Chapter Three:
The room smelt like cheap beer and stale crackers, how would I know? It smelled exactly like my Great Uncle Carl. I was lying on a very uncomfortable bed, a thin blanket pulled up to my stomach. I looked around and saw that I was alone. Looking around the room I did a double take. "I've been here before." I said out loud, as if saying it in my mind would make everything go fuzzy.
The sound of my own voice was kind of like a pinch to let me know I wasn't dreaming I actually was in an old…hotel room. But I could swear I've been here before. But the last hotel I stayed in was at Disney World when I was six and a half.
The room was set up the same as back then, two double beds, a big wardrobe that had an old TV inside, dresser drawers, and a small bathroom. I took advantage of the bathroom and found to my great surprise that the showers actually worked. Taking a hot shower was almost enough to make me overlook the entire fact that I had no idea where I was and that Jake had been…
"Oh. My. God." I said out loud, as I was curled up in a white towel. I closed my eyes tight and pushed away the memories of…was it last night? I can't even remember. It felt like I'd been asleep for days, maybe the past 10 years had been a bad nightmare and I was still seven years old and I'd open the curtain that separated the bathroom and the room to find my family asleep.
I threw the curtain aside and did actually jump back and hit the floor. There were three people in the room but they sure as hell weren't Jake, Mom, Dad or Mary. "Jesus Christ!" I yelled, clutching the white towel to me.
"Actually I go by Paulina." The pretty blonde girl from last night said smiling at me and lighting up a cigarette.
"Paulina, don't be a smart ass." An unfamiliar man said. He was sitting where I'd been sleeping. He had dark brown hair smooshed under a dark brown beanie and had sunglasses pushed up to rest on it.
"Can't help, it's hereditary, Uncle." Paulina said smartly and smirking at her own joke. I would've laughed too, it sounded like something I would have said, if I hadn't been so totally freaked out.
"Told you guys we shoulda let her rest a little longer. Look at her, she's completely freaked." The dark haired young man I'd remembered from yesterday as well.
"Where am I?" I asked.
"She speaks!" Paulina said smiling and standing. She was wearing jean shorts again but with a tight pink tank top, her straight blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail. "You're at the happiest place on Earth." She said sarcastically. I looked around the room and it clicked.
The reason everything looked so familiar and related to Disney was because it was. We were at Disney world. I almost laughed, but still I still couldn't seem to do anything that was emotionally triggered.
"What are we doing in the French Quarter?" I asked looking around, clutching the towel closer to me – I was suddenly very aware of my nakedness in a room full of complete strangers.
"We thought, since the world was ending and coming all the way down from Colorado, we'd stay at a place that held so many dear memories to us. Guess it's a little run down since..." Paulina said looking around the room where the walls were covered with unknown substances, the glass in the windows so dirty they were pitch black, though it was probably daylight outside. "Since the whole vamps taking over thing…"
"Where the hell am I?" I snapped, seeming to come into reality.
"Oh, well," Paulina said looking at the other two.
"Take her to get some food; I'll get into the kitchen." The dark haired man said now just looking at me. He had the bluest eyes I'd ever seen and I couldn't look away from them.
"Okay, go and get while Annie gets dressed." Paulina said plopping down on the second double bed I hadn't been using. The two men walked out the door, the one with a beanie seeming to go with ease, the dark haired one glancing back at me. I casted my eyes downward when he looked at me.
"Don't mind Dimitri." Paulina said flipping through a magazine, the same one the red headed receptionist had been looking at yesterday. I looked around self consciously and started to go for my clothes in the bathroom when Paulina said, "You can borrow some of mine. In the drawers there, we look about the same size." She said not looking up from the magazine.
Looking in the drawers I picked out a pair of full length brown, cargo pants and a dark, royal blue tank top. I put on my underwear from earlier and my bra, brushed my dark reddish brown hair into a ponytail and tied on my tennis shoes.
"I'm guessing you've been here before?" Paulina asked as we walked out the door and into the sunny late afternoon – I could tell by the heat.
I nodded, "Right before the Revelation."
