to train us to be the best streamers we could be from the moment we could walk. When my sister showed much more progress than me, his attention drifted to her. He has put everything into making her his prize student. She's missed Christmases and our own Birthdays for a chance to go up the ladder. I'm pretty sure he doesn't even see me as his own daughter anymore. Anytime Alice and I would spend time together playing or schoolwork, he would go mental. He always claimed I was holding her back from true greatness."

"Is that really enough to try and kill your own daughter? What was his dream?"

"To rule V.I.R.A.L."

This made Alton look nervous as he stood up, pacing back and forth. "I should have seen this coming… Just how many threats are going to keep slipping under my nose? Those wack jobs wanna be streamers are child's play but Alice. Not only is she a Child of the Garden but she seems to be the reincarnation of the legendary hero… Someone like that could easily overthrow V.I.R.A.L… I know what I need to do. I will strike Frizzle Tooth and take your father down. Whatever he's got up his sleeve I'll deal with it."

"Not without me, you're not," Iris demanded standing up wincing in pain. "If my sister is in trouble, I want to help."