| abstract
| - Conor waited by the gates of the school for Evan. He hadn't seen Aqua. She wasn't at school, like she hadn't been yesterday. She was gone. But she wouldn't be for long, not if he had anything to say about it. "Evan!" he called, spying his friend's distinctive silvery hair. Evan spied Conor's less-unique hairstyle and made his way to him. "So, was she in any of your classes?" Conor Shook his head. "No" "She was in one of mine" Conor started. "What!?" "Don't get to excited. She was sleepy, and wouldn't pay attention. I tried to talk to her but... Anyway, she had a fight-verbal, just words-with Professor Calloghan. She stormed out of the school". Conor was surprised. "We should start looking for her now" he said, after a while. It sounded as if she was upset. And who knew what she would do next? Shouting at teachers wasn't like her at all. Neither was not showing up for ice-cream, or running off. She wasn't acting herself at all... "Now? But we have homework-" Evan cut off as Conor gave him sharp look. His scowl slumped into a frown as he thought: "Well, we have no idea where she is. She could be anywhere in All of Lumbridge. So... you take the South side, I'll take the North side. Meet up at The Tree at sunset. Right?" Evan nodded. "Sounds like a plan". The two boys ran off in opposite directions. Conor was lost in a crowd of people going this way and that. They packed the streets, seemingly going in a strong current against him. Conor fought against this tide, but he knew he wouldn't be able to see Aqua if she walked right by him. There was just to much going on. He needed to get higher... His first instinct was to climb onto the roof of a nearby house, but would that be high enough? Probably not... The church bells rang out four times, signaling four O'clock, and giving Conor's brain a plan... He walked slowly through the large church door, Bowing slightly in the direction of the altar. He saw the steps that lead upward to the bell and monks quarters, the ones only members of the clergy could use. Every Essianday, Conor and his parents would go to mass. The architecture and artwork on the walls interested him more than the mass itself, but he took the bread like everyone else, and mumbled prayers he only half knew; no one likes a heretic. It was midday, so few people were in the church, just Father Urney, who had his back to Conor; and the stairs. Conor quickly slipped up the stairs, the two flights, and came to a hall unseen by men not pledged to Saradomin.Within the hall, there were a few doors, and Conor went to the biggest one. Logically, this would be the Bell room, wouldn't it? Conor swung the door open and was faced with... a monk by a large bath, the kind that looked more like a swimming pool than anything else. His clothes were by the side of the water, and he was just about to slip inside. Conor averted his eyes, staring at the man's face: "Erm, the bell?""Up the spiral staircase". Conor, slightly embarrassed, turned out the door and saw the blatently obvious staircase, which was pretty chipped and cracked. He climbed it, knowing he must be in the tower that overlooked the street: Exactly where he wanted to be. The stairs ended, leading to a large room from which the brass bell was hung. There were two wheels at either side of the bell, which were attached to a rope. The mechanism was simple, you pull the rope, it spins the wheel, the wheels move the bell, the bell chimes. It was done twenty-four times times a day, yet so few people knew about it... Conor swerved round the bell, to the gaping glass-free window at the other side. He climbed on the huge stone windowsill, gripped the sides for balance and looked out. Thousands of people caught his eye at once, and many of them had jet black hair, and still, in an instant, he found her. "Aqua!" he screamed. A couple of sharp-eared people looked up in confusion, but not the intended target. Conor took a step back from the windowsill to run back down the stairs. He was faced with an angry father Urnery. "And you are?" "Not now!" Conor grumbled, and he sent the priest flying across the room with a powerful shove. He sped down the stairs, to the hall, where a furious (and now dressed) member of the clergy attacked him with cane. He swung it at Conor's head, but the boy caught it with his fist, and gave the man a poke in the ribs with his own weapon. Logically, Conor should have ran down the stairs. But he was hardly logical at the moment. He threw his head out the window, and looked around again. This time, she was harder to spot-Conor couldn't risk