Paulina snorted, "The Revelation? More like the We're-Screwed-Elation," she said. We were in one of the rooms near the food court. Everything was a lot bleaker than the last time I'd been here. All of the buildings had weathered the worst and the dining hall had windows missing and holes in the wall and graffiti. "We have to keep everything beat up, so it doesn't tip off the vamps that we're here."
"How many of you are there?" I asked as we stepped into the food court. There were tables turned over and chairs everywhere, the door to the many kitchens hanging off their hinges.
"Here? Thirty, more or less." She said, pulling up a table and handing me a chair. I gave her a questioning look and she sighed as she sat in the chair backwards. "We're originally from Colorado, in small remote mountain cave – which I hear is the popular human hideout." She said fixing me with a hard stare.
"I wouldn't know," I said lying. She laughed a little.
"I like you Annie, you've got…" She looked me over again. "Spunk." I snorted loudly.
"How do you know my name?" I asked, crossing my arms on the table and leaning forward. She opened her mouth to say something but something caught her attention behind me. The dark haired young man came up behind me and set a plate of scrambled eggs, toast and bacon in front of me. I think my mouth was watering, but I dug in too quickly to really remember.
The eggs were a little rubbery and the bacon a little fatty but I wasn't complaining. I hadn't had bacon since…a really, really long time. Paulina watched me with a questioning look. "What do you eat in the caves? Bugs?" she asked watching as I shoved the bacon into my mouth. I just shook my head to her answer. "Could've fooled me." She said rolling her eyes. She looked expectantly at Dimitri. "What nothing for me?" She asked rather taken aback.
"If you want something, go get it yourself." The dark haired man said simply, sitting in the chair like she had, backwards still facing me. Paulina made a face at him and stood, walking into one of the kitchens.
I finished the rest of the food and would have eaten the plate too if Dimitri wasn't there. He held out his hand. "We haven't officially met, Dimitri," he said.
"Annie," I said shaking it tenderly. His hand was warm, smooth and tan, the veins visible through the top.
He let go of my hand and just stared at me. It was a little discomforting and there was a loud crash in the kitchen and a string of profanities following. Dimitri chuckled a little and I raised my eyebrows. "Paulina is one of a kind. Most everyone else is pretty much sane." He said glancing back at the opened kitchen door.
"That's more than I can say for my…people." I struggled to find the right word to describe the remaining humans living in the caves. "How did you find me?" I asked suddenly, looking at Dimitri. His dark sapphire blue eyes held mine.
"That's something I can't share," he said looking down at his hands to keep himself busy. "At least not at the moment."
"Really?" I asked laughing a little in disbelief. "There may be less than 100 humans left in the entire world and we're keeping secrets from one another…?" I asked crossing my arms over my chest.
"It's not exactly my secret to tell." He said taking my plate from me. He walked to the kitchen door and I followed – having nothing else to do. He kicked open the door and called 'heads up' and threw the plate. Paulina made a guttural noise and some more profanities. "Paulina! I'm leaving her with you; don't bring her to the meeting." Dimitri said not glancing back at me. I glared after him but he was gone quick, through the door hanging off its hinges and gone around the corner.
"I'm not some puppy that needs to be taken care of." I muttered to myself.
"Ah, but you see, to Dimitri, you are, at least thanks to four days ago." Paulina said behind me. I jumped a little then looked at her questioningly.
"Four days ago?" I asked.
"Yup," she said walking past me. "You were asleep for four days, almost five." She headed to the door casually, looking back when I didn't follow. "You coming or what?"
"Where are we going?" I asked, catching up with her.
"The meeting." She said simply as we strolled into the early evening. The sun was slowly descending on the horizon, giving the sky an orange, red feel with clouds the same shade. She walked fast for a small thing.
"But Dimitri said I shouldn't come." I said catching up with her.
"Well Dimitri isn't the boss, and you're part of us now." She said smiling.
"Paulina, I have to get back –" I started but caught myself. She turned around and made me stop, almost meeting my eye level – I'm not too terribly tall myself.
