Chapter 208

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*- Arlo*

This is the 208th chapter of *unORDINARY*.

## Summary

Arlo waits on a park bench after being called over by Seraphina. When she finally arrives, she greets him and asks how the situation with Terrence was going. He gets confused for a moment before being reminded that he was supposed to be keeping an eye on the suspect during his Safe House shifts. He surprises Seraphina by reporting that he recently quit the club. He says that he has his own things to focus on, which Seraphina recalls was the same reason he gave for joining the group in the first place. She asks if Arlo remembers that he wanted to see what link Terrence might have with EMBER or the important person they may have killed. The memory of the words imparted by Valerie flashes back in Arlo's mind, but all he's willing to say on the subject is that he was assured by his aunt, a member of the authorities, that everything was being taken care of. Seraphina asks Arlo if he's really satisfied with such a vague response. He answers that if the authorities weren't having any luck, their own investigation would be a waste of time. Seraphina responds by saying she's got plenty of time to waste these days, and pulls out the note she found in her textook and hands it to Arlo. After explaining how she came across it, she tells Arlo of her intention to accept the invitation, as her abductors might be involved. Arlo tells her she's crazy to even consider doing something so dangerous, but Seraphina says there would be less risk if he tagged along. He flatly refuses, and does not change his stance when Seraphina implores for him to take the chance to finally get the answers they both sought. Again, Arlo tells Seraphina to just report it to the Authorities, but she scoffs at his ludicrous suggestion. Seraphina reasons that she recieved this invitation because that they want something from her. More importantly, they have something *she* wants as well. She has no intention of ruining this opportunity by getting the Authorities involved. Seraphina tells Arlo she did some research on the location. There was a cafe at the address written on the note, and those places were busiest on Friday afternoons. This suggests that they really only wanted to talk, because they couldn't risk trying anything funny in a crowd. Arlo still thinks it's nuts to take the risk, considering what these people tried to do to her. So Seraphina tries one last time to convince him to back her up by appealing to his curiosity. Recalling Valerie's words, Arlo refuses again and tells Seraphina she was free to throw her life away if she so desired. Seraphina lets Arlo know that she isn't surprised by his answer, but makes it clear that she was going to go through with it. She knows full well of the danger, but after already losing everything, she's lost all patience to wait for the answers to come to her. She accepts Arlo's decision to sit this one out, and thanks him for his time before departing. He quietly watches her leave before checking the invitation still in his hand.

That night, John finishes another workout when he looks towards the door that he used to see Blyke walk out of. This leads to the recent memory of Blyke accusing him of avoid the Safe House for fear of being proven wrong about the character of other high-tiers. John punches the wall in order to silence this memory. He swears he'll expose the frauds that lurk within the club.

At that same moment, Blyke suffers from a nightmare. Remi, Isen, and many others lie bleeding at John's feet. Horrified, Blyke calls out for him to stop. Just as in real life, John asks what Blyke is going to do about it. Blyke awakes with a jolt. He sees no peace in Wellston's future unless someone takes the King out. He recalls Isen speculating on whether John could match the power of the amplifier.

The next morning, Isen tells Blyke to hurry up. Blyke tells him to wait downstairs while he finishes getting ready. He grabs his jacket, which had been hiding the vial.

## Appearing Characters

* Arlo
* Seraphina
* Valerie (flashback)
* John
* Blyke
* Remi (nightmare)
* Isen