The next day Sam dropped us off at school since Callie’s car was still at her house. My ribs were so sore from being punched the night before, leaning forward so much I felt like the hunchback of Notre Dame. Callie looked hungover. Together we looked like a hot mess. We went straight to first period instead of stopping at our lockers.“I feel like I got hit by a bus,” I muttered laying my head down on my desk.“I feel like I was in a paranormal activity movie.” She muttered back.“Hey ladies,” Hunter greeted us, “What party did I miss out on last night?”“One we would gladly have missed if we could,” I replied not taking my head off the desk.“What happened?” Hunter’s tone turned serious.“What does it matter?” I spoke. It was not like he could do anything about it anyway.“It matters.” He said seriously. I looked around, not wanting all the glares being thrown in my direction from Hunter leaning over my desk.“Callie’s house got broken into last night with us in it,” I replied.“What
When we got back to the apartment Callie’s mother was already there waiting outside with Leah. We got out of the car and silently followed Sam into the apartment with Mrs. Cannon and Leah trailing us. We stood in the living room staring awkwardly at each other until Leah finally blurted, “Are you going to tell us what happened out there or are we just going to stand here all night?” What was I going to tell them? Did I tell them about Hunter? Hunter was a Delazar, Sam made it pretty obvious he did not like Delazar’s very much.“We skipped school.” Callie shrugged, trying to keep her tone even.“And did what exactly?” Leah glared, folding her arms across her chest.“We had girl time and lost track of time,” Callie replied evenly. She would not tell them what was going on, I guess that was fair, they weren’t telling her anything either.“Liar.” Leah growled, “Stop wasting our time.”“Why are you even here?” I finally said.“I wanted to know what the two of you were up to, just like ever
“Get your filthy hands off her,” Sam growled from somewhere to the right of me. Hunter was thrown off me to somewhere on the other side of my room.“He’s a Delazar,” Sam swore, closing the distance between himself and Hunter.“I told you this wasn’t a good idea.” Mrs. Cannon ran into the room, “With all the commotion lately with the Delazar’s they need a bodyguard, Sam.”“What are you doing in my house?” Sam watched Hunter with a deathly glare as if one wrong move and he would break his neck.“Sam.” I ran across the room to try and put myself between him and Hunter, but he wouldn’t let me, he wrapped one arm around my waist and angled himself between me and Hunter, “What are you doing? Let him go! He was not hurting me!”“He had you engulfed in flames, Jamie.” Sam held firm to his position.“Where’s Callie?” I looked around, but she was nowhere to be seen.”“I had Leah deal with her for now.” Mrs. Cannon shrugged in the doorway, she appeared to have just gotten off a phone call and
“Your clan?” I eyed him, “Why would you be running from them?”“Many reasons.” He smiled. I eyed him and waited for him to continue.“I’m pretty sure your clan wouldn’t drug you and throw you in this cell either.”“No, you’re right.” Hunter was still looking at me, “they would do much worse.”“Alright, Delazar.” Sam’s voice came from somewhere outside the cell. He wasn’t quite to the cell yet, we heard footsteps moving fast toward the cell. Cal and I scrambled behind the rock for cover. The metal was melted off so we couldn’t hide behind it any longer, which frustrated me because I wanted to see what was happening not just hear.“I’ll ask one more time,” Sam said, “What is your business in Shadowcreek?”“Hunting,” Hunter replied, the same reason he gave him earlier.“Have you finished your mission?” I heard Sam’s heavy footsteps stop at the bars of the cage.“No,” Hunter admitted.“Who was your assignment?” Sam asked. Hunter was silent.“Tell me.” Sam slammed something hard against th
We reached the dining hall about fifteen minutes later. It was empty except for a few people behind the bar putting fresh food out. It reminded me of the lunch setup we had at my school.“Help yourselves to food,” Sam told us, pointing at the bar, “I will go find you your rooms.”“We can share a room.” Callie shrugged, “would that help your search?”“You don’t mind sharing?” This is the most relieved I have seen Sam since before he left the apartment the first time. I shook my head, and he ran off. I felt relieved to hear Cal say she wants to share a room. I would feel a whole lot more comfortable together than splitting up.“Let’s dig in.” Callie was already wandering over to get plates, “I’m starving.”“Me too.” I didn’t notice how true that was until I smelled it. Fresh pancakes stacked high, unlimited bacon, sausage, hash browns, and eggs beside that, some oatmeal, and weird-looking porridge stuff I couldn’t figure out what it was.“Haven’t you ever seen grits, my dear?” A sweet-l
I woke to a knock on my door, but Callie was the one to answer it.“Hey, beautiful ladies.” Jake's voice floated through the room.“GO away.” I buried my head in my pillow. Wait, this isn’t my pillow. I sat up and looked around the bare room. I waited as last night sunk back in. I had to get to Hunter.“We were wondering if y’all were ever going to grace us with your presence again,” Jake replied happily, in a thick southern accent. I never noticed it before.“We will come out when we come out.” I shot back.“Well dinner is being served, and since y’all missed lunch I thought you would like to at least have dinner.” He folded his arms but didn’t walk into the room, he did have common sense then.“Dinner?” Callie exclaimed, “How long have we been asleep?”“Y’all ate breakfast at five this morning and now it is… six o’clock.” He tapped his watch for confirmation. I threw the quilt off and marched out the door.“Wait for me!” Callie ran back to the bed and slipped her shoes on.“How’s Hu