"I thought you said there were no caves." She said smirking.
"There aren't." I lied rather well. She chuckled a little, turned and pulled open the double doors to the lobby of the French Quarter, a large building that had connected to the food court once, but now as I followed her into the full lobby did I see that the hallway had been blocked off.
I also saw new faces. I stopped too look around the lobby, looking at the once beautiful lobby was now gray, old, dusty with everything turned over. People started turning the things that were useable to sit on back over and perched, all of the facing the front desk. People stopped and stared at me and I stared right back. I hadn't met knew people since the caves were still new and humans were still showing up.
"Annie," Paulina said pulling me along. Most of the furniture was now right side up and everyone was taking a seat. Paulina pulled me into a seat somewhere in the middle, in the middle of everyone – probably so Dimitri couldn't spot us right away. People talked casually, make small conversation and I glanced around.
"You see that man sitting next to the little blonde girl?" Paulina whispered to me, pointing to a very handsome, rather familiar looking man…
"Johnny Depp?" I asked looking at him closer. "My Mom used to watch his movies weekly. She loved him. I thought he'd be dead by now, if not by vampire, by age. What is he now? 70? He sure doesn't look it."
"Yup, turns out he's a pretty down to earth guy, his movies are misleading." Paulina said, smiling at him. "The girl next to him is his daughter. She's like 20 something now. She's a beauty." Paulina said with a little jealousy.
"What's his story? How did he end up with…"
"The Prophets." She said smiling.
"You have a name for yourselves?" I asked raising an eyebrow.
"Annie, we don't just survive, we go down hunting." I didn't get it clearly because she cleared her throat and bent down a little. "We hunt vampires." She whispered.
"Are you mental?" I whispered rapidly.
"Annie," she said almost laughing. A large man with stubble on his face, and a pot belly hanging over jeans and a t-shirt stood up at the front and everyone went quiet. "I'll explain later." She said, keeping her attention on the man up front.
She laughed at me and elbowed me in the side. No one sat by me and that was fine, I liked observing. Paulina had no one sit next to her either. "Why are we loners?" I whispered to her.
"Well for one, you might as well be an alien, and I'm kinda…scary. I don't know, people seem to dodge me if they can help it. I'm too much for anyone to handle." She said shrugging it off. I laughed a little. She could have been Charlie's twin. A pain in my heart sharpened when I thought of Charlie. I missed him and he probably thought I was dead.
We got a few annoyed looks from people who were listening to their 'leader. Paulina just made a face at anyone and tapped on the person in front of her. She whispered something in their ear and sat back with a pad and pen in hand, she started to scribble, smiled at her note then passed it to me.
Okay, you see the strong blonde in the row next to us, sitting with the other guys? He's a former college football quarterback, only 18 when the REVELATION He's so strong, you should see him during a hunt. Holy crap I nearly fainted when he took his shirt off.
I smiled and took the pen from her.
I still think you're mental, you know? Hunting vampires, that's like asking to die.
She frowned at my note.
It's not like it's exactly our choice, Annie.
I gave the note a questioning look then looked up at Paulina.
Not your choice, what do you mean?
Paulina was about to keep writing when the door opened behind us and everyone glanced back. The girl was blonde, but a completely different blonde from Paulina. This girls' hair was curly and dark. She had big green eyes with a hazel ring around the iris and skin with freckles across her nose. She was wearing long brown cargo pants that were tucked into combat books that came up half her calf, but also with a long sleeved green shirt that almost made her look like a human tree.
She glanced around the room and then her eyes came to rest of me and she froze. I couldn't decide if she looked scared, angry or sad. The meeting was adjured then – I hadn't heard a single word, neither had Paulina.
Suddenly Dimitri was behind us. "I told you not to bring her." He nearly growled.
"Well you are not in the position to tell me what to do." Paulina said.
"How many times have I saved your ass?" Dimitri snapped.
"More than I can count. That counts for nothing. You are not my father."
"Ah but I am," The 'leader' from earlier said, walking up to us.
