Chapter Eight:

Once they'd said their tearful goodbyes to their loved ones, the twins, Isla and Cosmo sat on the mint-green sofas in the new space ship. The silence was almost unbearable as they were waiting for their eight new crew members to arrive. The two pilots were already in their control room. Isla clutched the notebook she'd made with Freya while she watched the dragons gliding past. These particular Whale-dragons were a pool of six or seven and could easily have been mistaken for a cluster of stars if they hadn't been moving so freely. Elliot ran his fingers through his brunette hair thinking back to the kiss that Finley had given him as they were saying goodbye and he missed him already. He also missed his parents of course as he pictured their faces waving him goodbye as did Charlotte who was trying to keep it together, but failing. Elliot wrapped his arms around his sister as Isla looked away missing Luca, her parents and her two ginger-haired friends. She opened her notebook and smiled in delight. Staring up at her was a drawing of Freya and Finley with a speech bubble next to each one. She read the one in Freya's handwriting first and the one in Finley's; her handwriting was neat and bubbly while Finley's was small and loopy.

Dear Isla

Good luck with your adventures and finding the truth for Luca. I'll miss our conversations and you laughing at my stuoid jokes.

I know you will succeed in everything you do,

Love Freya xxx

Dear Isla,

I wish I could've come with you all. Whenever I was having a bad day, you were always there to make it better by listening to me and understanding. You always seemed to know exactly what to say. I'll miss you,

From Finley

P.s. Keep writing and please find out what really happened to Luca.

She wiped away a stray tear from her face and studied the drawing itself. Of course, Isla knew that Finley had drawn it and that made it all the more special. It had taken him ages, she could tell, and she pulled it closer to her.

Elliot, who had seen her reading the messages said, "you like it?"

"Yes. Very much," she replied. Passing the drawing to Charlotte who indicated that she'd like to see it.

"Wow. That's beautiful," she started passing the notebook back to Elliot, who stared at the drawing of Finley who. Secretly, Charlotte was jealous of the friendship Isla had with both Finley and Freya. Where was her drawing? Where was she with both of them that they gave Isla? Of course, Charlotte had seen Finley and Isla's many conversations and almost always wished that she too could join in, but whenever she came along the subject always seemed to change.

"It is. Isla left her notebook at the headquarters and Finley took it back to his room and drew it. He had Freya write her message before he went down to breakfast this morning," Elliot said.

Suddenly loud voices could be heard coming from another space pod, which had been connected to the interlinking passage between the two space ships. Feeling a surge of excitement, they stood up and walked in the direction of the sounds, their hearts thumping in their chests. As they saw the group of people Isla found herself staring at Taylor who was the first person she saw. Taylor stopped in mid-sentence surprised but pleased that she recognised at least someone in this unfamiliar territory. Now she recognised at least two people in this new space pod. During the intimacy interlinking passage close behind them Taylor felt an uneasy feeling spreading through her and Isla could see they all looked just the same as how she felt at that moment and wanted to reach out and tell her everything was going to be okay but of course she didn't.

Charlotte went over and introduced herself to each of the crew members leaving Elliott and Ila alone Elliot wished he had the confidence to do that as his twin sister did but unfortunately at that time, he just didn't and still thinking about Finley slowly walking back to where they were sitting before, not looking back. Isla reluctantly followed Charlotte as she called her over and dread began creeping up on her once again. Isla began to introduce herself politely to the people the shey was potentially going to be on the same space pod for the rest of her life; the very idea made her stomach twist in knots and she shivered.

Taylor walked towards her tentatively as she stuck out her hand and said, "hi my name is Taylor, I think I saw you at the intergalactic Federation the other day. Isla, wasn't it?"

She shook her hand as she said, "yes that's right! Good memory, nice to meet you Taylor!" The brown-eyed young lady smiled at Isla's enthusiasm. Once everyone had introduced themselves they sat down on the sofas in the headquarters and figured out who did which job. It turned out that both Taylor and Rosiee, one of Taylor's best friends, were the technicians and attended to the engines and the Gravity Button. Charlotte liked Rosiee instantly. She had this spark about her and her personality shone. Elliot Began talking to Mason for a while, but couldn't stop thinking about Finley and Freya back at the ship. He already missed his other family members terribly. He joked with the other young adult and tried to laugh off his feelings. It turned out that Isla and Taylor really hit it off. Taylor was still bitter about being a crew member, of course, but she was starting to think that maybe it wasn't going to be so bad. Rosiee wandered off to sit with Charlotte who was alone still staring at the drawing Finley had created for Isla.

when Isla the suggested, some time later, that they all go to the cafeteria to talk and get some food everyone agreed so all the eleven young adults moved towards it, their stomachs growling suddenly.

