Lana
I was washing my hands at the rather dingy basin when Terry waltzed into the bathroom as if he belonged there. I saw his reflection in the mirror and watched as he leaned against the door, blocking the exit.
"Well, I was wondering how long it would take for you to get rid of the leach you call a boyfriend." He smirked. "I was starting to think you hadn't understood my hints."
He straightened and walked toward me, coming to stand behind me. He caressed my arm, the tips of his calloused fingers grazing my skin. It made me feel physically ill.
"I think you've misread this situation. I'm not interested in anything you have to offer." I said firmly, stepping away from him.
RhettA few seconds after Lana's hand turned warm in mine, her eyes turned white and the plant she touched transformed. The leaves perked up instantly, its stem grew and sprouted buds which slowly opened to reveal perfect, magenta tipped orchards."What the…" Matt started, his eyes wide.We all stared at Lana, slack jawed and silent. Her eyes slowly returned to her regular shade of green and she glanced down at the plant in blatant horror."What have I done?" Her voice barely a whisper.Dan leant forward and touched the plant, obviously making sure it wasn't some sort of illusion."I think it
Lana"I guessed you'd find these eventually." My dad said, leaning back in his chair. "What do you want to know?"My mom looks over at him, clearly horrified that he was even discussing the subject with me. She's always been uncomfortable discussing my unusual sleeping habits. She swallows a few times and I watch her intently as I try to formulate questions in my chaotic mind."Where did the photos come from?" Dan asked, helping me out a bit.My dad switched his gaze between Dan and myself, taking a deep breath before he began his story."After the second year that you experienced your sleep episode, I reached out to various colleagues and professors. I had
RhettI'm not going to pretend that I wasn't overwhelmed by the information overload that Lana's dad piled on us. It was hectic, and somewhat scary. The fact that, at any moment, the military could bust in through the door and drag my girlfriend out was just insane.OK, I'm not saying it would happen… but you see things in movies that make you think that it's possible.Lana took it so well, and there I was trying to prevent my head from exploding.Lana's eyes met mine as her brother hugged her, and all I could think of was "shit, I wonder if it's too late to take up karate?"My folks had tried to get me to sign up when I was a kid but I never did, no
LanaRhett said he had a surprise planned for me, a special date night, just the two of us."We've been officially together for two months." He had texted, adding a heart emoji and a winking face. "I think we should celebrate in style."I immediately agreed, any excuse to get out of the house. It had become stifling since my parents - or rather, my dad - had told me about me being some science experiment. They both kept checking up on me but at the same time, keeping their distance. It was weird… and had some zoo-like parallels."I'll pick you up at 7pm, " he had replied.And so, at 6.55pm, I was standing on my doorstep waiting for him, wearing a black mini dress
Rhett"I love you so much I didn't think it was possible to feel like this."Her words were like a balm to my soul, the medicine that had healed me in more ways than I had the courage to even count. At that moment I knew that she was the person I wanted to spend the rest of my life with, that I'd die to protect her from whoever or whatever wanted to hurt her. Even though we were both so young and had our lives ahead of us, for some reason I knew that I couldn't be without her."I love you," I breathed, barely a whisper managing to leave my lips.I thread my fingers in her hair and pulled her lips to mine, kissing her with all the emotion I could. She was my world, this chick who, but a few short weeks ag
LanaAs much as I wanted to stay the night with Rhett, I knew he was right. My parents would probably send out a search party if I didn't return home by curfew, and Rhett would probably feel the brunt of their anger. Rephrase… the brunt of my father's anger.And so, at quarter to ten, Rhett walked me to my front door in a comfortable silence. He held me for a moment as we stood on the front patio, just soaking up the seconds we got to be together.Overall, the whole night had been the most magical night of my life! And that included the year my father had flown us to Disneyworld and we got to spend the whole day in the park until the final song and closing of the park.With a final kiss goodnight, Rhett waite
RhettThe week went by slowly, each second dragging out until it felt like a day consisted of at least a hundred hours. I guess that's just the effect school had on time. The holidays fly by in the blink of an eye, but school terms drag out."Pssst, Jerk face!" Willow kicked the back of my chair as she whisper-shouted, keeping an eye on the old grinch of a teacher we shared for English. "What's the plan for the weekend? I want to see my bestie for a change without you hogging her.""You tell me, Sparkles. I'll follow your lead," I whispered back, tipping my chair backward on its back two legs until it rested against her desk.I could almost hear her roll her eyes back into her skull, her mouth scrunched up for a sec
LanaMy mood had been depressed the whole week long, the reality of my summer drawing to an end weighed heavily on me - more so than it had ever done before. I guess this time around I had more motivation to stay awake than in the past. Rhett had tried to cheer me up, texting me cute messages and dropping off flowers or doughnuts whenever he came back from school.That was another thing that bugged me. He and Willow got to go to school together, and I envied them that experience. Just the normalcy of it all.The hike had been a great idea, and had been really fun until my brain decided to run away with me again, taking itself into dark places. I even imagined waking up to find Willow and Rhett together - which would never happen, I know that.
