Man, I Feel Like a Woman Ch. 04

"Be robots," Victor said.

"Shut up," Matt said. He looks at me, "To be our guidance and heal. They do what they do to make sure our system works."

"They're old too," Vic said. "Well they're souls are. Like ours. But they're way older."

I whip my attention to Vic. "Our souls are old?"

He nods. "Our generation, all of us are about a hundred years old."

"I shouldn't ask anymore," I shook my head. "I'll get confused. But The Order?"

"About five hundred years old, like our great-great grandparents but quite older," Matt said. "But we can stop aging any time we want. It's a simple spell."

"Is that why Aaron looks young?" I ask.

They nod.

"Okay," I nod, believing it. "The Order?" I pressed.

"What else you wanna know?" Matt said.

"Who are they?" I ask. "Like names."

Matt hesitated. "I don't know. But your cousin is one and our cousin is one. The leader...well, I don't know."

"Wait!" I said. "How is my cousin part of The Order when he's five hundred years old?"

"His soul is," Matt said. He scratched his head, "It's like a reincarnation thing."

That made sense now. "So how old are our cousins?"

"Since you're twenty-one and we're twenty-two," Matt looked up, calculating in his head. "They're twenty-eight."

That young and they run this bitch? That's cool. "Is that all of The Order?" I ask. They sound more interesting.

"That's what I know," Matt said. "You can read about them, probably ask your brothers, they're a little older than I am. You can ask your dad and your relatives. Oh, and your guide." Quinn. He's hundreds of years old. He should know more than majority, right?

"I'll do that," I said.

Matt nods.

Then there's a knock on the door.

"Enter," Victor said.

Then the door opened and in came a guy who looks like Victor and Matt.

"Daniel," Matt said. "What are you doing here?"

The guy titled his head. "Father and mother told me to fetch you for dinner."

Daniel is their...brother? Wow, this is bizarre.

"Let's go, Victor," Matt said, getting up. "We'll see you tomorrow, Z."

"Not yet," Daniel said. "We are going to look for Asher tomorrow."

"Who's Asher?" I ask, looking at them.

"Our younger brother," Victor said.

"Ms. Lightning, they'll be gone for a while," Daniel said. "I do apologize. But you won't be left unprotected. As you know, you are very valuable to our society."

"Who's watching me?" I ask.

"There is your family. But I overheard your father talking to The Order. They will send their guards to you," Daniel said.

"Thanks," I said. "I hope you all have a good trip."

The three of us have never been separated. This sucks.

"We love you," Matt said, bending down so he could be leveled with me.

"We shouldn't be gone that long," Victor pats my shoulder.

I nod. "Love you guys too." I got up and hugged them both. "Come back in one piece or I'll kill you."

They laugh and kissed me on the cheek. Then they were gone.

Quinn came in with a small smile but it doesn't reach his eyes.

"What's wrong?" I ask.

"I don't know if it's right to tell you how long they will be gone," Quinn says.

My eyes grew wide, "They're not coming back?"

"No, they'll be back," Quinn said, quickly. "But they're searching the last of their family and traveling could be quite difficult. It'll take months."

"They'll be gone that long?" My heart sank.

Quinn nods. "I'm sorry."

I shook my head. "It's okay," I said, blinking back the tears but I'm failing. "They need to complete their family. A family I don't know about."

"They have twin sisters," Quinn said. "If that helps."

I forced a smile. "Can I be alone for a while?"

Quinn looked down sadly and nods. He went back out the door.

I cried in my pillow and it felt like hours before I fell asleep. My dreams were memories I shared with Matt and Victor. They're like my family except the fact I have a crush on Victor. Matt was there to soothe my scraped knee when I was pushed to the ground while Victor beat the crap out of the boy. Matt taught me how to drive, Victor taught me how to play his video games, Matt was my tutor for English, Victor was my date to dances. They've been there and now they're not here.

I woke up when my door opened. I looked to see Sharp and Ethan come in and sit on my bed.

"Hey, you okay?" Ethan asks. "We heard."

"Heard what?" I sniffed.

"That the Cain family left," Sharp said.

I nod and sniffed again. "My guide said that they'll be gone for months and not a few days," I said, sitting up.

"We know," Ethan said.

"How?"

Sharp and Ethan looked at each other. "Our guide," they said.

"Our guide was the same person," Sharp said. "She gave us permission to tell each other. And we can tell you who she is when your guide is gone."

"Okay," I said. "What time is it?"

"It's breakfast time," Ethan said. "After we eat, you have to get ready."

"For what?" I look at both of them.

Sharp smiled. "Living here is not all prison. I should know. All of us will have some bonding time today."

"We told your guide," Ethan said. "By the looks of it, we guessed he approved."

"He's sleeping on your ledge," Sharp tilted his head.

I looked to see Quinn lying down. Awake.

"You can go," Quinn said. "You need the bond."

I smile and looked at my brothers. "We should eat then."