Two more people arrived who they thought must have been the siblings the intergalactic Federation officers mentioned. Charlotte, Elliot and Isla went to check and were astonished to find Finley and Freya staring at them clutching their traveling cases. Elliot and Finley ran and threw their arms around each other.

"Missed me already?" Elliot asked. He was joking, but Finley just nodded. The truth was he had and knowing that he was now going to

Freya and Isla were ecstatic to see each other again after only a few hours and were talking almost non-stop only breaking the conversation when Isla introduced her to Taylor and Rosiee.

"But what happened? What did they say?" Charlotte asked, confused as she hugged them both afterwards. They walked towards the cafeteria once more as Elliot introduced Finley to Mason.

Once they were all sitting down Freya finally answered, "Well they said that they wanted us to come with you all along but they wanted to do it as a surprise,"

Taylor couldn't help feeling as if this surprise wasn't going to be as good for her as it was for Isla, Charlotte and Elliot. She wasn't stupid and she saw the way Freya and Isla looked at each other and she secretly wished, even though she had only known her for 5 minutes that Freya would go back to her own ship.

Isla on the other hand was delighted to have Finley and Freya again, especially Finley, but he was too busy talking to Elliot to pay any attention to her. She tore her eyes away from him to Charlotte as she chatted away to Taylor, Rosiee and Mason. As everyone sat down to enjoy the food from the food machine, they suddenly heard the warning alarm go off and the blue and red lights flashing from the emergency light system on the ceiling.

"What's happening?" Finley wondered out loud, concern on his face, looking at Elliot and Isla who both shrugged.

"I don't know," Rosiee replied, "but don't worry, Taylor and I will find out," as she and Taylor left the cafeteria and headed in the direction of the headquarters and then up into the Pilot's room. Elliot and Finley moved down so they could sit closer to Isla and Freya and the others, who were just as concerned as Finley was. They ate in silence for a few minutes hearing nothing back from Rosie and Taylor and the two pilots who are currently driving the space pod. Isla felt a sinking feeling collecting in her stomach as she stopped eating her pizza Hawaii and glanced up just in time to see a dragon pass the circular window opposite her. Charlotte cried out as the glass she was holding began to float without her even having to hold it. The cutlery and plates began shaking and ever so gently rose into the air. Isla screamed in shock as she felt herself being lifted into the air and looked around wildly to see her friends and the people she just met today rise with her. Finley and Elliot who had been holding hands held onto each other for dear life. Charlotte and Mason were next and grabbed onto each other without even thinking about it. Isla thought it must've been the Gravity Button; she had heard of it sometimes being broken, but it had never happened on the other space pod before.

Because Isla and Elliot had already been outside in space they already knew what to do as they swam through the cafeteria trying to help the others who were turning around upside down and sideways, spinning round as soon as they'd found a sitting position in the air. Finley was holding on to Elliot's hand as if his life depended on it.

"Charlotte, you know that book you were reading about the parallel universe on Earth? Pretend you're swimming in water just like the main character. Freya, move your arms like this," Isla motioned with her arms doing a kind of breast stroke and kicking her legs out as she flew around the room. Cosmo was watching and secretly found the whole business hilarious as he flapped his wings looking on at the struggling humans. Star, Taylor's dragon who had been hiding in the Pilot's room had stopped by and just hovered next to looking on in silence. Just then the meteor shower warning came on and everyone groaned; this is exactly what they didn't need especially when the gravity Button wasn't working.

Freya floated towards Isla and held her hand whispering, "What do we do now?" The way that Freya looked at her in absolute confidence as if she knew how to solve every problem in the universe Isla had the sudden urge to just kiss her which obviously she didn't do. Turning away as she spoke, Isla replied, "Let's try to float down underneath the tables and then stay there until the meteor shower is over,"

"Good idea," Finley replied next to her as he pulled Elliot's down, both trying to reach the tables and not get attacked by the cutlery and plates that were still floating around the room.