"You are not my father, Uncle." I was confused for almost a minute. Earlier she'd said her Uncle was the man in the beanie hat. But then I realized quickly it is possible to have more than one Uncle.
"I'm the closest thing you will have, Polly." He said. "And if anything should ever happen to me, Dimitri will take over leader as the Colorado Leader."
Paulina sneered and looked at Dimitri. "What are you, 26?" She asked sarcastically. The leader looked at me with a smile on his face.
"You must be Annie," He said holding out his hand.
"I must be," I said politely taking his hand.
"Well welcome to our humble abode. Call me Jeb, I'm the leader of this here group. Make yourself welcome whenever and stay as long as you like. I know Paulina would like the company, Dimitri even." Jeb said glancing at Dimitri
Dimitri ignored him and glanced at the girl who'd just walked in. He cursed in a language I did not know.
"She shouldn't be here." He said and I thought he meant me but he was still looking across the room at the blonde girl. Man this guy's got a problem with just about everyone. I thought bitterly.
"You cannot hide your sister forever. Now it's getting near night, we need to get to the food court for dinner and lock up for the night." The Jeb said, clapping his hands to get everyone's attention. "It is nearly 5 o'clock and the sun sets at exactly 6:15 tonight. We need to be in our rooms in lockdown before that time." He smiled at me and started the trend for the walk towards the food court, where I'd just come.
Paulina walked with him so I shuffled to catch up with her. We walked out the doors and I caught a glimpse of Dimitri walking away, his hand on the arm of the blonde girl. She didn't look quite that upset, but Dimitri looked furious. She glanced back and caught my eye contact. It would have been polite to smile, but there was something about her that seemed almost, familiar. We stared at each other until Dimitri turned the corner, pulling her along.
Paulina hadn't seen my little staring competition, so she was completely oblivious. The sky was orange now, the sun descending closer towards the ground. We walked back into the food court that was now full with about 30 people, most of them getting in line and coming out with a plate full of a casserole look-alike.
Paulina and I got in line and an older woman handed us plates. "Thank you," I said because Paulina hadn't. The woman was maybe in her late 40's. Her hair was a white blonde with gray strands in many places; she had wrinkles in the corner of her eyes and small lips. She smiled at me and nodded politely.
Paulina led me to an empty table somewhere near the corner of the crowd. The casserole ended up being tuna casserole with a piece of bread on the side. It smelled delicious and I could help but drool a little. I hadn't had tuna casserole since before Mary had been born. It had been Jake's and my favorite. Again I could almost feel the knife in my heart when I thought of the people I loved – more so for Jake because it was so recent.
Paulina watched with amusement with amusement as I stuffed my mouth full of the casserole. She ate, but barely, her mind was elsewhere I could tell. "Paulina, explain." I said in between bites. If she wasn't going to eat then she didn't have an excuse not to talk.
She sighed and looked around slowly. No one was listening to us, but a few people were still staring at me. "You have to promise you won't freak, okay Annie? Remember we saved your life and intend no harm." She said slowly. I was a little taken aback. I nodded my head for her to continue. "We're not all…" she sighed and closed her eyes. "…human."
"What do you mean?" I asked in a low voice so no one would overhear.
"What I mean is we all have the mark."
"What mark?" I asked.
"An angelic mark." Ten years in the caves, with many books stolen I'd had a chance to research and read to my heart's content. I knew what she meant.
"The mark of an angel?" I asked, doubt in my voice. "So what does that mean?"
"It means we get our order from the Big Man one way or another." She said simply. "As I said before, it's not a choice to hunt vampires, it's an order." I've never been a religious person – honestly I never even believed in God – so it took me a second to comprehend that 'the big man' was God, and that he really existed.
"But that's a death wish, the Big Man, is sending you to your death wish." I argued. Paulina smiled a little.
"Annie, we don't go in shooting blind. With the mark comes some…privileges. But no two are the same, it's kind of wicked really." She lowered her voice. "You see Johnny over there, he's immortal when he hit the age 42. That's why he looks exactly like he did back then."
"So he can't die?" I asked glancing at Johnny who was sitting with his daughter and another middle-aged man.
