Chapter Seven:

Mara stirred and woke. She found herself on a plane. She blinked a few more times, and sat up a little.

"Nice to have you awake. We're about an hour away from Seattle," stated Justin, who was sitting next to her. "And Erik was worried you'd never wake up."

"Where is Erik and Arielle?" she asked, softly.

"Well, we had two first class seats and two...er, you know. The other place? The normal seats. So they let us take first class. Since I'm the medicine guy, and you're the injured, it was the best way. That, and I wanted first class."

She gave a soft laugh, testing to see if each of her joints were moving properly. When she got to her left knee, she winced with pain.

"What's wrong?"

"My knee hurts," she whispered, a slight wince on her face still.

Justin touched her left knee, lightly. "You'll have a scar there. You'll have difficulty walking. And it will hurt for a while. It's where the snake bit you. The ambrosia healed everything else."

Mara closed her eyes, and tried to straighten her left leg. Her knee throbbed, so she allowed it to fall back to place. "I hope we don't get attacked again."

"Have you been attacked before?"

"Yes, but nothing that horrible. Lots of other mortals were around. I had a guy stalk me in a grocery store when I was really little when I was with my father. There's been people with one eye, super large animals, a three headed cat...that was strange."

Justin looked away. "I was attacked by several things...then Quinn found me."

"He found you too?" Mara said, ridiculously jealous.

Justin gave a low laugh. "No, don't worry. He probably likes you more anyway. Satyrs grow half the speed humans grow, so he's been your age for about the past three years."

Mara felt herself smile a little. "I'm not jealous; I just...I just thought he was my friend. My only friend. That's why...I mean, I'm sorry, Justin."

"No problem, Mara. I wasn't an orphan like you were," stated Justin. "I had friends...enough of them anyway."

They were silent for a moment.

"Mara?" Justin asked, softly.

"Mmm?"

"Is that your full name, Mara? Or is it...longer?"

She didn't respond. She hid her burning eyes from her friend. "Well...my dad always called me Mara Anne. I suppose that is my real name. Mara Anne. I loved hearing it from him...but he died in a car accident and afterwards...I just wanted to be called Mara, because it is less...less special. My full name is Mara Anne Rae Taylor."

"That's pretty," Justin said, softly. "What was your dad's name?"

"Jared," she responded. "Jared Lee Taylor. He was a lawyer. Very smart, quick, and quiet. He was good at sports and loved to watch football. The only woman he ever loved was Aphrodite..." her voice was furious and tight with anger.

"I can see why you hold something against her, then," Justin murmured.

"My whole life, I..." Mara broke off, emotion cutting her sentence off.

The copilot's voice came over the P.A. system. "We are now landing at the Seattle airport. It is May 5th, 4:45 in the afternoon. Thank you for flying with Delta Airways."

They came to a jolted landing. Mara stood up, picking up one of the carryons and handing the other to Justin. Her knee ached so badly she could hardly walk, so Justin helped her out. They turned to wait for Erik and Arielle.

"You're alright!" cried Arielle with relief, hugging Mara. "We were so worried. You're so lucky that Justin had the ambrosia!"

Mara looked at Erik, but he avoided her glance. She looked away, feeling sadder and more sorrowful now than she had when she was grieving over her father and mother. "Erik," she said, softly.

"I'm glad you're alright, Mara. I was worried." He walked away, not meeting her look. "Come on. We should find the car."

"I'm driving," stated Justin. "We'll take turns! Maybe we can call a hotel in L.A. and make reservations."

"We should drive a manual," said Erik.

"No!" exclaimed Arielle. "I can't drive a clutch. An automatic, please."

"I think it should be blue," stated Justin.

Mara stayed silent as they argued over the color, type, and kind of the car. They finally ended up getting a bright blue ford escape that easily fit the four of them. Justin drove first, complaining quietly to himself about the car.

Arielle sat next to Justin in the front since she was driving next. She held a map of the nearest food places, hotels, and important buildings. Mara tapped her feet to the music. Right now, Behind Hazel Eyes was playing. Kidz Bop singing.

"So..." Erik tried to start conversation, but Justin was ignoring them and paying attention to the road, yelling at other drivers, and muttering curse words when he missed a green light, and Arielle was snapping at Justin to improve his attitude and watch the road.

Mara leaned against the back, staring out the windows. "Well, we're three days in to the quest. We have 12 days left."

"Yeah," replied Erik, softly.

Arielle screamed. "JUSTIN, STOP!"

Mara just barely had time to glance over and see a person in an adjacent car. She caught sight of their face and saw...one eye? Tyson? The car swerved hard in to their rented blue escape. Justin was thrust sideways. He struggled to keep the car on the road as they struggled across a bridge. The person in the adjacent car slammed in to them hard, forcing them off the road.

The ford flipped to its side and paused there, leaning against a strong metal pole from a fence.

Silence. Pain. Then: car doors were ripped open. Large hands forced Justin and Arielle out of their seats, Justin unconscious, and Arielle screaming in fear. Mara was in shock and could hardly force herself to focus. She allowed herself to limply be lifted out of the car.

Mara caught sight of her wrist. She lifted it weakly to see her bracelet and watch sparkling in the sun. Maybe, just maybe, they stood a chance against the person standing in the sun, glaring down at them.