2.

O'Hare International Airport

January 31st

10:45 AM

As soon as her family reached the baggage claim area, Claire pushed the handle down on her suitcase and flipped it over. As gracefully as she could, she lowered herself down onto the nylon and pulled her phone out. One new message.

Massie: No way! Hope u brought a coat for freezing weather!

Claire was midway into typing a response when her phone was primly snatched from her grasp. Claire looked up, eye-to-eye with her grumpy-looking dad.

"You've been on this thing way too much!" Jay Lyons threw his hands up into the air, almost upsetting the red Elmer Fudd-esque hunting cap on his head. "And what happened to our no-phone until sixteen rule? What about appreciating the cool air? What about appreciating all of this awesome snow? Huh?"

"In case you've forgotten, I don't want to be here." Claire responded cooly, headed towards Todd, who was trying to (unsuccessfully) pull one of their bags off the silver track. The sentence had broken her vow of silence, but it was oh-so-worth it.

"Where's Dad?" Todd piped, after watching Claire pull the black fabric monstrosity off the claim.

"Over there with mom. He just took my phone."

"Why?" Claire didn't answer. Her eyes were fixated on a group of boys several feet away, who were cracking up and smiling. All of them seemed about her age, maybe 14, and were incredibly cute. Maybe even Cam Fisher cute. Especially the one with the ah-dorable floppy gold hair reminiscent of Derrington back in Westchester.

"Claire?" Todd tugged on her sleeve. "Claire!" His voice took on a high whining tone/

"What?" Claire snapped, breaking her gaze to look down at her brother. When he didn't respond, Claire continued to look appreciatively in the guys's direction. They were all grasping long black-gray bags, presumably filled with skis, and wearing heavy down Spyder & Marmot jackets. Claire looked down at her old light-warmth navy fleece, and wondered if she had made an error. Chicago couldn't be that cold could it?

"Claire! Leaving!" Judi called across the terminal, earning a sigh from both Claire and Todd. Claire because she had to stop checking out the ah-dorable ski-guys, and Todd because well... he was Todd. Claire started across the terminal space, headed straight out the double doors leading outside; falling in step with Todd & her father.

As soon as her face hit the freezing, unforgiving blizzard, Claire knew for a fact she had erred on the side of too-little warmth. Her skin felt like it would never feel the sun again, and her brand-new black-uggs were no use. It felt like she was barefoot & practically naked, in the mercy of the great storm.

"O'er here!" Jay waved gallantly from a black Escalade a few feet away. Claire had no choice but to follow him.

"Wait for me!" Todd squeaked from behind Claire. She turned around just in time to see him get bowled over by a gust of wind. He landed in a giant pile of white snow.

"Todd!" Claire yelled, stifling a giggle. "You okay?" She started towards her kid brother, but before she could get there, a boy came behind him and scooped him up to his feet.

"You okay?" Claire could hear the figure call over the howling wind, once she was in range.

"Yes!" Todd said indigently. "I could have gotten up by myself you know."

"Sure." The boy chuckled. He shielded his eyes and looked around. "Where's your family."

"I'm his sister." Claire insisted, slinking in to their conversation.

"Great. Hey, I'm Zach." The boy extended a hand. "I think I saw you earlier. In the baggage claim?"

Claire's face burned, realizing that it was the boy with the cute floppy hair. "Yeah, probably."

"Guessing you're new here?" Zach chuckled, looking at Claire. "Don't see many locals getting blown over by crazy winds, even if they are under seventy pounds."

"Hey! Seventy-six!"

Claire ignored her brother. "Yeah, just moved here from New York."

"Cool. You living in the city or?" Zach paused. Claire almost forgot to answer. She wanted to gaze into his deep blue eyes forever.

"Suburbs. I think our house is in Big Lake."

"Hey! Same!" Zach held his hand up for a high-five. Claire slapped it, finally almost feeling good about the move. "You going private or public?"

"Private. Preston-Tatum Secondary Day School. Seventh grade?"

"Same! PTSD is great." Zach repeated, smiling endearingly. "Well, gotta go, but see you around Claire. You too Todd. Stay steady!"

"Not if I see you first." Todd grumbled, crossing his arms against the wind and turning around.

"Bye." Claire called after his back, smiling like an idiot. Suddenly, Chicago didn't seem too bad. Not bad at all.

Big Lake, Illinois; Interstate 34

January 31st

11:30 AM

"Are you sure you didn't miss the exit?"

"Yes I'm sure! I'm so sure I'm sure! Really really sure!" Jay Lyons insisted, his voice rising and falling insanely.

"Is he on something?" Claire asked her brother out of the side of her mouth, still watching her parents bicker.

"Prob-ly." Todd sighed, to engrossed in his gameboy to converse.

"Ah hah!" Jay took one hand off the wheel and pointed towards a green sign. "Big Lake! So I do know where I'm going!"

"Forgive me honey, but since you're in a brand new gigantic car and in this god-forsaken place you've never been before, I thought-"

"Yeah, where did you get this car, dad?" Todd shut his gameboy. "What happened to our Taurus?"

"It's gone!" Jay wiggled in his seat. "Don't you just love this car Claire? Isn't it even better than the Range Rover?"

"I guess." Claire said flatly. She didn't want to be reminded of Westchester. Or know how her father had managed to buy a eighty-thousand dollar car. She wanted two more minutes of normalcy before being told they were now part of a cult. Or a drug-smuggling ring. Anything was possible with this version of her father.

After about five minutes of silence, Jay turned onto a winding two-lane street. The snow was letting up a bit, a storm rather than a blizzard, and Claire could see quant high-end shops lining the streets. She counted many Westchester-staples, Prada, LV, Godiva (not that anyone actually ate chocolate) and the ever-loved-by-alicia-riviera Ralph Lauren. The whole town was blanketed in a layer of icy-white powder, and hardly anyone was out on the road. Of the cars that were actually out, Claire could tell Big Lake could be Westchester's sister town. Mercedes', Bentley's, Porsche's, the occasional Ferrari and other high-end cars occupied the perfect stone streets. There was only one group of people walking down the street, and Claire picked out their parkas immediately. All designer.

This town was not going to be easy to win over. Not only did it seem smaller & ten-times more elite than the part of Westchester she had operated in, but it seemed elite. Like you had to make a six-digit salary to be let in, let alone buy or rent a house.

Not that she had actually laid eyes on a house yet. Every turn Jay made seemed to bring more and more distance between the houses and the street. Minus snow, she might have actually been able to catch a glimpse, such as a marble fountain, or an elegantly shaped sconce light. But instead, she just got wonderful views of brick mailboxes and guarded wrought-iron gates. Claire was sure that her father had probably bought a shanty on the edge of the town, or worse, dug up a new friend so they could live in his guesthouse. Gawd Forbid.

You guys know what to do! Sorry this took forever to update. I had to completely re-write this chapter!

Anyways, go ahead and vote on the poll at my profile for your favorite story of mine, and be sure to check out some of my other fabulous stories :)

xx,

splendeur

(extra brownie points for you if you go and check out Five Kingdoms of the Dead, by my extremely loyal reviewer Ailes du Neige. It's a great story about mythical sirens and such *smiley face* )