I didn’t see Callie until I woke up the next morning, she was still sleeping. I rolled over onto my back and stared at the ceiling for a while. I thought about Hunter I wanted to see him again. Every time I tried to think of something else, I saw his image pop into my head, and it brought me right back around to thinking of him. He had gone through so much to just get medicine for his brother, why didn’t Sam just give it to him? I wanted more answers. I wanted a lot of things. But there was one thing I wanted more than all of it. I thought back to the tunnels when I was able to penetrate Hunter’s thoughts and speak to him through our minds. I tried to concentrate hard on him. I thought of his name over and over again. Closing my eyes, I blew out a steady breath and tried again.“What are you doing?” Callie giggled. I jumped and looked over at her. She was propped up on her elbow staring at me like I was crazy.“What do you mean?” I rolled out of bed and shuffled through a box marked ‘
Callie wasn’t at dinner again. I was beginning to have withdrawals from not having my friend around anymore. Why did she need to be doing medical stuff twenty-four seven? I walked over and got my food. The serving lady smiled sweetly at me as she always did and handed me my plate. I was considering going back to my room when something, or rather someone, caught my attention. Jen was sitting next to her brother on the other side of the cafeteria. She called my name again and waved me over to their table. I sat down across from her and watched Jake as he stared blankly at the empty seat beside me. I guess he still couldn’t see me.“I envy you right now.” Jen giggled, “You know how useful that power would have been growing up with this guy?”“Jen…” Jake warned, “Not in the mood.”“I don’t even know how it happened. I just wanted him to leave me alone.” I was still staring at him as he still stared at the same empty spot, “Does he think I’m sitting there?”“Well, he’s leaving you alone al
We followed Leah through the trees to a large opening, we hung back behind a large tree and observed. Delazar’s covered the hillside, Sam hung back close to the forest, but not too far from the hill. He was too far away to call without drawing attention. Leah was about to walk over to Sam but stopped and stayed with us when Collin walked to the front of his group.“You have The Heir?” When Collin spoke out, a hush fell upon his group.“Where is Delazar?” Sam said.“On another errand.” You could hear the smile in his voice, “You will be doing business with me today.”“Where is the one I am trading for?” Sam continued. Two men stood on either side of a person walking to stand by Collin. The person had a bag over their head, you couldn’t tell who it was just by looking at them, but a feeling came over me, it was Nathan.“Where is Hunter?” Collin asked, shoving Nathan in front of him.“Here,” Sam motioned behind him and a few escorts brought hunter out of the forest, his hands were tied i
Hours passed and it felt like before the van came to a stop. I heard voices outside of the van talking, that told me people were getting out of the vehicles and getting on with the plan. “I’ll wait with the van.” Mrs. Cannon said, “I won’t be of much use on the battlefield anyway.” A few more voices were speaking after her that weren’t very recognizable, and then the voices faded off. “Sounds like they are heading over to the meeting place,” I whispered to Callie. I crawled over to the door and slowly pushed it open with just a crack. When I saw no one, I pushed it a little further, but then a force stronger than mine flung the door completely open. “What are you doing here?” Mrs. Cannon exclaimed, then looked over at her daughter “Callie, you too?” “I wasn’t going to let her go alone now, was I?” Callie said, standing up and walking over to the doors. “Neither of you are supposed to be here at all.” She sighed heavily, “If S
Callie was scribbling furiously on her clipboard when I ran into the medical room. “Callie, have you heard the news?” I ran to her breathlessly. “Heard what?” She peaked quickly at me over the clipboard but before I could answer, Jen threw herself through the door. “The prisoner has escaped, stay here in the… Oh, hey Jamie,” Jen yelled. “The exchange has changed.” I found my voice after my breath finally caught up with me, “The new time is today at noon.” “What?” Jen exclaimed. “That’s no time at all to prepare,” Mrs. Cannon replied peeking out of her office, “But I’m guessing that’s Delazar’s plan, catch the other team off guard.” “I need to get to the study,” Jen said turning to leave. “Don’t go to the study, they are in the gym,” I replied, Jen, nodded back and left. When I turned back to Callie her clipboard was on the floor. “What happens if we don’t make it in time for the
