“WHERE ARE WE GOING TO go?” asks David. “We can’t stay here. If they were able to find us, there’s no telling how soon someone else will.”
Tom begins pacing the room, mumbling to himself. I wonder where Tom actually lives. Like Liam, Emma, and I, he seems to have moved in with Claire. Suddenly, he stops pacing and grins like the Cheshire Cat. It’s kind of creepy.
“Aha, I have a cabin up north that could fit all of us.” Nodding his head, he continues. “Yeah, it’s smaller than this house, but there is enough open space outside that we can keep training, and there are enough rooms, though some of us may have to share.”
Claire thinks it over and begins nodding as well. “That sounds like a good idea. We can go up there first thing tomorrow morning. Just pack essentials and clothing. I have means to get more stuff later. Go now. Be ready early in the morning.” Everyone leaves the room, but I linger behind.
“Claire, can I ask you a favor?”
“Anything.”
“Well, I don’t know if Jane will be home anytime soon, but do you think that you can put one of your enchantments around her house? I don’t want anything to happen to her because of me.”
“Of course. That’s actually a good idea. I’ll go do it now.”
“Thank you so much.”
“You’re welcome. Now go get packed. I’ll see you in the morning.” I leave the room, and walk back to mine slowly, giving myself enough time to think about this situation. Claire is willing to uproot her family because someone is looking for me. It doesn’t make sense. How did I go from barely having anyone in my life, to having so many people care for me? It’s a little overwhelming, but in a good way. I’ve never had a big family before. It was always just my mom and me. Now, I have so many people who want to make sure I’m safe.
Once inside my room, I throw open the closet. I start to search for a duffel bag or small suitcase to use, but there is nothing. I hear a small knock, and turn around to find David standing in the doorway, holding a small suitcase. “I thought you might need one.”
“Thank you.” Turning to the dresser, I start throwing random pieces of clothing into the suitcase. I don’t look at what I grab—because that worked so well before.
“So, umm…Ryanne, can I ask you something?”
“Yeah, of course. What’s up?”
“Have you talked to Emma recently?”
I turn around, cross my arms across my chest, and smile at him. “Yes, why?”
“Well…I umm… she...” He is running his hand across the back of his neck, and looking at everything in the room except for me. A small blush is creeping onto his cheeks. I know what he wants to ask me, but it’s amusing to see how uncomfortable this conversation is making him.
Walking over to David, I touch his cheek to make him look at me. “You didn’t hear it from me, but I think your chances are pretty good with her.” Relief floods his eyes, and he pulls his lips back into a small smile.
“Really?” I nod. “Thank you, Ryanne.”
“Remember, I didn’t say anything to you.” I playfully push him out of my room. “Now, go. I have to finish packing.”
I grab the rest of my clothes, and shove them inside the suitcase. Hopefully, Claire will be able to get everything that I didn’t bring, or maybe I can borrow from Emma. I lay out an outfit for the morning, and decide to go to sleep.
I turn the bedroom light off, and crawl into bed. This will be my last night in this home. I can hear voices down the hallway, so I know the others are still awake. I roll onto my side and bury myself into the blankets, letting their warmth surround me.
Adam invades my dreams.
At 5:00 a.m. the next morning, I hear someone knocking on my door again. “Ryanne, rise and shine. We’re going to try and leave in an hour,” Tom says. I feel like I haven’t slept at all. All night, I woke up when I saw Adam coming toward me.
Moaning, I roll over, and stretch. I slowly get out of bed and take a quick shower, washing and conditioning my hair and shaving my legs. I am not going to spend too much time, since I’ll be in a car for a couple of hours anyway. Throwing on a pair of jean shorts and a large t-shirt, I walk over and make the bed, cleaning up any simple messes that I made. Satisfied with the condition of the room, I bring my suitcase downstairs, and grab a muffin off the counter. Claire and Emma are already downstairs, waiting for everyone else.
“How come the girls are always ready before the boys are?” Emma asks. “What did they do all last night? They were all awake when I went to bed.”
“Who knows, but if you want to bring your suitcase out to Tom, he’ll pack it in the car for you, Ryanne,” says Claire. I grab my suitcase and walk to the garage. Tom is standing at the back end of a freakishly large vehicle; its shiny black exterior looks brand new.
“I have another suitcase for you.”
“Are any of the boys ready?”
I shake my head. “They were still packing when I came downstairs.”
I go back into the kitchen, and sit down at the table. Laying my head down on its cold surface and letting my hair fan around my face, I close my eyes, and wait for someone to wake me up to tell me that it is time to go.
“Is she okay?” asks Colton. I would have replied, but my body just doesn’t want to cooperate. I’m comfortable drifting between consciousness and sleep.
“She’s been dreaming about Adam. I’ve been trying to block out his images, but I can’t stop all of them.”
David must have walked into the room because he asks, “Why hasn’t she said anything to anyone? They are just dreams right? Not visions?”
“She doesn’t want anyone to worry about her. But yeah, I’m positive they are just dreams.”
