CHAPTER NINE

“The islands are less creepy than this stretch of road,” Quill mutters, moving closer to me. “I keep expecting some ghost girl to show up.”

“You’re a werewolf, Quill.” Beth rolls her eyes. “I’m sure you can take on a ghost.”

“Are you kidding me?” Quill huddles closer to me. “I’m terrified of ghosts. The piece of land I lived on with my dad connected to this road with open fields on both sides. Do you know the number of accidents that happen yearly simply because of ghosts?”

“Now, why would I know that?” I glance at him.

“A lot!” Quill refuses to budge from his point.

“Ghosts don’t exist, Quill,” Kathleen pipes up.

“Yeah?” Quill glares at her. “Says who? ‘Till a couple of months ago, werewolves and vampires didn’t exist either. Now look at us.”

“I don’t know about ghosts,” Isabel pipes up, looking at Beth, “but my home used to be haunted. My foster parents used to put this strange liquid on the walls of the house to keep whatever was haunting us at bay.”

“Foster parents?” Beth looks taken aback. “I didn’t know you were in the system.”

Isabel shrugs. “My parents abandoned me. I grew up with my foster parents.”

“Were they nice to you?” Beth asks slowly.

Isabel just stares ahead. “They fed me and gave me a bed to sleep in. That’s all I could ask for, really.”

“Parents are supposed to love you,” Beth murmurs.

“Not all of them,” Anderson mutters under his breath. Nobody else seems to overhear, but since he’s walking just behind me, his words reach my ears.

Isabel has a stiff look on her face. “Well, mine certainly would have been happier without me. The moment they sent me here, they told me never to show up at their house again.”

I wince. That sounds painful.

Beth gives her a one-armed hug. “I’m sorry, Isabel.”

Isabel just shrugs. “I was one of the lucky ones. I’ve heard plenty of horror stories about what happens to children when they go into the system.”

“I’m sure it’s not that bad,” Quill looks uncomfortable.

“Yeah?” Anderson suddenly growls. “What would you know? You ever been in the system?”

Quill’s eyes widen. “What’re you getting all touchy for?”

It takes him a moment to understand Anderson’s reaction. Clearly, he had been in some sort of group home or foster home.

It surprises me how so many of the students here at this school have had terrible parents or bad childhoods.

Isabel moves away from Beth to begin walking next to Anderson. “Group home?”

Anderson shrugs.

“I was in a group home before I got moved to my foster parents. A few months. I hated it. They weren’t very nice people, the ones who looked after us. They used to make us do menial jobs in the neighborhood and then keep all our earnings.”

Anderson is silent for a few seconds, and his voice is hard, “Mine liked to make us take ice baths in winter and starve us for days.”

I exchange a look with Quill.

“When my parents were alive,” Beth speaks up, “it was good. But once they died, nothing was ever right. It’s like no one wanted me. Not even my brother. It felt like I knew how good the other side was, but it was taken away from me.”

Beth rarely talks about her parents. Considering how close she must have been with them, I can understand how painful the topic must be for her to even broach.

“Considering he tried to have you killed here,” Quill gives her a wary look, “it’s safe to say he didn’t. But you’re here now. And you have a new family.”

Beth’s eyes warm. “Yes.”

I catch Isabel looking down at the ground, and I wonder how hard her family life was knowing she wasn’t wanted. When I thought my father had died, my first thought had been that nobody wants me. Certainly not Dolores, my stepmother. She had made it more than obvious.

I spent months knowing that nobody wanted me and that I was all alone. However, in my case, the news of Dad’s death had been with this knowledge that he didn’t leave me on purpose. On the other hand, Isabel was rejected by her foster parents.

All of us are screwed up one way or the other. Maybe that’s why we clung to the idea of sticking together here.

Isabel clears her throat, “So, how much money did everyone bring?”

“I have a couple hundred,” I reply.

She doesn’t look at me.

“I have around two hundred,” Beth says.

“I’ve got ten dollars,” Quill grins.

Kathleen pats her bag. “I should have forty bucks. If it wasn’t stolen, that is.”

Anderson just shakes his head, and Isabel reaches into her pocket and counts the money in her wallet. “I have a nominal amount as well.”

“Why do we need money?” Kathleen asks.

“To eat,” Isabel says sharply. “Have none of you ever run away from home before?”

At the blank stares she gets, she sighs. “The food we brought from the mess is going to go bad really fast. We’re going to need to find some village or stand nearby and get some packaged food or something. And if we’re lucky, some camping supplies.”