"Not unless God commands it." I almost scoffed, but I didn't. If Paulina believed in that I wouldn't say anything offensive. They were her own beliefs and it wasn't like she was trying to force me to give myself up for Christ.
"His daughter actually can read minds." She said, again, envy in her voice.
"What about you?" I asked looking away from the once world famous movie star to Paulina.
Paulina smiled a little. "Now, you see, I like mine. I have like this extra sense for violence – go figure – and I'm very handy with a gun, or sword, or about anything that can be used in combat. Don't go asking Dimitri, cause he'll deny it, but I've whipped his ass more times than I can count." She said with a triumphant smile. "that why it was me, who had to come in looking for you. Some other people 'round here are pretty handy with a gun or stake or sword, but I'm the best." She said again with another bigger smile.
Then it hit me. How hadn't I asked this before. "How did you know where I was, or who I am?" I asked with a serious voice. Paulina looked up at me and met my eyes but she sighed.
"It's not my secret to tell." She said, saying the exact same thing Dimitri had said a few hours earlier.
I sighed, knowing that was the best I was going to get for the moment. "Why doesn't Dimitri seem to like me?" I asked in pure curiosity, taking another bite of the casserole. Paulina laughed a little.
"Dimitri doesn't like anyone at first. You saw how he treated his sister. I think he's just really protective, I mean there used to be a side of him where you couldn't go anywhere without giving him a hug. But he's a big softy, he just doesn't like to admit it." She said smiling at the memories. She looked at me as she came back to reality. "Finish up, we need to get back to the room for lockdown." She said, shoveling the rest of her casserole into her mouth.
I did the same and sighed a little when it was all gone. We threw our plates in a big bucket that was sent to the kitchen and before we went we had to turn our table and chairs over on its side – for show. We walked back to our room – which wasn't too terribly far – as the sun was halfway gone.
Paulina opened the door and called dibs on the bathroom. I kicked my shoes off near the other pairs that were on the floor under the dresser. "You can take Dimitri's bed! I doubt he'll be sleeping hear tonight."
"You guys share a room?" I asked curiously.
Paulina came out of the bathroom, wiping her hands on her shorts. "Yea, he's my cousin and Uncle Jeb made us so…"
"Your Uncle is the 'Colorado Leader'?" I asked jumping on the bed that was made up – Dimitri seemed like the type of guy that would make his bed, and Paulina wouldn't.
"Originally it was my dad." Paulina said kicking off her shorts and pulling on some long gray sweatpants that had a high school logo on it and 'track' written up the leg.
"How old were you when all this started?" I asked just kicking off my pants and climbing into bed. Under the covers I unhooked my bra and threw that with the pants in the corner.
"Fourteen, I was a freshman in High School, as you can tell from my pants." She said gesturing to the word freshman I'd missed.
"You a good runner?" I asked, sitting up and crossing my legs.
"The best." She said smiling. I laughed a little.
"I wouldn't be so sure." I said giving a smile of my own. If I could be proud of one thing it would be my speed. I beat everyone in the caves by far. If I had ever gone to high school, I'd have been on varsity track my freshman year, I know it.
"You pretty good?" She asked turning off the bathroom light and jumping onto her bed.
"You could say that." I said smiling. There was a knock at the door and Paulina opened it. I couldn't see around Paulina or the door.
"What?" Paulina snapped, standing stiffly in front of the door.
"Let me into my own room." I heard the familiar voice say. Paulina rolled her eyes and moved aside. Dimitri walked in giving me a once over in his bed, in my underwear and tank top – no bra. Now, I've said earlier that I didn't mind walking around like this in the caves, that is mainly because I grew up in the caves and I knew the people there and they knew me, our personal bodies weren't much of an issue. Right now, for the first time in a long time, I felt uncomfortable.
"Go sleep with Jeb or even Mary, I don't care." Paulina said walking back to her bed. Dimitri scoffed and walked towards the bathroom.
"Jeb said I had to stay with you two and I would hardly want to sleep with Mary." Dimitri said as he turned on the shower. Paulina rolled her eyes.