Smoke filled my lungs as trees burst into flames around me. Voices rang in my ears, they beckoned me to their side, they could easily take me captive. No one was here, where was everyone? I started to panic.“Just come to me. It will be easier for you.” Someone laughed to the left of me, “Running only prolongs the inevitable.”“Sam?” I call out, jumping over the fallen branches in my way. I was only answered with silence. Hunter and Callie weren’t anywhere to be seen either.A few moments later I emerged from the forest and came upon a large dirt hill. I squinted my eyes and saw a figure through all the smoke.“Sam!” I called, it was him, it had to be. I half-ran crawled up the steep hill, “Sam, he’s coming.” I came up behind him. The figure turned to face me, it wasn’t Sam at all but Nathan. He stared past me, almost like I wasn’t even there. His facial expressions looked scarily like Sam’s.“Collin.” Nathan called from the hill, “Come face me.” Collin? How did I not recognize his vo
The time at the shopping center flew by quickly. We found a mattress but told Sam to keep looking just in case. The day was great considering Jake decided to tag along. He hasn’t said anything weird to me since yesterday in the hallway, I had reason to believe that was because Sam was here too. It was growing close to five-thirty, and we were just a few blocks away from the meeting place.“Do you mind if Callie and I go girl shopping in the outlet stores?” I asked, pointing ahead of us to a very lit, very pink shop that screamed girls only.“Yeah sure,” Sam said, Jake looked unhappy about the idea of going into a hot pink store.“Sam, why don’t we let the girls go and we go there?” Jake pointed to the guns and hunting supplies store next to the pink one.“Well…” Sam looked like he was on the edge of considering it.“We will be just next door, what could happen?” Callie said, tipping him over to persuasion.“Okay if it’s only next door… “ Sam said hesitantly.“Great come on Cal.” I gra
I passed on dinner and went straight to my room. I sat there in bed and replayed Hunter and my moment in his cell. I blushed as I remembered his lips on mine. I hugged my pillow and tried to force the images out of my head so I could think about the meeting tomorrow night, but it was no use when my mind kept making a connection to get back to him. I tried to think of how we were escaping and then it linked to how we broke in and then why we broke in and how I was in his cell and then he kissed me… No! I’ll think about the meeting. So, after we escape, we will need to take a break for Cal’s car in the back of the funeral home, Hunters car is impressive, I wonder what it would be like to make out in it? Ugh… round three. When I meet his brother, I’ll… “This is so pointless!” I groaned and fell back in bed. “There you are!” Cal burst through the door carrying a couple of pears in her hand, “You weren’t at dinner! I have been looking everywhere for you!”
A few minutes, a right turn, and I was to his room. I knocked but there wasn’t an answer. I twisted the knob and since it was unlocked, I let myself in. I looked around but he wasn’t there. I walked to his bed and sat down, looking up at the vent we saw him in when we were searching for Hunter.Then I remembered he was looking at a photo. I looked over at the nightstand, but it was empty, besides a small lamp. There were three drawers on the stand, I looked back at the door before I decided to pursue further. I opened the bottom drawer and found old papers, letters it looked like. I didn’t bother reading them since I was already crossing so many boundaries opening his drawers. I opened the second and found pencils and drafting paper. And finally, I opened the top drawer and found something that looked like a journal. I picked it up and flipped it around. I saw something sticking out the top. I took the pages in my fingers and flipped to the marked page. There was a photo. I took it wi
Callie wasn’t at dinner again. I was beginning to have withdrawals from not having my friend around anymore. Why did she need to be doing medical stuff twenty-four seven? I walked over and got my food. The serving lady smiled sweetly at me as she always did and handed me my plate. I was considering going back to my room when something, or rather someone, caught my attention. Jen was sitting next to her brother on the other side of the cafeteria. She called my name again and waved me over to their table. I sat down across from her and watched Jake as he stared blankly at the empty seat beside me. I guess he still couldn’t see me.“I envy you right now.” Jen giggled, “You know how useful that power would have been growing up with this guy?”“Jen…” Jake warned, “Not in the mood.”“I don’t even know how it happened. I just wanted him to leave me alone.” I was still staring at him as he still stared at the same empty spot, “Does he think I’m sitting there?”“Well, he’s leaving you alone al
I didn’t see Callie until I woke up the next morning, she was still sleeping. I rolled over onto my back and stared at the ceiling for a while. I thought about Hunter I wanted to see him again. Every time I tried to think of something else, I saw his image pop into my head, and it brought me right back around to thinking of him. He had gone through so much to just get medicine for his brother, why didn’t Sam just give it to him? I wanted more answers. I wanted a lot of things. But there was one thing I wanted more than all of it. I thought back to the tunnels when I was able to penetrate Hunter’s thoughts and speak to him through our minds. I tried to concentrate hard on him. I thought of his name over and over again. Closing my eyes, I blew out a steady breath and tried again.“What are you doing?” Callie giggled. I jumped and looked over at her. She was propped up on her elbow staring at me like I was crazy.“What do you mean?” I rolled out of bed and shuffled through a box marked ‘