“Why camping supplies?” Quill pipes up.

“She’s right.” I realize. “We might be moving through the wilderness rather than the road. Remember when we came here on the bus? We travelled for hours with no sign of civilization.”

Isabel pulls her bag forward, taking out a folded map from it. She rustles it open. “According to this, we are heading South rather than North. North is the way we came. Also, we should be here,” she points at a spot on the map, “and that means we are on the other side of the lake. There are supposed to be a few small villages here.”

Everyone eyes her with awe, including me. “How do you know all this?”

She closes the map, snapping, “Because unlike you, I don’t go anywhere unprepared.”

Taken aback by her hostility, I narrow my eyes at her. “There’s no need to be rude, Isabel. If you’ve forgotten, we’re all stuck in the same situation.”

“Because of you!” she says angrily.

“Nobody asked you to come,” I turn around to face her completely, my own anger peaking.

“Well, I wasn’t going to let Beth come all by herself!” she refuses to back down.

I let out a scoffing laugh, “Beth? This is about Beth? You’ve known her for what, a minute? And you’re all protective of her? Beth has me to worry about her. And Quill. We’ve known her for longer than you have, and you know what? I’m glad she’s here. Because I would do the same for her! And we all know that! You just arrived here. I don’t know what your problem with me is but leave Beth out of it. She’s not your safety crutch, so grow up!”

Isabel’s face turns pale, and Beth hurries over, her voice quiet, “Enough, Taylor.”

“Don’t encourage her,” I snap at my friend whose jaw hardens. “She’s been like this with me from the moment she arrived. Normally, I don’t care, but this creepy monopolizing behavior has to stop.”

Tears fill Isabel’s eyes, and I feel like a jerk, but I’m not going to sit here and let her insult me for no reason whatsoever.

“Don’t talk to her like that!” Anderson gets in my face with a snarl.

Before I can say anything, Quill’s wolf is in his eyes, an amber color, as he steps in front of me. “You’d better step down. Now.”

His voice is deeper than normal, and the power radiating from him is immense. I’ve never seen Quill’s wolf side. Clearly, neither has Anderson because he freezes. However, to his credit, he doesn’t back down.

“I think this is enough,” Kathleen calls out. “We all need to take a step back and breathe. Isabel, we all chose to be here and by we, I mean, Beth, Quill, and I. I understand you were worried about Beth, but she knows what she’s doing. We all know the risks here. But we don’t abandon our family.”

Her mention of the word family has me looking at her in surprise.

“You care about Beth, but so does Taylor and everyone else. Even if Taylor had tied Beth to a chair, she would still have found a way to go after her. You’re not being fair here. Beth made her own choice. You shouldn’t criticize Taylor for it.”

I look at Beth. Isabel’s face is red, tears in her eyes, and despite it all, I feel sorry for her.

“I’ll leave you with her for a few minutes. We’re just walking ahead. Catch up to us.”

Beth nods, noticeably upset. Anderson is more reluctant to leave.

We begin walking down the road.

It takes Beth and Isabel a good ten minutes to catch up to us. Isabel’s eyes are red, and Beth is quiet. However, she gives me a small smile to show that she’s not upset with me.

I get that Isabel is younger than us, but then again, so is Susan, and she’s never behaved like this. Closing my eyes briefly, I focus on the task at hand, rather than this sudden drama that has reared its head.

Jesse.

***

I don’t know how long we walk for, but the sun is rising when we come across the partitioned road.

“Now what?” Quill asks, yawning. We’ve all taken half hour breaks in between to rest our legs, but everyone is exhausted.

I look towards the trees. The black orb is very faint now but still there. As soon as I look towards it, it rushes off in the direction of the road on my right.

“That way,” I point.

“How are you sure?” Quill asks, curiously.

“The orb.” Kathleen points towards it. “It’s been helping her.”

She looks at me now. “But you need to let it return now. It’s barely holding on.”

Thank you, I murmur in my head, and I see the orb hovering in the distance now. I’ll figure out the rest.

It hovers for one more moment and then zooms past us, back in the direction of where we started.

“Whoa,” Quill gapes over his shoulder. “I didn’t even realize it was there all this time.”

“Let’s keep moving,” I say grimly.

However, we’ve only walked another hour when the smell of fresh bread reaches us. It reaches me first, making me realize that either we’re close to somebody’s home or that we’re near the village.

