~Lock and Key~

Drake was quickly taken and brought back to his room to recover. Lez as the most worried person went inside the bedroom together with Doris and Clem, attended to Drake, and held his hand for the 2nd time in the same manner as last night while the others waited patiently outside. Grace went to the Head Doctor’s Office inside the Lab, hidden in the basement.

“Wait? Aren’t we going to take Drake to a hospital?” Mike asked, wondering as he barged inside the room.

“Certainly not, sir,” Clem replied.

“What? Why? I mean, the other night was okay because he just passed out due to his nosebleed and something. But this time, it’s different. He suffered a lot of injuries, lost a lot of blood, and he needs serious medical attention.” Mike profusely explained.

“We don’t have to worry about that,” Alex replied as she quietly entered the room and appeared at Mike’s back.

“Wooohhh! wooh wooh wooh wooh woh! “Mike quickly backed away from Alex while crossing his two index fingers, like a cross, facing to Alex as he startled him.

“Relax! I won’t bite.” Alex explained.

“You won’t bite? It’s not your bite should be feared by me. Yes! You’re hot! Lovely, sexy lady. A goddess, but No! Your bite is the least of my concerns.” Mike worriedly said as he still put the crossed fingers in front of her face.

“Would you please get that thing out of my face?” Alex generously asks and waits for a while, but Mike is still unconvinced.

“Would you please get that thing out of my face, or I will!” Alex heightened her voice as Mike crept out and removed his hands.

“See? That what I was talking about!” Mike pointed to Alex, her ill-tempered manner that throws a tantrum on whoever pisses her. The doctor arrived as the two had an argument and quickly went to check Drake.

“As I was about to say earlier, we don’t have to worry about Drake being here. We had the Best Doctors inside this mansion, and we had everything we need treat any patient with illness or injuries. Besides, Drake won’t need any of it.” Both Mike and Lez looked at Alex, confused about what she was trying to say.

“What do you mean by Drake doesn’t need any medical attention?” Lez asked Alex.

“Well, as you have seen, we are not ordinary people. As you have witnessed lately, we possess abilities and powers, but please don’t tell others about that. They might think you are crazy, and you know, it’s your total loss.” Alex explained.

“First, yes, we know that, okay. Our lips are sealed about your abilities and powers. Second, Hello? This is our boy Drake here. He’s family. We can’t do that to our family, and we can’t hurt the people we love. Unlike you, you throw your family on a wall.” Mike blatantly said as Alex threw fearful eyes at Mike.

“Aaahhhh! Sorry! Sorry! My bad! Not my intention. Please don’t hurt me.” Mike pleaded.

“Mike, stop.” Lez requested Mike not to piss Alex off.

“Okay! Okay! I’ll stop, sorry!” Mike replied in a low voice.

“Hey, idiot! You’re too loud. You’re interrupting my wonderful rest.” Drake cut to their conversation. A bit weak but can manage to move or talk now.

The doctor quickly got up as he finished treating Drake’s injuries.

“He’s going to be fine now. I treated most of his injuries as he quickly recovered, as always. He just needs more rest. Tomorrow he’ll be good to go.” Dr. Howard explained.

“Thank you, doctor.” “Thank you, Howard.” Doris and Clem replied as the other just nodded to complement as the doctor left the room together with the two.

“Are you okay, Drake? How are you feeling? Is there anything you want?” Lez asked.

“I’m fine Lez, as the doctor said. I just need some rest, and I’ll recover quickly.” He replied.

“As I’ve said earlier, there is no need to worry. Drakey’s healing capability always kicks in as quickly as it could be.” Alex added.

“Healing capability?” Mike asked.

“Yes! Why? Didn’t you know?” Alex further questioned as Mike and Lez just shook their head, implying no.

“Have you seen Drakey use his ability?” Alex further asked.

“Yes, we’ve seen Drake’s ability of speed. ZOOM ZOOM, you know, like The Flash.” Mike answered.

“Idiot! Drakey’s ability is beyond that. So let me explain further. My ability, as you’ve thought was - illusion, right?” the two nod their head in agreement. “But the truth of my ability is creation. I can create an illusion, that’s true. But beyond that, I can make my illusions into reality. But it has its limits.” She explained.

“And what is that limit?” Mike asked.

“Well, that would be my secret for now. So to continue, Drakey’s true ability is - time. He can manipulate time to speed himself up or to slow his target down, and it’s very different from a speedster.” Alex was making a statement.