"Hold on tight to us!" Cosmo and Star said in unison. Charlotte reached for Star just as Isla held on to Cosmo. The Raven-dragons pulled the humans until they were nearly under the tables when a massive boulder smashed into the space pod knocking everything over, including the food and drink machines with a resounding crash. They look sharp into the air, banging into each other in the process. 'Sorry' everyone said to each other before another large meteor hit the space shop, the sound booming around the space pod. Elliot and Finley sprang part at the impact each landing at the other side of the room hard on their backs. They groaned in pain as Charlotte cried out, "Elliot! Finley"

"I'm fine!" Elliot called out. Relieved to hear that Elliot was okay, Freya, Charlotte and Isla grew more concerned about Finley who still hadn't answered. A bang startled Mason who was floating next to the two circular windows away from the others. The other crew members were busy trying to fix something with one hand, each holding onto the table legs with the others for dear life. As Mason glanced outside he realised that a poor whale-dragon had been slammed into the space pod and was struggling to escape the enormous rock. Over on the other side of the room nearer to the headquarters Isla and Charlotte got to Finley first with Cosmo's help while Star helped Freya to see him.

"Hi everyone. Sorry about this. Somehow the Gravity button is faulty. Rosiee and I will keep working on this while the pilots try to navigate through the dust storm and meteor shower," Taylor announced through the loud speaker.

Freya gasped at the sight of Finley who was just floating in mid-air. The drops of blood coming from his head were floating through the cafeteria. Elliot was already there trying to support his head which was proving to be very difficult. Finley had his eyes closed and wasn't responding to Isla and Charlotte's calls.

"Is anyone here a qualified medic?" shouted Elliot, panic evident in his voice. Suddenly, before anyone had time to answer the Gravity Button warning light turned off, which sent them all crashing down. Some on the ground, others on the table.

"I am!" called out a weak voice from on top of the food machine, which had mashed even more on the impact. Outside great big swirls of dust and tiny particles of rocks whizzed past the jellyfish and the pools of dragons. It turned out to be Mason who's back had slammed into the floor without warning. Isla, Elliot, Charlotte and Freya got up, each with a different injury, but they all did their best to ignore their pain as they rushed to Finley who really didn't look well. His cheeks were drained of colour and the back of his head was still bleeding. When Mason finally struggled to get up he limped towards the group to see the extent of the young man's injuries. Glancing at Charlotte briefly, Isla could see her arm, which was still in the cast, was giving her a lot of pain. She went back to looking at Finley tears pricking her eyes.

Mason looked alarmed when he saw him as he said, "John! Get the first aid kit from the pilots room, will you please? He needs it!" The other crew member ran out of the cafeteria.

Elliot finally spoke as if coming out of a trance, "Finley! Wake up! Wake up! Finley!" He held his hand, shaking him with the other. Freya looked as if she might faint at any second and Charlotte supported her with her good arm. Isla heard Mason, Rosiee and Taylor rushing in with the first aid kit, because of the blood pumping through her and the sound in her ears she couldn't hear a word.

It wasn't until Taylor patted her on the shoulder that she came out of her trance.

"Sorry?" she whispered.

"She's asking you to move over a bit," Elliot whispered. It was only then that she realised she was holding tightly onto Finley's hand. "I've also had to move," he spoke gently as he showed her that he wasn't holding Finley's hand anymore and Mason was doing CPR. Cosmo came to sit on her shoulder equally worried at the scene before her.

"Right. Sorry," Isla replied, her gaze still glued on Finley walking to where Freya stood. Elliot and Charlotte stood over the other side of the room also feeling helpless as they just stood there. The twins, Freya and Isla said nothing as they watched the crew try to help the kind 20-year-old. It was hard to watch his body rising up and down as Rosiee and Mason took it in turns to perform yet more CPR, but nothing was working. Finley's body was limp as Taylor took out the defibrillator passing it to Mason. Isla winced as his body lifted up off the floor and slammed down onto the floor. It happened again and again and Elliot just couldn't think that he could watch anymore. Sensing his distress and her own, Charlotte wrapped her good arm around him and he leaned on her for support, tears streaming down his cheeks. A stray meteor bounced off the ship startling them as the space ship shuddered. Freya and Isla hugged each other as they watched Finley's body coming up and slamming down again. That's when the 12 people and the two Raven-dragons heard the dreaded beeping sounds. That's when the real panic set in and Isla, Elliot and Freya rushed towards him. Seeing this, two crew members, who they hadn't officially talked to yet, blocked them from coming any closer.

"Let me see him! Let me see him, dammit!" screamed Elliot, who could see he was dying and needed to hold him.

