~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alec opened his eyes slowly. The first thing he felt was the sharp pain in his back from where Kieyra had stabbed him, then the bushes’ thorns that were now sticking into his back. Everything that had happened was fuzzy. He remembered being stabbed with vervain and thrown into the bushes, and then…That’s when he noticed the piece of paper crumpled up in his hand. The writing on it was messy, barely even legible.
Alec opened his eyes slowly. The first thing he felt was the sharp pain in his back from where Kieyra had stabbed him, then the bushes’ thorns that were now sticking into his back. Everything that had happened was fuzzy. He remembered being stabbed with vervain and thrown into the bushes, and then…That’s when he noticed the piece of paper crumpled up in his hand. The writing on it was messy, barely even legible.
Dear
Alec,
I
know you’re probably confused. And emotionally hurt, and you think that you
can’t trust me, and maybe you’re even sore from the vervain. Listen, I’m sorry,
but it had to be done. Going with you wouldn’t have been safe. I have a plan.
It’ll all work out if you do as I say. Keep going to the safe house. If Cecile,
Nathaniel or Brannen ask, say I’m with you. No one can know I’m gone. Don’t
worry about me; I’m with Katherine. She doesn’t know about my plan. She’s
trying to get you killed. If you love me, you’ll do as I say. Please, Alec.
Love,
Kieyra
“Whatcha reading?” The sound of Tegan’s
voice made Alec jump. She stood over him, reading the note over his shoulder.
Kieyra’s other friends were sitting nearby, next to a pile of suitcases.
“Kieyra ditched us. Stole the van, too.”
Said Ryan, who was munching on a chocolate chip granola bar.
“What are we supposed to do now?” Jade
asked.
“We keep going to Florida.” Alec said, slowly getting up off
of the ground. Jade looked at him confusedly.
“Why? Shouldn’t we find Kieyra?” she
asked. Alec shook his head.
“Something tells me that she doesn’t
want to be found.”
“The note?” Tegan asked.
“Did no one ever teach you not to read
over people’s shoulders?” he asked. Tegan shrugged.
“My family likes to read. It’s a common
thing at my house.”
“Of course it is.” Said Jade, rolling
her eyes. “Anyways, even if going to Florida
is the right thing to do, where do we get another car?” she asked. Alec turned
to Ryan and Sam.
“Do either of you know how to hotwire a
car?”
“I do. Why?” asked Sam.
“I need you to find the biggest, fastest
car here and hotwire it.”
“Ok. All I need is a penny and a bobby
pin.”
*******************
“Oh,
stop sulking.” Katherine said, rolling her eyes. It was getting dark, and
Katherine and I were still driving to Annalyn’s house.
“I’m
not sulking.” I defended.
“Oh,
I’m sorry. Stop Alec-longing.”
“I’m
not Alec-longing!”
“Quit
the act, kid, I can feel everything you feel. Remember?”
“Oh.
Right.” I sighed. “You know, I was thinking…Alec’s gonna tell his friends that
I’m gone. Then they’re gonna tell Damien, and he’s gonna send out a search
party.”
“So?
They’ll never find us!”
“I
wouldn’t be so sure, Katherine. They’re Damien’s
minions.”
“Well
do you have a better idea?” she asked.
“Yeah,
actually. How ‘bout we go to Florida
and, you know, dispose of Alec’s
friends. That way, we can hide out knowing Damien doesn’t know I’m gone.”
“Hmm…”
I could tell Katherine was considering it.
“Maybe.
We’ll go to my friend’s place for the night and discuss it in the morning.
Besides, we’re pretty much here.” We turned onto a long, dirt driveway, which
led to a cute little log cabin. There was a girl standing outside, waiting for
us. She had short, blonde hair and hazel eyes, and even from a distance I could
tell that she was a lot shorter than Katherine and I.
“Annalyn!”
“Kat!”
They ran into each others’ arms.
“This
is Kieyra, my doppelganger. Kieyra, this is Annalyn, my best friend.” Said
Katherine. I faked a smile and waved at Annalyn.
“Hi.”
I said.
“I’ve
heard about you. Funny, you really do
look almost exactly like Kat. Hmm.” Annalyn shrugged.
“You
guys can head inside. I’ll help you unload.” She said, opening the back door of
the van. I picked up my own stuff; for some odd reason I was getting a bad vibe
from Annalyn. I felt like I couldn’t trust her. I was careful not to let her
know, though. The house was small, but cute. I could picture myself living in a
house like this someday.
“You
two can stay in the guest room. It’s the last one on the left.” Said Annalyn,
pointing down the hallway. I nodded and brought my stuff to the guest room,
plunking it down on the bed closest to the door. Katherine followed.
“What’s
with you? Jealous of Annalyn?” Katherine teased.
“Ew,
no. I’m not jealous of her. This place just gives me the creeps.” I lied,
fake-shuddering.
“I
blame the horror movies of today. Always that stupid girl with the grossly
enlarged boobs who hears the psychopath, yells out “is anyone there” and goes
into the creepy cabin where the scary noises are coming from.” Katherine said.
“So,
have you given my plan any thought?” I asked.
“I
told you, we’ll discuss it in the morning.”
“Who
are you, my mom?” Katherine sighed and sat down on her bed.
“Fine,
we’ll talk about it now.” I shoved my stuff under the bed (putting my valuables
in my pockets, of course) and lied down under the blankets. I turned off the
lights with my telekinesis.
“We
have to talk about it in the dark?” Katherine asked, confused.
“Mmhm.”
I said sleepily, rolling over to face her.
“How
can we have a conversation if you’re half asleep?” she laughed.
“You
just say yes. It’s as simple as that.” I whispered.
“Fine.
We’ll go back.” Katherine let out a sigh of defeat. And then, for the first
time in a very long time, I was able to sleep knowing that everything was going
according to plan.
