Stop talking now.
That rant not only made me sound stupid it also made me sound hysterical. Which I guess I was a little, I was incredibly tired, weak now from the transfusion, worried about Axel, feeling strange things every time Jason looked at me or touched me and now he was beginning to look at me like I had grown horns instead of giving blood.
I wasn’t looking at him when I heard him let out a slow deep breath.
“Wow” he said “your identity has been kept a secret from you, that really sucks”. OK, now I started laughing hysterically, I couldn’t help it.
“There’s something different about you Lily, you’re not the same as any Travellers that I know, you’re different somehow and I’m just not sure what it is”. That sobered me up a little, I stopped laughing.
“I have no idea what you mean” I said
“I’m sure you don’t, I kinda guessed you didn’t know much. Can’t wait to hear what Axel says about it when he wakes up”. And with that he came towards me to remove the transfusion tube and patch me up.
“You need to sleep Lily, you’ve been through a lot today. Take that bed” he said pointing to the second single bed in the room.
“Where are you going to sleep” I asked already making myself comfortable on the bed. I couldn’t even be bothered taking my shoes off I just lay on the bed and started drifting.
“I’ll patch Axel up then I’ll sleep on the couch”.
I’m not sure if it was my imagination because I felt someone take my shoes off and cover me with a blanket then smooth down my hair. It must have been Axel, he did that sometimes when I fell asleep on the couch in our cottage. Except Axel couldn’t have done it, with this thought I fell asleep watching the beast come towards me.
“You’re up sunshine”.
What! I thought, sunshine, what the hell.
I guess my expression amused Jason because I finally saw the weary expression disappear just to be replaced by the most enigmatic grin I’d ever seen.
“What time is it, is that coffee I can smell, and food’, as my stomach growled just in case my words didn’t speak loud enough on my behalf.
Again a grin and Jason was bringing over a cup of coffee and what looked like a bagel – my growling stomach was very pleased.
“Guess what” he said “Axel woke up a couple of hours ago, it was amazing, he even got up to check on you”. I had stopped chewing, my heart racing “are you telling the truth” I said, as I looked over at Axel. His pallor had changed completely, back to normal. He looked peaceful, sleeping like he had no care in the world.
I put down my food and jumped over to his bed. I felt his forehead, held his hand everything seemed normal. I looked up at Jason, my expression wearing the ‘how can this be’ question. He just shrugged his shoulders.
“I guess the transfusion worked, his vitals are all back to normal and there is no more tissue damage according to the scanner. I convinced him to go back to sleep, just in case. He was pretty tired but I’m guessing he won’t be out for long. He was worried about you, wouldn’t go back to sleep until he checked you were ok.” Jason was looking at me, I couldn’t read his expression, wasn’t really interested actually. I was focused on Axel.
“Lily he’s ok, he’s just sleeping. You should finish your breakfast you need to keep your strength up, this is probably the only bit of rest we’re going to get for a while”.
“hmmmmphh’ I said through another mouthful of food and coffee. A shower, a really hot shower, that’s what I needed. Finish eating and hot water and everything would be ok with the world.
Chapter 19
The Beast
The pack leader was picking up speed. He’d just communicated with home base and the remote viewers had him back on track again. He and his pack had been on a grand old goose chase, he’s not sure yet how the prey had managed it, how they managed to plant all that DNA, the false scents that smelt oh so real. He didn’t want to admit it, without the help of the remote viewers, the pack would have been lost.
The lead Esperanzi had been so focused on the girl he was no longer surprised that she made an appearance in his rest hours. Well, surprise at first, then he managed to have a sense of when she was resting, he would stop and rest himself just to see her, eventually talk to her. He found he was starting to crave this contact. His pack of course thought he was losing it his behaviour seeming very erratic to them.
At first the leader thought they too had seen her in their dreams considering their telepathic connection, he was wrong though. The honour of her presence was his and his alone and he had become very possessive of these moments. He wondered for a moment why this was happening, wondering if the connection was opened through the man he had taken down. He had seen her then as well.
He found himself beginning to wonder why Gentech was after her. Surprised to say the least, he had never had such a thought before, never cared. A job was a job no questions asked, in fact it wasn’t the Esperanzi’s place to ask questions. He knew however that the girl and her companions would be on the move soon. One amongst them was clever, a challenge. The leader smiling considering the challenge, enjoying, wandering what was coming next. The diversion was frustrating and puzzling, he was really going to enjoy this hunt.
Lily
I’m not sure how long I was in the shower for, a very long, luxurious, healing time. Indulging myself knowing a similar experience may not be in my near future. Contemplating this I was surprised to see Axel sitting up, dressed and eating as I came out of the bathroom. He held out his arms just as I launched myself into them, this was my safe place here in Axels arms. I didn’t even know the tears were streaming down until Axel held me back and started wiping my face.
“I’ve never been so scared” I cried as he held me, “don’t ever do that to me again”.