“But, how are they different? They both can speed up, right?” Mike still cannot differentiate the difference between the two.

“Okay, listen. To put the difference between them, we must put their similarities first. Yes, they both can speed up, but a speedster cannot slow a target down. For example, if you’re a speedster, how would you save a man who is about to get hit by a train?” Alex asked.

“Simple, I’ll speed up myself and save the man out from the train tracks,” Mike answered.

“True, now if you’re a time manipulator?” she added.

“The same, speed up myself to save the man,” Mike replied.

“True!” Alex replied.

“What the hell? Then what is their difference?” Mike is now more confused.

“It’s because a time manipulator has a choice,” Lez added.

“Exactly! Wow! Now I know why Drakey likes you. You are an intelligent person, Drakey’s girlfriend.” Alex called Lez as Drake hadn't introduced her sister to the group yet, neither did he introduce the group to her.

“Well, hold on. Before you continue your lectures, let me introduce you to my friends before you call her again Drakey’s girlfriend? And to be exact, she is not my girlfriend, nor am I her boyfriend, YET. Well, if she accepts me as her boyfriend, that is.” While holding Lez's hand and never wanting to let go, Drake said as he smiled at her. Lez stayed silent on her behalf. “And by the way, her name is Lezlie, Lez for short. And that idiot friend of mine is Mike.”

“Nice to finally you Drakey’s girlfriend, I mean Lez. And you too idiot friend, Mike.” Alex greeted.

“Nice to know you, too hot and sexy evil witch.” Mike teasingly said as Alex looked at him menacingly.

“Please don’t hurt me,” Mike uttered as he crossed his index fingers once again in front of her face.

“Never mind the idiot here. What do you mean she’s still not your girlfriend? Then what is that hand-to-hand gesture is for. The leave her alone - the knight in shining armor who protects her from any harm - the I will always be here by your side effect - What is that for?” Alex asked both Drake and Lez for the status of their relationship.

“Yeah! I’ve never heard that they’ve become a couple. I’ve never even heard Drake got a girlfriend before. So if Lez accepts him, Drake will never be a virgin anymore, well, not the literal virgin, virgin, you know, the word ‘Girlfriend’ ‘Boyfriend’ virgin that is.” Mike said as he teasingly laughed.

Lez kept herself silent with her head down as Drake looked at Mike menacingly while Alex shook her head from side to side while laughing.

“Okay, let’s just return to our topic about the train because I am still confused.” Mike quickly changed the topic back to the original.

“Then let me explain; if I am a speedster, I will speed up my movement to save the man. Now, if I am a time manipulator, I could slow the train down and let the man get out from the train tracks to save himself.” Drake explained.

“Exactamente!” Alex confirmed.

“Oh! Now I get it! But how’s that related to Drake's healing ability.” Mike added.

“As a speedster, he can double, triple, or how many times his regeneration speed, but as a time manipulator, he can just have it in an instant. Just by a snap of his finger, and voila! Drakey’s already healed. In addition, not just himself. He can fast regenerate any target he wants or fast degenerate his enemies JUST LIKE THAT! Just like he is now, I mean, not in an instant. But maybe if he reaches that kind of level. For sure, he can turn you into dust in a blink of an eye. But he’s not on that level yet. He’s still a weakling. For now, we still have to wait for his recovery.” Alex said.

“You mean, Drake, is that OP? Seriously? So you’re not just a superhero, and you’re the literal meaning of god. Woh! That is so cool. I made a friend with a god, and…” he looked at Alex for a brief moment, “Please let us be friends? Let us forget the past and have a fresh new start?” Mike pleaded to Alex like a scaredy-cat as Alex stood still staring at him.

“Well, we're not that ‘god’ of what you are thinking right now. We have a human body that could bleed, feel pain or die, and we are not immortals. And as I’ve said earlier, we do have our limits. For me, floating or flying is very hard to maintain, and it will drain me more doing it for more than 5 minutes. But my illusions are easier to handle though, I mean, I can cast illusions for hours without a sweat; turning them to reality drains me quicker, though. I can barely maintain it for 2 minutes.” Alex implied.