loosing sight of her again. If he did, he might loose her forever. He clambered out the window, using the wooden ledge the monks hung lanterns from as a stepping stone to grab the roof. Two hands firmly grasped on the tiles, he pulled himself up. He could see her-and could she hear him? It was surely worth a try... "AQUA!!!!!!" he screamed. "AQUA!!!!!" That was a mistake for two reasons. The first, it gave him even more unwanted attention. People screamed at him to get off the roof of Saradomin, tossing bottles and coins and anything they had in their pockets. The second reason; Aqua heard him. She stared at him for a second, turned around and bolted down the street. He cursed under his breath, and ran in pursuit of his friend. He would find the root of the problem, once and for all! He broke into a run, sprinting along the chipped church tiles. As he came to the edge, he leaped. For a few scary seconds, it seemed as if he were floating. Gravity, however, kicked in, and Conor slammed into the house on the far side painfully. In a second, he was up and running, clearing the small, sparse gaps between houses with small leaps. He was catching up with her, as she had to fight against the crowd. She ducked into an alley, and Conor leaped onto the roof beside it. She froze as the alley ended in a brick wall, and spun on her heels, but Conor dropped down, blocking her exit. "Aqua? Hi..." She stayed quiet. "Where were you yesterday?" "Busy" "Too busy for ice cream?" She exploded. "There are more important things in life then ice cream and games!" "Aqua. What's wrong with you. You said you'd tell us, me and Evan. We can help-" Aqua stomped her foot on the ground; "You can't! You can't, you really can't..." She looked close to tears. All of a sudden, she tried to sprint past Conor- but the boy put out his arm to stop her. She stared him in the face, and he winced at the hate in her eyes. "Let. Me. Past!" she roared. Conor shook his head. "Not until you tell me what's wrong". "I'm not like you and Evan" she began. "I'm... I'm not right, I'm not good. I'm not even human. I"-she hesitated for a second, before continuing-"I'm a creation. Built from the dark, to do dark things... I... I'm not even supposed to exist. It's best for everyone if I... if... you... I..." she couldn't continue. Conor looked her in the eye. "How long have you thought like this?" "It's real. It's not my mind, I'm not crazy. I was told, and I wouldn't believe it either... Until they proved it to me" "They?" Conor asked. "Me" And something blunt hit him over his head, and everything turned black. Conor woke up in this still street, cold. His breath was heavy, and his head, and stomach hurt. He slumped against the wall, breathing heavily. Cold was overcoming him, pain and tiredness too. The sky looked pink, almost sunset. Sunset. Aqua. Conor got up and ran through the street. As he ran, he thought: he needed Evan. He needed his friend's help on this one. Evan would be at the tree for sunset, but after that, who knew where he would be? Sunset was maybe half an hour away, the tree was half an hour. If he ran. He didn't stop running. Evan had got to the tree hours before. It became apparent he was never going to find her. So he got to the tree, ice-creamless and desolate, and hating every inch of what he knew was happening to his friend. And when his other friend, Conor, came running towards him, he knew. "Conor?" "Evan..." He collapsed at the pool. "They took her. Aqua. They're feeding her lies. She's believing him. The way she said these things about herself. I think they're going to kill her" "They'll do worse. We've got to get to her" Evan leaped from the tree, clearing the pond and rolling as he hit the ground. "I don't understand. What are you...what do you know about this?" The two friends met gazes. Evan started to speak. "We're both your best friends, Conor, but for a while now, we've been keeping secrets. You see, Aqua's special. Different. People want her, for different reasons. I'm supposed to guard her. It's part of the plan, the design. Your not" "What?" "If we survive, we'll run. We'll take you with us. But right now, Me and Aqua have got to do this on our own" Evan swung his fist. Conor blocked it with his forearm. "What are you doing!" "What I have to" He slammed his left arm into Conor's face, spun with the momentum and caught him in the nose with his right elbow. "Sorry" Evan said. This story is part of As The Sun Sets. It was preceded by The Third Day: Absence, and is followed by Twilight.
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