Axel just chuckled, happy to be back, happy to have me back. In that moment there were only the two of us as the realisation that I may in the future, if this goes badly, have to live a life without Axel. It wasn’t something I could comprehend. So when the sound of a throat clearing came from behind me, the startling reality of our situation set in. Jason. I had forgotten about him in that moment.
“I’d hate to interrupt” he said quite gruffly “but now that we all seem to be up and about we should think about making a move. The Esperanzi won’t be too far behind us and I’d like to keep as much distance between us and them as possible”.
Jason seemed distant in that moment. I wandered if he understood what was happening, what he had got himself into, the danger he had put himself in. I was wondering at what point he was going to change his mind and say ‘I’m not playing any more’ and leave.
“Jason has a place in mind, you know for us to go too” Axel said to me. Apparently those two were catching up and becoming good friends while I was lost in my own little shower world.
“Where’s that” I asked, looking at Jason for the first time since I’d come out of the bathroom. He was staring straight at me, unnerving.
“It’s a place your father told me about. Actually he made me promise to take you there if and when this all happened”. There it is, my father, directing my life and I still didn’t know anything about him.
“It’s still five day’s drive from here so we should get going. We will all be safe there”. I huffed at this- safe. What does that mean anyway? I couldn’t at this point believe that I would ever be safe again.
“It’s as good a plan as any Lily” Axel reassured me. “Help us pack up so we can go.”
Then it hit me. “Axel, how is it your up and about. A few hours ago you couldn’t stand”, something, knowledge stirring at the edges of my mind.
“I’m made of strong stuff Lily, you should know that”, is what he said in words. What I heard was “not now Lily, we’ll talk about this later”.
So with that curious thought, we fi
nishing packing up and back in the car and on our way to who knows where and safety.
Chapter 20
Lily
Ever since I can remember Axel would make me sit and still my mind, clear my thoughts and find my centre. When I was old enough I studied some of these philosophies and marvelled at the wonder of Axel, teaching me mindfulness just so I could manage my life better. But no, as it turns out he was teaching me these techniques so that I could learn to control my mind and thoughts without realising I was doing it. Why? Because hey, did you know that Travellers have freaky mind powers. No, neither did I. Apparently you learn something new every day.
It was a remark from Jason that set off the enlightening revelation. It was simple really “we’re not going to have much time to stop and talk so we may as well get some things out in the open while we drive.” One dramatic pause later and Jason turns from the front seat to look at me sitting in the back. “Lily, I have a message for you from your father”.
I was expecting a spoken word, a letter maybe even a video message and instead Jason says “just open your mind to me and I’ll send the message through”. He must have thought I was playing games because he was starting to look irritated as I sat there dumbly staring at him saying “um what”. It took a while for Axel to chime in, he was taken by surprise, he probably thought he’d never have to have this conversation with me.
“She actually doesn’t know how to do that, in fact she doesn’t know she can”. She is sitting right here I’m thinking. Jason just looks bewildered now, much better than irritated.
So I got the whole story. The Travellers have the ability to control certain things with their minds. Receiving thoughts and images is a must have for all and the very least any of them, I mean, we can do. Depending on the level of training the mind powers increase from simple communication to actually controlling other peoples thoughts and actions. Neither Jason or Axel would give up their personal powers, apparently it’s rude to ask. I guess it’s better to find out when one of them is torturing you mentally instead.
“You have the basic ability Lily, you’ve used it all along, I just didn’t quite point it out. You instead just assumed you’d heard incorrectly or just didn’t notice people speaking….you do have a daydreaming problem, I never discouraged it as it explained a lot for you when you accidentally heard people’s thoughts.” That’s what Axel told me, I wondered out loud if that’s how I knew to transfuse him with my blood which he confirmed with a nod of his head.
That’s why I’m sitting in the back seat holding hands with Jason. The message he has from my father is in his memory and he’s going to let me take a look. Our hand holding opens a connection or at least helps release the mind to one so as I breathe and empty my mind the images and sounds from Jason’s memories start flooding in.
I’m looking at my father. It’s crazy really because he doesn’t look all that different from Axel, blond hair, goldy brown eyes. He looks sad though, a man who has given up on life and is just surviving, waiting for his time to come. He’s sitting outside surrounded by a green, grassy hill. I can hear Jason’s voice
“Is there anything you want me to tell her when I find her”. “Yes” replied this man who is supposed to be my father.
“Tell her that leaving her at that Library was the hardest thing her mother and I ever had to do but we did it to protect her, so she can live and have a life away from the danger. We loved her so much. I kept coming back every year to check on her, I watched her grow. She’s so beautiful, she looks just like her mother. I fantasised that someday we could all be together but of course her mother isn’t here, and that can never happen. Jason, you must promise me that you will go to her, protect her from them, keep her safe. Take her home”. He stopped talking here, too choked up, tears flowing down his cheeks.
