Lana
My 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.
RhettMy head pounded steadily as if someone had taken a jackhammer to my skull, my eyesight blurry for a few seconds as I came to. Sitting up slowly, I rested my throbbing head in my hands."What the hell happened?" I asked, looking around briefly before I closed my eyes to the blinding light, which only made my headache worse. "And why the hell are you driving my car, Sparkles?"The brief recap from the girls of what had happened put things somewhat into place, but for the most part, I had no clue. Lana had changed into a pair of gym shorts and a baggy t-shirt I had lying about the car, but she smelled faintly of smoke, which confused the hell out of my fuzzy mind."When we get home, you're going to have to let my
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.
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 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.
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
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
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
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
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.