"Well, I'd rather share a bed with you Annie that Mr. Buzz-Kill." Paulina said moving over to the left side of the bed. I jumped off Dimitri's bed and sank into the empty side of Paulina's. She turned off the lamp that was on and the room pitched into darkness, except for the sliver of light coming through the curtain to the bathroom. The sound of the shower was almost as soothing as Jake's snores.
I woke to the dark room, my bladder screaming at me. Of course it was, I hadn't gone to the bathroom in days, and when I had been awake, I was too absorbed in my new surroundings. It was still night outside, I could tell by the goose bumps on my legs. My feet made a soft thud against the carpet as I made my way to the bathroom.
I plopped down on the toilet, still half asleep, the sound of me peeing was a little loud in the silent room and that had be a little tense. I didn't flush because I didn't want to wake anyone up. The tile was cold, my eyes half open as I headed back to bed. I bumped into something outside of the curtain and nearly screamed. There was a grunt and I fell back.
My butt hit the tile, my hands breaking my fall. "What the," I heard a deep voice mutter. I sighed a little in relief – it was just Dimitri. I'd almost completely forgotten about him. He flipped on the bathroom light and my cringed back from the sudden bright light.
"Oh, it's you."He said glancing down at me.
"Wow thanks," I muttered.
"Why didn't you turn on the light?" He asked rubbing his eyes.
"Habit, I don't have the luxury of lights where I live." He scoffed and I tried to stand. He held out a hand for me and pulled me up. I hadn't touched anyone since I'd gotten hear, so I'd almost completely forgotten about my healing power. Dimitri almost dropped me and I saw his eyes fling open, and his skin seemed to glow now.
I didn't notice before how tall Dimitri was. He wasn't like giant, but he was at least 6 '2', whereas I was 5 '5' on a good day. And right now he was shirtless, if I thought I'd seen all there was I was kidding myself. Dimitri was pure muscle, a 6 pack and all. He was tan with a hint of some color I wasn't familiar with, or its heritage. It wasn't American.
"What did you do?" He asked, letting go of my hand quickly. I also forgot, no one here knew about my 'power'.
"Nothing," I said quickly walking past him. "I need to get back to the caves."
"I will take you at first light." He said without hesitation. I just nodded. I knew he wanted me gone. I was just a stranger in his little world of angels. I lay down beside the sleeping Paulina, her eyelids fluttering from her dreaming state. I smiled a little. If she had been at the caves, we'd have been best friends. It hit me that she was really my only female friend. The girls back at the cave didn't like me, and here Paulina was sharing a bed with me instead of her cousin.
I'd dozed off when a large hand touched my shoulder. I lashed out. He dodged and caught my wrist. "It's me," Dimitri said, his large blue eyes keeping me calm.
"Is that supposed to be reassuring?" I asked sarcastically. He smiled a little, it was the first time I saw him smile and it looked good on him, made him look younger.
I changed back into my now clean clothes, throwing on my short brown cargo shorts and the tight pink tank top and white light jacket that had been blood stained last time I saw it. Then I remembered everything and my hand shot up to my neck. Of course there wouldn't be any mark left. But there was something I didn't expect. The skin from where the bite was, there was rough skin. That's the first time I haven't healed perfectly like it never happened.
"I'd say you've been around Paulina a little too long." He said in reference to my sarcastic remark.
"I don't have a mind of my own, and sarcasm comes with the package." I said grabbing a piece of paper from the notebook Paulina and I had used only yesterday. I flipped to an empty page and scribbled down a note:
Thank you for everything. I hope to see you again. I honestly can say I'll miss you. Try and not to be on Dimitri. He means well. Will miss you – Annie.
I laid the notepad closest to her as possible without waking her and smiled. I followed Dimitri out the door and closed it quietly. He lead me to the parking lot closest to us, two buildings over and pulled keys out of his leather jacket. A dark blue Chevy truck blinked it's headlights as it unlocked. He jumped into the driver's seat and I into the passenger seat.
He pulled out of the parking lot with ease and we drove down the road. "You have no idea where you're going." I said.