“I promise” I heard Jason say. “I will keep her safe”. And that was it memory finished and Jason shut it down. I felt his eyes on me but couldn’t bare to open mine.
“What happened to my mother” I asked, still afraid to look at Jason. “She passed away when you were just one year old” I opened my eyes now, looking straight at him “I’m sorry Lily”. I wasn’t trembling physically it was more that it was coming from the inside, something energetic.
Axel and Jason were firing questions at me but I couldn’t listen, wouldn’t listen. I took my hands back from Jason who had kept a firm grip on them long after the memory was gone, and took refuge as far from him as I could. I leant my head on the cool glass of the window finding some relief from the ache that was building inside my head. The questions were still coming but I wasn’t going to answer them, I didn’t want to. I stared out the window just watching the scenery flash by and lost myself in my father’s image. I stayed like that for the next hour, his words replaying in my head over and over. The questions around me finally subsided as Jason and Axel begun to understand my need for space.
Chapter 21
Lily
It was deathly quiet in the car and this gave way to sleep for me. I had been seeing the Esperanzi every night, conversing every night and this sleep was no different.
“How come I see you whenever I sleep? It’s not even night time here” I asked him.
“Sense you” he said “rest too”. I understood this now. Obviously the Esperanzi had the mind powers all the Travellers had.
“In car” it asked. “Yes” I said “escaping from you” and that’s when I underestimated the Esperanzi for the first time.
As I replied I had a mental picture of the truck stop we passed just before I fell asleep. It had a sign saying ‘Tarrington’ with an arrow pointing to the right.
I heard the Esperanzi laugh and it said “got you” just before it broke contact.
I guess I was screaming because Axel was next to me shaking me awake as Jason was pulling the car onto the side of the road, it would seem we had stopped at some point and I had been oblivious lost in my own turmoil. I opened my eyes to see Axel yelling at me, concerned “what’s happened, Lily, you look terrified”.
“They know where we are”, I said “I told them, I didn’t mean it, I thought about where we were and he saw the sign and now they’re coming, here.” This was not the way to figure out how the mind thing worked.
“Who knows” said Axel, sounding very concerned now. “Lily what are you talking about, what were you seeing”.
I looked to the front of the car and I could see Jason watching me through the rear view mirror, trying very hard to mask his concern.
“The Esperanzi, it’s been coming when I sleep, talking to me. I didn’t realise it could read my mind, I still don’t understand fully how this works but I thought about being in the car and the last thing I saw before I fell asleep, the Tarrington sign and it understood what I was seeing. It said ‘got you’ and disappeared….they’re coming aren’t they.”
There was a time when I use to be such a confident, positive, courageous young girl. I was afraid of nothing. Axel had taught me to be afraid of nothing yet ever since I discovered my origins I’m blundering my way through life putting myself and everyone else in danger. I was not handling this well.
Axel took this story in by leaning back into the seat and rubbing his very tired eyes with his hands. Jason just let out a slow breath. “How long have you been talking to it for” Jason asked.
“Ever since we were attacked, it was just appearances first then it started talking”.
“It’s the one that was with my father” I said. “I know now it was my father. Remember those dreams I had Axel. That man, telling me to run, that was my father. I didn’t see it kill my father but when my father told me to run, the beast looked straight at me. It knows what I look like now”, ugghh that was definitely a chill creeping down my spine.
“You should have told us” Jason said, he was trying to contain his rising anger. It was never going to get any better wit
h him, he was always angry, annoyed or upset with me for one reason or another.
“I didn’t know. I thought they were just dreams, until now”. I whispered. “What are we going to do?”
Jason wasn’t listening to me, instead he asked Axel to swap spots with him “you drive Axel just keep going straight. I have some tricks of my own but I need to concentrate. I will gain us some time”. He looked at me then, stony faced before getting out of the car.
Axel was driving and Jason was sharing the back seat with me. It looked like he was in a deep trance, unmoving, barely breathing. I wanted to ask Axel what he was doing but I didn’t want to make any noise, I didn’t want to disturb Jason, I didn’t want him getting any angrier with me so instead I sat and watched him.
I still didn’t know what he looked like. The colour of his hair was fake, the colour of his eyes was fake. Most of the time he held a grim expression, I had only seen him grin a couple of times never being fortunate enough to see a full tooth revealing smile. I was fascinated by people’s smiles guessing each time which one’s were generated from the heart and which were a product of manners and politeness, or something else entirely.
What I did know was that Jason was tall, as tall as Axel. If height was a Traveller trait then I didn’t get the tall genes. I was short compared to these two standing at a proud five foot three inches. This made me smile a little. I had never been hung up about my height. Looking back now everyone at the library was tall. I wonder why I had never noticed that before.
I resigned myself in that moment, watching strong, focussed unwavering Jason. I was going to find my own self again. She would have been strong and met this challenge with courage and strength and from now on she was going to help me do the same.