Strongest Nova: Path of Vengeance

Chapter 237: Alana

As the sun rose, Stanley looked for the time he could leave this place. He wanted to go meet with them already. But, he was still waiting.

He had told Fred to sleep as long as he wanted to, and it seemed he was tired from waking up until late at night as he didn’t wake up after 6 hours.

Stanley decided to let him sleep for much longer. There was no point in waking him up now. Once he was fully rested, Stanley could leave.

Neither Nova nor Sol woke up even after that, and Vera came in once to check on them. She looked tired, more so than normal which surprised Stanley.

"Did you not sleep?" he asked.

Vera shook her head. "I couldn’t catch a wink. I kept thinking they would come back and attack us while we were... There was no way I could sleep," she said. "How are they? Did they wake up or..."

"Sol woke up," Stanley said. "But Nova hasn’t."

He told Vera about Sol and how he had completely lost his vision. Vera was surprised to hear that and couldn’t help but feel pity for the man.

Fred woke up sometime later and came out to sit with Stanley, waiting for either of the 2 to wake up. He talked a bit with Stnaley and then with the people who were waiting along with them.

"You guys hungry? I’m super hungry," he said, bringing out a small phone which he quickly used to order some food. Then, they waited.

Not even a minute later, they heard a commotion coming from below them. "Food," Stanley asked, confused.

"I just placed the order like a minute ago," Fred said. "How could they be here so early? Hey, can you check?"

Fred asked one of the men that were waiting at the side. The man quickly nodded and went outside the room. A few moments later, he came back with a weird look on his face.

"There’s a girl downstairs. Blue dress, blonde hair," the man said. "Says she’s your girlfriend?"

"Alana?" Fred spoke loudly with a surprised face. "Alana is here? Bring her up."

Fred excitedly got up. He waited for a few seconds and through the door walked Ulia, in a beautiful blue jacket and thick jeans. Her blonde hair was behind her like a waterfall and seemed to have caught some snowflakes in it as well.

"Oh my god!" she cried out the moment she got inside. "I hear you guys were attacked. I came as soon as I found out."

She quickly rushed up to Fred and gave him a quick hug. "Are you alright? Did anything happen to you?" she asked.

Stanley stood to the back, looking at her in absolute awe. Ulia was scared worried, and frantic. All the emotions that a real person should have were in her, which nearly made Stanley believe that she was in love with the man.

But that definitely wasn’t true. Stanley knew that. But then... was Ulia this talented?

Stanley had to tell himself that he didn’t know exactly how most scouts did scouting. He had only been with Sheila and Reena, and neither of them had done anything this extreme to get information.

"We were attacked, but I’m fine," Fred said. "John got out and saved us in time."

"John?" Ulia quickly turned around and looked around before her eyes fell on Stanley. "Is that John?"

"Ah right, let me introduce you," Fred said quickly. "This is John, the one I’m sure you’ve heard a lot about."

"John, this is Alana, my girlfriend," he said. "As you can see, she’s real."

Stanley didn’t know how to act, but it seemed Ulia did. She gasped all of a sudden and walked up to Stanley, swiftly taking his hands in her.

"Thank you so much for protecting Fred," she said. "I don’t know what I would’ve done if he was hurt. Thank you so much for saving him."

She shook his hands vigorously, thanking him profusely. "Let me treat you to something. Today, okay?" she asked.

"That... I’m not sure that’s a good idea," Stanley answered. He didn’t know if he was supposed to agree or disagree. The situation was too out of his wheelhouse.

"You must say yes," she said. "Right, babe? Tell him to agree."

"I’m sure John has better things to do," Fred said. "Let’s not burden him with this."

"No, but I want to treat him. Please, you have to agree," Ulia said, turning back around to Stanley.

Stanley understood that she wanted him to agree. However, he couldn’t even come to that conclusion before he involuntarily spoke up. "Yes, I will," he said.

"Thank you!" the girl said before quickly returning to Fred.

Stanley felt a weird sensation in his heart, almost as if he had a momentary lapse of judgment. As if he had stopped thinking for a second and let his instinct take over to do the rest.

It was weird. That was when he remembered Sheila’s words from all those months ago that he had forgotten about until now.

She had mentioned something about not letting her touch his hands. Stanley frowned. That was exactly what he had just let her do. Had she just... hypnotized him?

He saw her holding onto Fred’s arm as they talked. No wonder she got so close to them.

He looked down at his hands and noticed the small device that she had left for him. He quickly hid it away while no one was looking.

The commotion woke Sol up, and Stanley helped stand up. "Don’t worry," he said. "I was already used to barely seeing. This is nothing."

Even though he said that there was a part of him that still found it hurtful to realize that he could never see again.

A few minutes later, the food arrived and everyone ate quietly. Ulia left afterward, but not before reminding Stanley that he needed to let her treat him.

After she was gone, Stanley made up an excuse to return back to his room. Finally, he could see what it was that Ulia had given him.