Someone is nudging me. “Ryanne, it’s time to go.” I open my eyes, and see Claire standing over me. I am still a little out of it, so she grabs my arms, and guides me to the garage. Everyone is standing outside of the vehicle.
“Emma and Ryanne, you two will have to sit in the back, because the seats are smaller. One of the guys will join you two,” Tom says. I blindly walk to the car, following Emma. I take a seat in the back, to the left of her, in the middle, and lean my head against the headrest of the seat directly in front of me. Someone sits down in the seat to my left, but I don’t move to see who it is.
Hitting a bump in the road, my head bangs against the headrest, jerking me awake. I quickly look around the car. Emma is asleep, and leaning her head against the window. Tom is driving, while Claire reads in the passenger seat. David and Logan are talking amongst themselves. Colton is also asleep in the seat beside Logan. I can only see his profile. His expression is relaxed. His long, dark eyelashes are fanning across his cheekbones, and his mouth is raised in a slight smirk. He looks younger when asleep. To my left, sits Liam. “You okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just a little tired.” Rubbing my eyes, I blink a couple more times, trying to become more awake. “Are we almost there?”
“I think we’ll be there in about thirty minutes.” Nodding, I lean back against the back of my seat, and close my eyes again. I breathe in deeply, and let sleep come over me again.
“Ryanne. Ryanne. We’re here,” someone whispers to me. “Ryanne. Wake up. We’re here.” I open my eyes and see…a neck? Lifting my eyes, I see that it’s Liam’s neck. I must have fallen asleep leaning against his shoulder. I sit up further, but don’t make an effort to move much more. Everyone else is still sitting in the car.
Tom turns around from the driver’s seat. “Ok, we’re here. I’m going to get out with Claire, and check the perimeter while she puts up the enchantments. Stay in the car.”
I bring my attention back to my surroundings. Looking down, I realize that I am practically sitting in Liam’s lap. I’m not sure how I accomplished that, considering I’m still buckled. “Oh my gosh, I’m sorry.” I readjust myself in my seat. The corner of Liam’s mouth raises a little, giving off the impression that he wants to smile, but doesn’t.
A couple of minutes
later, Tom comes back, and gives us the okay that it is safe to leave the car. Surrounded by large trees, is a luxury log cabin. A stone exterior surrounds the lower level, but the upper levels have a dark timber frame. Large bay windows encompass a sizable portion of each level with dark olive green trim. Light earth-tone shingles line the roof creating an earthy appearance.
Following Tom, we all walk into the cabin. The first thing I see is an expansive open area. Walking through the door, the living room is off to the right, with a large curved staircase on the left, leading to the second floor. I can see the railing, and partially down the hallway on that floor. The living room has a floor to ceiling length fireplace made of stones. The wood walls give the room a darker feeling, but the windows and subtle illumination creates a cozy atmosphere.
“I’ll go get the suitcases. Why don’t you guys show the girls around? Oh, and Liam too.”
David deepens his voice and says, “If you’ll follow me, I’ll be your cabin tour guide for the day.” With a sweeping hand motion, he starts walking backwards. “Through here is the kitchen area. Large bay windows are built into all three walls, giving a scenic view of the outdoor landscape. This lovely room is a great space to prepare meals, grab a snack, sit and read a book, or start a food fight—just make sure Claire never finds out.”
The room is beautiful. I love the large windows that surround it. They let in a ton of light, and the dark green landscape outside is breathtaking. I can’t image what it would look like to be here in the fall when all the leaves are starting to change colors.
Apparently, it’s time to go because Emma links her arm through mine, and all but drags me out of the room to follow everyone else. My eyelids are beginning to feel heavy again, and my feet feel like they are made of bricks. Walking back into the living room area, we take the stairs to the second floor. “This floor is where all the bedrooms are. There is also an entertainment room similar to our previous arrangements. There are enough rooms, all similarly furnished, for almost everyone to have their own room. However, two will have to share.”
“We will,” Emma volunteers us.
“Excellent, we can gawk at the rooms later. If you continue to follow me, we’ll go to another set of stairs leading to the attic.” Walking single file up the small narrow staircase, we enter into another room. Colton and Logan can barely stand upright with the low ceilings. Liam and David can stand upright, but have to be careful not to make any sudden movements. I have no such problem. Three of the four walls in this room are made entirely of windows. The other is a large mirror. I walk over to the window, and look out at the scenery.
“We used to come up here and train when David and I were little,” whispers Colton.
“This house is beautiful.”
“You should see it in the winter time when the fireplace is going. Frost webs on all the windows, and icicles hang off all the tree branches. I like to come up here and watch the snow fall. It’s so peaceful.”
“That sounds amazing. I love being this close to nature.”
“I do too,” he says. I tear my eyes from the tree line and gaze up at him. He places a hand on my shoulder. “Come on. Everyone already left.”
What? I look around the room, and see that we are the only two people still here. I let him grab my hand, and guide me out of the room and back downstairs to get our suitcases. Grabbing both of them, he walks back up the second floor.