"Not in the least bit, but I had a feeling you would tell me." He said not glancing at me. I smiled a little.
"Can you get back to the building from, I guess, last week? I can guide you from there."
"Sure thing." He said and we were silent. Most of the ride was. After we'd gotten to the buildings I was tensed and even thought it was daytime I was unnerved. I told him it was about an hour drive to the caves and he had me pull out the iPod that was in the compartment in front of me and hook it up. Dimitri was a mullet-rock freak. We listened to AC/DC, Aerosmith, ZZTop, even some Motorhead.
We passed the spot I'd been hiding and then I saw the jeep. "Stop!" I said and Dimitri did so, very loudly.
"What?" he asked looking around, going for his pocket inside his coat – of course he'd brought a gun.
"You see that red jeep, I need to take it back to the caves. It's the only one we have." I said looking around at the bright day. Dimitri looked at me in disbelief.
"And you were just going to get out and jump in that car and drive it to the caves?" He asked me. I just nodded. He laughed in disbelief. "And you're still alive." He said shaking his head.
"What is that supposed to mean?" I asked defensively.
"They probably did something to the car. Bugged it, maybe even put an explosive in it. It's not even five minutes from the building. They would have looked around for something anything out of place, and your car fit the bill." Dimitri said, starting the truck again.
"Fine, drop me off and I'll get in! If it doesn't blow up I can go home, if it doesn't oh well, goody for you, you'll never see me again!"
His knuckles went white over the steering wheel as he floored it towards the west, where my home was. "I'm not getting you killed. I saved your ass last week; I'm not ruining that now." He growled. I sighed. Fine.
The ride was silent, except the chorus of Highway to Hell blaring through the car. It was late afternoon by the time we turned off road and headed for another thirty minutes till we saw a large rock that looked like a crescent moon, and then another ten minutes till we found the tree that had this initials D&A carved into it.
Dimitri stopped the car and I was out running to the underbrush that covered a small hole, just enough for a heavyset man to crawl through. "Annie!" Dimitri called after me but I was already halfway in the hole and crawling for my life. I could smell the dirt and the sweat of my home. I pulled myself through ledge and jumped off, stumbling and falling.
I ran where I knew everyone would be at this time of day. There was no one in any of the halls or in the fields. I stumbled here and there and I nearly fell into the kitchen. The chit chat stopped and I heard some gasps. I heard chairs screech. Pulling myself up I looked around the room and saw faces I was surprised I was happy to see.
Aiden, Charlie and Doc were all standing up. Aiden got to me first and pulled me into a hug so tight I thought I'd suffocate. It ended up I was crying. I didn't want to let go of Aiden. His arms were around my waste, mine around his neck. He felt warm and I hadn't had a good hug since Doc. Aiden didn't want to pass me off but Charlie pulled me into another hug and I didn't want to let go of him either.
Doc's hug felt familiar and he pulled back all too soon for me. I looked at everyone and still everyone was still. "Annie what happened?" Charlie asked breaking the silence.
I sighed and pulled him into a hug. Charlie held me and I started crying even more. I heard footsteps behind me and Aiden and Doc were on the move. When I glanced up they both had Dimitri by an arm and he was down on his knees.
"What did you do to Annie?" Aiden screamed.
"Aiden," I choked into Charlie's chest.
"What did you do to her?" Aiden screamed again.
"Aiden stop." I said pushing away from Charlie. "Aiden he didn't do anything. He saved me. What can you say?" I snapped before I thought about it. Aiden blinked at me in disbelief. "Now let him go." I said harshly.
Dimitri looked up at me with his gorgeous eyes. He was breathing heavily from when Doc and Aiden had grabbed him. "Now." I said looking mainly at Aiden. He scrunched his nose like he did when he was mad and flung Dimitri away from him.
Dimitri stood quickly and stood beside me, still breathing hard. Aiden and Doc glared at Dimitri, Charlie looked spooked by my cry fest and everyone else in the room was standing, their mouth wide, sandwiches in their hands. "Welcome home," I muttered.
