supernova

Yefrem walked through the crowd of people quickly. What was going on? It was messing with his head. Why? Why, why, why? Nothing of it made sense. Or, if Yefrem thought about it, it did. It wasn't like he looked like his 'parents', anyway. The Hrabrost didn't know what tocall them longer. They were the people that raised him, after all. They were also the people who had lied to him his whole life. Valentina was his sister, though. Whatever anybody said.

Yefrem began to feel claustrophobic. It felt like the crowd was eating him up. He needed to get out of there fast. Pushing past everyone, he managed to get to a slightly less crowded place.

He shook his head, as if it would clear it. If only it would. Everything was jumbled up and confusing. Why would they tell him now? Wait a full sixteen years to tell Yefrem that he was adopted? Was that a good idea?

He rubbed his forhead in confusion.

She had spent a good amount of time tracking him down. Getting his name was easy enough, to her parents it just seemed like she was a hurt girl, desperate to know more about her new brother. Yefrem Lagunov. The name rang in her head again and again, she had it memorized by heart.

Second step was finding out more about him: where he lived, where he studied, what he looked like, anything. She was starting to sound like a psychopath, it was true, but she didn't mind. She knew it wasn't true, she knew she was a good person. However, she didn't think she could take being under another person's shadow. Her sister's death had changed her more than her parents thought.

After finding out what he looked like, what bothered her was the fact that she couldn't seem to find out where he studied, or where he lived. Since her parents were still deciding if they should look for him or not, she supposed she had time to find him.

When she was walking through the streets, nothing of her brother in mind, just happy to be back home, it was unexpectedly that she spotted the face of the boy that had been haunting her. His features, everything about him, she had it on her mind, very clear. It was him.

Annaelle had found him.

He frowned at the girl. Did she look familiar, or had he never seen her before? Yefrem looked at her closely. What was it? No, she didn't look familiar, he told himself.

The Hrabrost tried to think, But it was bothering him. Yefrem didn't even consider it before he walked straight over to her.

"Do I know you?" he asked as if it were the most natural thing in the entire world.

Annaelle stopped in her tracks and looked at the boy. Just looked, until he finally noticed her and made his way to her. She had no weapon, she had no plan. She didn't even think she'd find him that easily; but there he was. Right in front of her.

She told herself it didn't matter - it wasn't like she would kill him right away. She needed to make it seem an accident. The girl shook her head, "No, I don't think so. Why? Was I staring?" She gave him a sheepish smile, "Sorry, I sometimes do that. It's just a small habit, thinking about random things and my eyes seem to wander everywhere."

Yefrem frowned. There was something, he was sure of it. He nodded at her reply. "Yeah I guess you were staring. Just a little." He half smiled. "Don't worry about it, really." Yefrem shook his head.

"I'm Yefrem."

Annaelle gave him a smile and chuckled, giving nothing of what was going through her head away. She had perfected that ability. No one could tell she was ever planning something. "Sorry, again," she apologized.

"Annelle," she held out her hand for him to shake and mentally wondered whether to say her last name or not. Stolarz, would he recognize it? Had they already told him? Did he even know he was adopted? The girl decided to just leave it at Annaelle.

Yefrem nodded, and shook her hand. "Nice name." He withdrew his hand and stuck it in the pocket of his jeans. "'S a nice day. What are you doing here, in such a crowded place?"

He didn't really know what Else to say. Small talk was better than nothing.

"Thank you," Annaelle thanked politely and smiled, looking around at the shops and people on the streets. She hadn't even noticed it was that crowded, she was just glad to be back.

"Enjoying the city, seeing what has changed since the last time I was here," she answered his question with a small sigh, "Haven't been here in quite some time, I've missed it."

"What about you, though? Good-looking bloke, I'd figure you'd be at some party or at least accompanied by some girls. What brings you out here, alone?" Only God knew how weird it felt saying that to her brother. Yuck. "Don't worry, I'm not hitting on you," she added quickly with a small laugh, "Just. . . trying to be polite and - I'm not good at small talk. I'm sorry."

"Yeah," Yefrem sighed. "Cool."

"Trying not to get swallowed whole by this crowd," he laughed. "And thank God for that!" For some reason, he felt that that would be really awkward. Yefrem didn't know why, though. The fimiliarity he couldn't explain might be playing a part. "Nah, I'm not that type of person."

Annaelle nodded and smiled, "That's cool. Seems like all the guys these days do only that." And she did, as well. Only when necessary, and when she wanted to have fun. But he didn't need to know any of that.

"So, uh... I take it you're from around here, or no?"

Yefrem shrugged. "Probably."

He stopped for a second. Was he from around here? He- He didn't know. Where was around here? What was going on? "Uh, yeah." He heard himself answer the question. It didn't even matter wether it was true or not.

"Oh," Annaelle replied and nodded, but quickly frowned. He seemed. . . uncomfortable? Confused? She couldn't exactly tell what it was, but she had to fight to repress a small grin.

She bit her lips, her frown still in place, "Are you okay?" She looked around at the crowd. She couldn't do anything to him there, not that she would. She had nothing with her.

What was the point of talking to him if she wasn't going to kill him? Maybe she could "befriend" him, getting him to trust her would be easier for her to figure out a way to get rid of him. She'd have to think about it.

"I suppose I should get going then, my parents won't be pleased if I take too long to get home," she muttered and gave him a smile, "It was nice meeting you. Maybe we could hang out some other day, it'd be nice knowing someone in the city."

Yefrem smiled uneasily. "Yeah, I'm fine."

For a second, he had realised how awkward he always was to everyone. Yes, he always had known it, but when he was alone he didn't have to be awkward. With other people, it was different.

Nodding his head, Yefrem smiled. "Yeah. I guess I should go, too." Turining around, the Hrabrost waved and wondered off into the crowd again. Something kept him going to Lagunov Manor. Even though they weren't his real family, his 'parents' and sister were home to him.