"I'm sorry, but to really help him we need you out," one said, sympathetically.

"That's some bullshit!" he replied, more tears spinning into his blue eyes, craning his neck to see Finley.

Charlotte came over and very gently said, "maybe they're right. It's the best chance of Finley getting better. Let's wait in the Headquarters until they treat him"

"It's not like you ever cared about him, anyway," retorted Elliot, marching out of the room. He regretted what he said immediately, but he knew he couldn't take it back. He paced up and down the room staring down at the glass floor seeing the massive deep purple dragon glide past with their luminescent scales. Cosmo flew into the Headquarters to try and calm the tension in the room, but Elliot didn't even seem to notice him.

Back in the cafeteria, Charlotte stood sobbing in the corner as Freya tried to comfort her by saying, "you know he didn't mean that. He's just worried about Finley. We all are. Let's go and see our new rooms and unpack. Okay?" Trying to stay strong for Charlotte was one of the hardest things she'd ever had to do. Finley had always been like an older brother to her and seeing him in this state both frightened and devastated her. Charlotte just nodded, knowing she was right.

Isla had marched over to the Headquarters and was now walking towards Elliot at an alarming rate as she said, "Look, I know you're extremely worried and upset about Finley. So am I, but how dare you talk to Charlotte in that way? She was just trying to help us all!" expecting him to be angry with her, she stepped back slightly, still glaring at him. They were all supposed to be supporting each other, weren't they?

To her surprise he burst into tears. After a moment he whispered, "I know. You're right. I just... we were so close, you know? So close. We finally admitted that we like one another; finally kissed. Something I've been dreaming of for years. And now that he is allowed to come with us, he's... he's,"

Elliot stopped, unable to continue his sentence. Isla knew exactly what he meant and embraced him without a word, the anger she'd felt towards him only a few seconds before fading rapidly.

"He'll be okay," she whispered, hoping that what she was saying was true.

"I hope so. I really do," he whispered back. Charlotte and Freya entered the Headquarters tentatively, trying to assess the situation. The four young adults could hear their new staff members panic voices still trying to get Finley to respond.

One of them, Isla, thought it was Mason, but she couldn't be sure, said, "what the hell is the point of a hospital ship if they can't be bothered to answer the damn phone? I've called them six times!"

Taylor could be heard swearing as the defibrillator started beeping once more.

Elliot apologised to his sister who nodded, unable to reply as her tears fell. Isla walked over to the mint-green sofas and sat down as she clutched her notebook with the drawing of Finley and Freya in it. Somehow this action amplified the pain of the jellyfish stings, but Isla continued to hug it to her chest wishing Finley was the one holding her instead. The others came to join her, each crying silently, not reacting to the shuddering of the space pod as another meteor hit.

Back in the cafeteria, Finley was really struggling. He'd just managed to open his eyes slightly, but only once before plunging back into the murky darkness. White stars kept jolting him from his trance and however hard he tried to wake up, the stars always faded. A throbbing coming from the back of his head started radiating pain up and down his spine. Just as suddenly, the pain stopped and images of the old space pod, his aunt and uncle, Freya came into view. He couldn't hear what they were saying, but they were crying and waving at him. Elliot and Isla came into view then and they were obviously screaming his name, yet however much he tried he just couldn't hear them. They both ran towards him trying to break through the murky space to where he imagined himself standing, but they couldn't. Finley watched helplessly as all his family and friends gradually disappeared from view and then there was nothing.

Taylor and Rosiee tried desperately to revive Finley each imagining their new friends' faces as they saw the state Finley was in. Mason tried CPR once more as well, but when they didn't get any response at all, not even the slightest of movements like he had before, they had to expect the worst.

Taylor, Rosiee, Mason and the other crew name couldn't even begin to describe their guilt as they headed towards the Headquarters to break the awful news just leaving the dead 20-year-old on the cold floor.

Elliot leaped to his feet as he saw them approaching. He spoke, a hopefulness invoice "so, how is he? Can we see him now?"

Isla, Charlotte and Freya joined him, each waiting for the answer. It was Mason who finally spoke running his hand through his mid-brown hair, "umm I am so sorry to have to tell you this but...,

"No," Isla whispered, tears pouring from her green eyes fearing the absolute worst.

"He's dead," Rosiee whispered.

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DUN DUN DUN, okay, but Finley may (or may not) return, so keep reading to find out haha

Honestly, It pained me when I wrote this! 

Any feedback is appreciated! 💕🤗