RhettLana tapped her fingers against the dashboard of our car, the steady beat slowly becoming a form of torture that could possibly but dripping water to shame."Will you please relax," I moaned, resting my head back against the driver's seat in frustration."They're late," she responded with obvious impatience, her fingers stilling for a brief moment before they resumed their beat.I sighed loudly, closing my eyes. The past year had given a whole new dimension to our relationship and we were practically the married couple our new IDs claimed we were."They'll be here. There was probably just traffic or something."
LanaI woke up in a strange bed, Rhett's arms around me as his chest rose and fell with his steady breathing. I stared at his sleeping face for a moment before I pulled myself away and went to the dingy bathroom that was attached to the rather disgusting motel room. I was secretly glad we'd fallen asleep on top of the covers as I'm pretty sure the bed was covered in other people's DNA samples - if you get my meaning.Looking in the mirror, I barely recognized the girl staring back at me. My hair was matted and smelled of smoke, my eyes puffy and red-rimmedfrom crying the whole night and my skin paler than it usually was.After trying to tame my hair with my hairbrush and only succeeding on getting the implement stuck in my
RhettOne moment she was yelling at our attackers to let us go and that they were making a mistake, the next she was screaming as her body turned into flames which seared the flesh of those who tried to detain her. The fire within her grew and grew, swallowing the whole area in its furnace. Our attackers screamed in agony, their skin blistering and peeling off of their bones as they died a gruesome death.I looked down at my own hands, only a slight warmth tingling my skin. My clothes were completely burned off, but my skin was untouched for some inexplicable reason. The flames which engulfed Lana were spreading as she seemed to channel more energy unwittingly into the flames, her vision consumed with her dead brother.Dan's voice broke through my stupor as he pleaded with L
RhettMy dad had practically locked himself in his office since the moment he'd returned from confronting Lana's folks. I get it - he was beyond upset. Mrs. P had recently told me that Dr. and Mrs Summers were the ones who kept my dad sane after my mom bailed with me. They'd practically kept him from drowning his sorrows in a pool of strong spirits and his own blood - if you get what I mean.So the fact that he'd allowed them to see him so vulnerable without them affording him the same consideration sucked the big one.It would take time for him to pull his pride from his pocket and get over it, but eventually he'd see that Lana's secret was massive in comparison to my mom's affairs.Don't get me wrong, I felt
LanaHave you ever had the feeling of waiting for the other shoe to drop? That's what it had been like since Cole's dad had left the area.Christmas had been festive, my mom making sure it was just like I had seen in movies with the most delicious food ever. And just when I thought that I couldn't fit another morsel into my stomach, out came dessert. The only thing that put a damper on the festivities was this feeling that wouldn't go away. It didn't help that Willow had been having dreams again - and not good ones."It was just like before, you were running away from men chasing you and you burst into flames," Willow's voice was cracking over the phone, the poor signal at her grandparents cabin to blame."What do y
RhettIt was still dark when Dan's convertible crept out of the driveway, he and the twins on a mission to get a message to Cole. I had barely managed to sleep, nervous tension clawing at my stomach throughout the three days the General had decided to "be a guest" in our home.I knew that once the military man vacated the premises, my father would immediately have me in his office explaining every little detail to him. Lana said it didn't matter to her if he knew, but I don't think her folks would be of the same opinion so I had to weigh the pros and cons very carefully. I mean, how would you feel if you discovered your best friend of more than twenty years had kept a secret and had lied consistently to you?Fortunately - or rather, unfortunately - it didn't seem as if the G
LanaIt was official. I loved Christmas time! Everything about it drew me in; the lights, the food, the general merriment of the people I met. It was just incredible!Rhett's dad had arrived back home, so he'd been quite quiet, in fact I'd heard absolutely nothing from him. My texts had gone unanswered, and it was starting to freak me out a little bit. Dan had said to give him some space, he was probably just catching up with Bill so I busied myself with other things. Christmas shopping and baking quickly shot up to my favourite things to do.Eventually, I broke and decided to take Bill and Rhett some sugar cookies. A two in one gesture, if you could put it that way. It wasn't that I didn't trust Rhett, it was just that something felt off.
RhettAfter the discovery of Terry's body, we weren't exactly sure how it was all going to go down, but we all knew it wasn't going to be good.The cops had called my dad, asking questions about his whereabouts after they had discovered that Terry was dating my mom. They had some theory about a jealous ex or some such bullshit, and the fact that they'd picked up a car registered to my dad on a traffic camera close to the scene didn't help. They soon discovered that I had been driving the car, not my dad.Thank goodness for Cole's decision for us to eat at McDonald's - although in retrospect I think he made us go there on purpose. I'm not sure what Cole had done but the cops determined Terry's time of death was smack bang the same time as when we were chilling in McD's.
LanaIt was a surreal experience knowing that Cole was one of the kids I had a vague memory of, their small bodies lying sleeping in the clinically white bedroom at the orphanage. He seemed a lot older than me, not just the two years which I knew he was.We quickly established that I needed to be careful. If the military tracking system was still working, then they would know that my tattoo had appeared. He seemed to believe that finding your soul mate made the marker appear, but there was a chance that he was just being romantic.Willow also wanted clarity on her dreams, but Cole just shrugged his shoulders."I guess you're like our mothers. You have an unexplainable gift," was all he could say.