“Your room is here with Emma. Everyone else is a little down the hall.” I nod, and walk into the room to find Emma already unpacking.
“So, what were you and Colton talking about? I saw you two chatting by the window as I was leaving.” Emma grins at me, fishing for any juicy details.
“It wasn’t like that. We were just talking about how this place looks in the wintertime. It sounds beautiful,” I say as I walk over to the unoccupied bed, and place my bag on it.
“Whatever.” She shakes her head and continues putting her clothing in the small closet off to the side. We both share a bathroom and the closet. “Hey, are you okay? You seem a little out of it today.”
“I think I’m fine.” Shaking my head, I try to distract myself. I can’t fall asleep again.
“You think you’re fine?”
“Yeah, I don’t know. I’ve been really tired lately. I feel really sluggish. It’s hard for me to stand up right now.” She’s now looking at me like a concerned parent. “Never mind. Come on. Let’s go find the guys. See if they want to do something.” I slowly walk past her out of the room, and down the hallway toward the other voices.
“Ryanne. Are you sure you don’t want to just lie down or something?” Emma calls after me, chasing me down the hallway.
“What’s wrong with Ryanne?” David asks, as he stops in front of me.
“Nothing is wrong with me. Emma’s just paranoid.”
Colton walks out of his room and stops at my side, placing an arm over my shoulder. I ignore the butterflies in my stomach that flutter every time he touches me. “Who’s paranoid?”
“Oh goodness, I’m going to go find Claire.” I’m surrounded by a bunch of worrywarts. I can feel their eyes on me as I walk away, but I don’t stop or turn around. I walk down the stairs to the kitchen, and find Tom and Claire in their usual positions: Claire baking something and Tom sitting at the table reading.
“Claire, do you know of any way to get rid of exhaustion? I can’t seem to wake up fully. I just want to go back to sleep, but I know everyone will start to worry about me if I do.”
“No dear, I’m sorry. I can make you some coffee or something if you don’t want to go to sleep. I think that sleeping would be your best option at this point, though.” I crinkle my nose at the prospect of drinking coffee. I hate coffee, but if it will help right now, I’ll drink it.
“Sure, coffee sounds great.” I walk over and sit down next to Tom. He smiles at me, but doesn’t say anything. I look out the window and watch the squirrels in the yard, running up the bases of the trees. There are a couple of small birds pecking at the ground. It’s so peaceful outside. None of them have to worry about someone chasing after them, or bringing an end to a war. They just have to gather food and survive. Their biggest worry is whether or not they can make it across the street without being hit by a car. Suicidal animals.
Claire puts a mug of coffee in front of me, jolting me out of my thoughts. I smile at her and thank her. The cup is warm. I bring it up to my lips and swallow some. It is hotter than I anticipated. I start coughing as the scalding liquid travels down my throat. Tom slaps me on the back with a giant thud. Wincing, I nod at him, telling him that I am fine. That’s going to leave a mark. I take smaller sips, trying to quickly swallow, so that I don’t taste it for too long.
I sit at the table for a couple more minutes, before venturing back upstairs. I feel slightly more awake now. No one is in the hallway anymore, so I continue walking until I hear voices. Hearing my name, I stop outside the doorway.
“I’m worried about Ryanne, guys. I think something is wrong with her,” says Emma.
“I agree. I was watching her earlier, and she seemed to have trouble standing on her own. She kept leaning on everything whenever we stopped walking,” Logan responds. “I wanted to tell her that I may be able to help, but I didn’t want to draw any attention to her. If it’s just simple exhaustion, she needs to sleep.”
Goosebumps rise on my skin, and I start shivering. The hall is freezing cold. I quietly walk back to my room and unzip my suitcase, searching for a sweatshirt. Of course I didn’t pack one. I walk back to the entertainment room and interrupt their conversation.
“Does anyone have a sweatshirt I can wear? I forgot to pack one.” I’m visibly shaking at this point. Seeing me, Colton jumps up and leaves the room. Logan walks over to me and grabs my shoulders, turning me toward him. He closes his eyes and concentrates. After a couple of seconds, he shakes his head, and reopens his eyes. Colton comes back into the room, carrying a sweatshirt. I gratefully take it from him
, and put it on. It’s way too long and covers my shorts completely, but it’s warm, so I don’t care.
“There’s nothing I can do. Her body is not used to having so much power inside. That and the lack of sleep. You’re exhausted, Ryanne. Why don’t you go lie down?”
“I’m fine.” I brush past him, and sit at the end of the couch, near Liam.
“No you’re not. Quit being so stubborn. Do you want to pass out again?” I ignore him, bring my legs up to my chest, and pull the bottom of the sweatshirt over them. Colton’s sweatshirt is so big on me; I don’t have to worry about stretching it out. No one moves; they all just watch me.
“Please stop staring at me. You know how I feel about the staring. I’ll be fine.”
“Ryanne, we care about you. We don’t want anything to happen to you,” says Colton.
I yawn and lean down, so I am resting against the armed cushion of the couch. “I know, but there’s nothing to worry about.” I close my eyes. “I’m fine.”