“But for your lovable boyfriend here as I observed,” while looking at Lez, “He’s still a baby in terms of his powers. Yes, he can speed himself up, and he can slow down time but not to the extent that he could freely choose who or what to speed up or slow down. Yes, he can regenerate faster, more times faster than normal people, but his regeneration rate is less than any of the speedsters I’ve seen from the movies. But what I’ve observed the most is you.” Alex turned her head at Lez as she wondered.

“Me? Why? What’s wrong with me?” Lez asked confusedly.

“I’ve cast one of my formidable illusions on you, my dear. But by looking at your reactions, it seems you’re unaffected by it. So care to explain?” Alex interrogated Lez as Drake also wondered, looking at her.

“Wait! What do you mean unaffected? All that fire burning and that hot momma that made me strip.” As Mike spoke, licking his lips as he remembered the illusion that made him strip. “Have you not seen that Lez?” Mike questioned Lez.

“I’m sorry, but I’m confused. I know something wrong is happening; I can feel it. Seeing your reactions, I can tell that Medea has done something at you, but I can’t see it.” Lez confirms Alex’s doubts.

“As I’ve thought,” Alex confirmed.

“What? Why? Are you kind of a superhero or a goddess, like them, Lez?” Mike asked.

“What are you talking about? I don’t have any skills nor abilities that you can think about except for - the illusions I couldn’t see.” Lez also got herself wondering.

“Have you got any idea or information about your family lineage Lez? Maybe you're one of us? Maybe you’re of royal blood? Any?” Drake asked.

“That would be impossible!” Alex denies Drake’s assumption. “The only royal blood left in this world is our family, the Scott’s. The other royal blood died ages ago, and the last royal blood family I’ve heard was the Seymour’s. Which they all died the same day our mother died eight years ago from the battle with the demon.” Alex explained. “I thought you remembered the happening, Drakey? Alex asked Drake.

“I remembered just a fragment. I can remember our mom got dragged by a smiling demon into that warp-y gate thing as you and John tried to save her. And that’s all I can remember.” Drake explained.

“Dude, your mother got killed by a demon?” dude, that is terrifying!” Mike interrupted as the other three stared at him.

“Okay! I’ll just listen.” He quickly replied.

“But what’s the reason the demon dragged your mother?” Mike further asked.

“That’s a good question, Mike.” Lez approves the question that Mike asked.

Drake looked at his sister, for he didn’t know the answers.

“It wasn’t our mother that they wanted.” Alex implied.

“Then, what do they want?” Drake wanted to clarify.

“It’s the key. The demons wanted to obtain the key.” Alex further explained.

Both Lez and Drake looked at each other and said, “The Album.” They uttered at the same time.

“What Album?” Both Mike and Alex said at the same time.

“Where did you leave the album?” Drake asked Lez.

“I put it back in the basket at the trunk of Mike’s car,” Lez explained.

“Wait! I’ll get it. Album, in the basket at the trunk of my car, right?” Mike asked, and as Lez nodded, he rushed into his car in the garage.

“What album?” Alex repeated to ask.

“Remember mom’s favorite album, the ones with pictures of us at the picnic?” Drake asked Alex.

“The ones with the heart insignia?” Alex clarified.

“Yes! That one.” Drake confirmed.

“But I thought it was lost years ago or burned by father or something as it reminds him of our dead mother,” Alex added.

“That’s what I thought so too. I have been searching for it for a long time. I was about to put it inside mom’s room for keepsake, but I couldn’t find it.” Drake replied.

“Wait! You do have the key to mom’s room this whole time? I’ve been longing to get inside that room just to see her face once again.” Alex madly replied.

“I know, I know, but I have my reasons to hide it from you. I have to protect and hide the key from our father’s grasp.” Drake explained.

“Okay, okay, let’s not argue with that today, but you have to promise me that you’ll let me get inside that room. You know that mom put some spell or something that no one can enter that room without the key.” Alex, a little bit angrily, said.

“Okay! Okay! I will bring you inside tomorrow as soon as I recover.” Drake promised.

“But who gave you the album?” Alex asked Drake.

“It’s either Nana or Clem hid it. That’s why we need them here now to ask.” Drake implied.

“Okay, I’ll go get them,” Alex replied as she went off, leaving the two behind.

“There might be a deeper secret behind this that we need to know Lez. It might have a connection between the stories and you all along.” Drake said to Lez as he repositioned himself from lying to a sitting position.

“But don’t get your hopes that high up, okay. There might be nothing in the end. Besides, it’s just your sister who experienced all that.” Lez explained.