Isabel clarifies that for me a few minutes later when all of them are hit with the mouthwatering scent. “The first village should be down this road. It’s built within the forest.”

“Maybe it has a place to sleep.” Kathleen lets out a yawn. “I wouldn’t say no to a bed.”

As much as I want to continue forward, I know that we’ll all collapse.

“Let’s see.”

It’s a small village but with bustling activity.

Standing at the entrance, I glance at the water fountain which seems to be the center of this settlement. “Let’s break up into pairs. Beth, you and Quill look for some hostel or some inn. See the charges. If need be, we’ll sleep on the floor if they don’t have extra beds, as long as we’re together. Isabel, you and Anderson are in charge of food and supplies. Meanwhile, Kathleen and I will ask around for whether Jesse was brought through here. We’ll meet in front of the fountain in half an hour.”

Nobody protests, and we all part ways.

***

“What boy?” the fruit vendor gapes at me. “Nobody passes through this place without being noticed. We have the occasional merchant, but nobody like what you’re describing.”

He’s the fifth person we’ve talked to.

I exchange a weary look with Kathleen. There’s no denying it. Whoever kidnapped Jesse wasn’t dumb enough to bring him through the village.

“Let’s go back,” Kathleen advises quietly. “Everybody will be waiting for us.”

Dejected, we make our way back. Beth and Quill are already waiting for us, a broad smile on Quill’s face. “We found a bag packer’s hostel. They do breakfast and dinner as well. We booked a room ‘till the evening. Thought it would be better to move after dark.”

“How many beds per room?”

“Bunk beds.” Beth smiles proudly. “Six per room.”

The words are just out of her mouth when Isabel and Anderson hurry towards us, panting, “We’re here!”

Anderson is carrying a huge bag pack, and Isabel has a huge paper bag in her arms. “We got camping supplies and food to last us at least a week.”

We all exchange a look, and I can see the relief in everyone’s eyes.

Catching the two of them up, we head to the hostel, and after eating a quick breakfast, we all fall asleep in our beds, exhausted. My sleep is restless, however, as I toss and turn, thoughts of Jesse haunting me.

When my eyes fly open, I feel more tired than before, but the room is dark. Checking my watch, I realize we still have an hour to check out. I try to close my eyes, but I can’t sleep with this restless energy filling me. Getting to my feet, I pad over to the window and look outside. It’s not that late, and there are still people milling out.

My stomach rumbles, and I grab a couple of bills from my bag and head out. Grabbing a couple of sandwiches from a bakery that’s minutes from closing, I explore the village.

It’s not a huge settlement. There’s a central marketplace, and in the outer ring, there are other businesses and then the residential areas. I stroll around the pretty little houses and wonder how these people can live so far away from society. This whole place is a bit archaic, and I would think it belongs out of one of those children’s storybooks was it not for the occasional motorbike or the sounds coming from televisions from the houses.

Finally, reaching the edge of the residential area, the lake begins, as does the forest.

Sitting on the edge of the dry bank, I munch on a sandwich, lost in my thoughts.

The orb led us here. But now what? Which direction do we go in?

My thoughts are a tangled mess.

It’s the rustle behind me that has me whirling around, only to see Anderson standing by the bushes, staring at me.

“What are you doing up?” I blink, a little wary being alone with him.

“I heard you go out.”

“Oh.”

The silence between us is awkward and stretched. Finally, I hold out the bag. “Want a sandwich?”

I expect him to sneer at me as is his norm. However, he takes two sandwiches and then sits down at a distance from me, tearing ravenously into the slightly hard bread.

“This might as well be a wild goose chase,” he suddenly speaks up.

“No one said you have to come along for this,” I say calmly.

“That’s not what I’m saying.”

I hold my tongue. I know what he means. He’s being civil about it, something that is very unlike him, but his meaning could not be any clearer. We have no direction.

My mood heavy, I hold on to my own hope. “The orb led us here. There’s going to be some way to find it.”

Without waiting for a reply, I check my watch. “We have to check out soon.”

It’s weird talking to Anderson without baring fangs, but we’re all stuck with each other for now, and perhaps being nice to each other might make things easier on us all.

Anderson leaves before me, and as I’m about follow him, I hold a tree branch for support. Just as I do, I smell a familiar scent.

Freezing, I hiss, “Anderson. Anderson!”

I hear him rushing back. “What?!”

“There!” I point towards a speck of brown on a stone. “Is that—?”

He leans down and sniffs, and his eyes widen. “Crap, that’s Jesse’s scent. He was here.”