“Uhm… that’s… not … entirely true. I kind of… tried to… gulp…” as Drake swallows a chunk of his saliva in nervousness. “You know… I tried to… check on you… and… attempt to….” Drake bowed down his head as he stutters. But before he could finish what he would like to say…

“What did you attempt to do, Mr. Scott?” Lez sarcastically said with her eyebrow raised.

“Sorry! But I did try and attempt to kiss you not just once, but twice and failed. It’s as if I could not make myself move every time…” he couldn’t finish his line as he raised his head to look at Lez because her lips touched his.

He slowly closed his eyes to feel the soft and tender lips of the lady he so adored. He longed to taste the kiss more than of his attempts to fulfill his desire to envision this instance, for this one true kiss to take shape. He was savoring the moment of their passion.

“Like this one?” Someone said as Drake slowly opened his eyes as he heard giggles and laughing all around the corner. It was Medea; she was inside the room, standing together with Mike, Doris, and Clem as they laughed.

“Drake? What’s wrong? You did not finish what you are saying.” Lez asked.

“Medea!!!” Drake softly screamed, pissed as he realized it was all an illusion his sister created.

“That’s your punishment for being too slow on her, you slowpoke.” Alex quipped.

“Here!” Mike handed the album to Lez.

“Clem? Nana Doris?” before Lez completed her sentence, Alex inserted her words.

“Ooohhhh… she called her Nana. That’s a sign. Keep it up, Drakey.” Alex said as she cut the conversation.

“Alex!!!” Drake softly uttered, a little bit pissed off at her sister’s teasing, but she only giggled.

“Okay! To continue, we would like to know of whom hid this album and have you recognized these markings on the back before.” Drake continued what Lez was about to ask.

Clem took the Album from Lez while Doris was explaining.

“It was both of us decided to hide this album, especially from your father as he starts to burn all of your mother’s belonging before,” Doris explained.

“But I never recognized these markings before.” Doris peeked. “I do so too.” They both confirm that neither of them has seen it before.

Clem read the markings,

‘When Key and Lock crosses its path,

The Door may open and unleash its wrath.

When Lock fails and starts to fall,

The devil cometh to kill them all.’

‘To prevent the Key and Lock to cross,

This mighty spell will come across.

When Key and Lock will meet at last

Three days this spell will ever last.’

“I heard something they talked about ‘a key’ before. When King Siegfried Seymour and his wife Queen Alice arrived together with their daughter Princess Ember.” Clem Said.

“As far as I can remember, they were talking about protecting the key and knowing the whereabouts of the Lock. A few days later, we received tragic information about their passing together with your mother. She will always be missed.” Doris added with teary eyes.

“Yes! But have you any idea or clue about these Key and Lock that they were talking about? Maybe they hide it someplace inside this mansion, as you may know of?” Alex asked.

“I’m sorry, Lady Medea, but I have no clue on its whereabouts,” Clem replied.

“I’m sorry, my dear. But maybe, just maybe, the garden could help. Your parents, together with the Seymour's, always gather in the garden.” Doris stated.

“What do you mean, Nana? What is in the garden?” Drake asked.

“Yes! Maybe! I heard from Trevor before that he saw Lady Elizabeth and Sir Lucas go into the garden. He has something to tell and ask them, so he followed them inside the Maze, but they suddenly disappear.” Clem added to confirm whereabouts in the garden.

“So the gardens it will be. We should look at it tomorrow, Drakey. It will be dark in there tonight. Plus, you need to take some rest. We’ll bring Trevor with us tomorrow. And I have famished already.” Alex added.

“Yes! We’ve already prepared dinner at the dining room, everyone, and Master Drake, would you like us to bring yours here?” Clem asked.

“Yes, Clem, please. I am also starving already. Could you please bring someone here to attend me?” Drake requested.

“No need for someone Clem. I will be the one to attend Drake here.” Lez implied.

“As you wish.” Clem obliged.

“Not a girlfriend, huh? Have a nice night Drakey.” Alex bade goodbye as she went outside.

“You two lovebirds, take care. See you tomorrow!” Mike leaves the room out to call their friends for dinner.

“Will you be alright here Lez? …” Drake asked but suddenly halted as Lez quickly kissed him tremendously, laid him down to bed, and unbuttoned her shirt off.

“MEDEA!!!” last heard from Drake for the night as Medea laughed from afar.

END OF CHAPTER 7