The Dreamer - J.M.Hurley (whitelam books .txt) 📗

her hard scrutiny.

“Where did you get it?” she asked as she reached out her small hand to touch the emerald stone.

“Why, have you seen it before?” I asked and her ocean blue eyes flicked up to mine.

“It’s called, The eye of the McKons,” she said and realization hit me hard.

“McKons… Wasn’t she the princess that Zane wanted to guard?” I asked and Stephanie let out a chuckle.

“I’m not sure but if I had to take a guess I’d say yes, almost every young boy wants to grow up to be the princess’s guardian. None of them actually do, though,” she said and I looked up at her with question.

“Why is it called, ‘The eye’? Isn’t that kind of a creepy name?” I asked and she shook her head, making her blond hair spin around her face.

“Not if you’ve seen the McKons it isn’t. They have the most unique, beautiful emerald eyes. That stone on your neck is said to be the only thing that can replicate their beauty.”

“Oh,” I replied and Stephanie gave me a thoughtful nod.

“Alright, that’s enough history for one day. Let’s go,” she said as she hoisted Sierra up into her small arms.

“Okay, how do you do that?” I asked and she let out a sarcastic snort.

“You don’t actually think they’d give me the title of ‘guardian’ without training, do you?”

I let out a giggle, “I guess I just couldn’t believe you would sit through a conditioning session, yet alone hardcore training.”

Stephanie shot me a look from over Sierra’s limp body, “Just because I look weak doesn’t mean I can’t kick your butt on the spot, watch it Charard.” I let giggles escape my lips as we crept down the halls and finally reached the door.

“Can you get that?” she asked and I gave her nod and walked over to the door, placing my hand on the hard wood, but not pushing.

“Stephanie?” I asked and she raised her eyebrows question at me.

“Yes, Summer?”

I smiled, “You were wrong. You have Lance and Kyle…And you have me.”

For a second she let a smile slip uninvited onto her lips but then she turned it into a fake scowl, “Would you just open the door?” I gave her a smile and pushed the door open wide. Then after walking the doorway, she turned to me and smiled, “Thanks.” And for the first time in my life, I saw Stephanie truly happy, as a smile lit up her face and her ocean eyes sparkled.

She handed Sierra over to Zane and she ran over and threw her arms around Lance’s neck, planting a passionate kiss on his lips. Zane raised his eyebrows in question at me and I just shook my head, “She’s just happy,” I replied and I knew that I was telling the truth.


Chapter 41

After a few minutes of embracing, Stephanie broke away from Lance and said, “We need to get going, the jet’s waiting for us.” Everyone nodded in agreement as we piled into the car.

“So where did

you get this?” I asked as I motioned around us at the car’s interior.

“It was a gift,” Stephanie replied as she began to back out into the road.

“Who bought you a car?” I asked and she let out a chuckle.

“I didn’t say they bought me a car, I said it was a gift. It’s Kyle’s gift, from his father. What a shame he’ll never get to use it,” she replied and my jaw dropped.

“You stole

Kyle’s car?”

“You act like that’s such a big deal,” she said, flipping her blonde hair behind her, “he tried to kill

you. Grand Auto Theft is a lot less time then murder… I think, anyways it doesn’t matter because we aren’t getting caught, Lance made sure of it.”

I shot an exasperated glance at Lance but he just shrugged his shoulders and said, “What can I say, she’s very convincing and I was the only one who knew how to hot wire someone’s car.”

“Told you he’s our tech guy,” Stephanie said proudly as she sped down the road.

“W-what’s going on?” Sierra’s tired voice sounded from the back of the vehicle. “W-wait, where am I? What’s going on?!” she asked her voice becoming more panicked with every second.

“Tell her,” Stephanie said and I took a deep calming breath. “Sierra, there’s something I need to tell you…”

After I finished telling my story to Sierra she sat unmoving and speechless. “So, those men who came in-”

“Were from the Tanghar,” Stephanie finished for her. Sierra nodded her head, and then turned to look at me.

“I wish you would’ve told me earlier, but I can’t say I’m surprised.”

“What?” I asked, how can she not be surprised by this, I’m even surprised by this!

Sierra gave me a smile, “I knew there was something different about you since that very first time you had one of your dreams, you seemed more…Focused after that, like you had more important things than the normal high school student.”

She let a sigh escape her lips, “So where are we headed now?”

“I’m not sure,” I said as I cast a glare in Stephanie’s direction, “We’re not allowed to know yet.”

“Oh shut-up back there!” Stephanie called as she turned a corner swiftly, “we’re headed to the airport.”

“Oh,” Sierra mumbled as she played with the bracelet on her wrist. “Wait, what about school?” she asked and Zane turned around to face us.

“It’s already taken care of; Ms. Kelly was informed that we’ve all transferred.”

I took a calming breath and looked at his bright blue eyes, “what about our parents?” I asked and his smile disappeared.

“That

I haven’t taken care of. We’ll need some sort of excuse-”

“You mean lie?” Sierra asked and Zane nodded.

“Yes, I guess I do mean lie, but it’s the only way to protect them.”

“We’re here!” Stephanie called out as she pulled the vehicle to a halt.

We filed out of the van and headed off to the airports boarding area when Lance called after us, “You’re going the wrong way! The private jet boarding is this way!”

We turned to the opposite direction and began to file Lance over to a big Jet sitting alone on the runway. The steps to board were down and a woman was standing next to them.

“Wait…Mom?” I called as I ran over and threw my arms around her. Her light blonde hair was pulled back into a high pony on the top of her head and her sea green eyes were bright and sparkling.

“I’m so glad you’re okay darling!” she cried and I pulled away for a second.

“Wait, call for an update…," I muttererd, as I remembered the diary entry from my dream, realization hit me. "Zane, were you giving my mother updates about me?”I asked and his face turned from confusion to shock.

“I was giving updates to my supervisor, from my training facility; I had no idea that it was your mother.”

I gasped and looked up into my mom’s sparkling eyes, “Mom, you knew?”

She nodded her head solemnly, “Yes, and I’m sorry that I didn’t say anything dear, but a part of me hoped that the dreams would go away, that you could stay safe.”

“Oh mom, I missed you!” I cried as I pulled her into an embrace again.

“Oh, I missed you too honey. You look lovely,” she said and I looked down at myself and saw I was still wearing my white evening gown, but it was caked in mud, grass and blood.

“Thanks,” I said then turning to Sierra I whispered, “sorry for ruining your dress.”

“It looked lovely while it lasted,” Sierra said and I pulled her into my hug with my mother. Just then, then sky broke above us and it began to pour rain. “Just like in the movies,” Sierra shouted over the heavy rain and I smiled.

“Only the corny ones!” Stephanie called back, but even she wore a smile on her perfectly glossed lips.

“I love you guys!” I called to all of them as I spun around and pulled them all into a group hug.

“You guys are wrinkling my sundress!” Stephanie protested but she didn’t pull away and Zane let out a laugh.

“It’s pouring rain out and you just crawled through a garden, wrinkles are the least of your worries.” We all burst into happy laughter and joined our arms together as we walked towards the jet.

“Here are the passports,” Lance said as he reached into his bag and hand one to each of us.

I read the top of it that said, ONE WAY: VENICE then called out, “We’re going to Italy?!”

Stephanie gave me a quick, excited nod and then added, “Aren’t you happy I had you wait now?” I let out a laugh and pulled them back into an embrace.

“You know what?” I asked them and they looked up at me with questioning eyes. “If there’s anyone who I have to run for my life with, I’m glad it’s you guys.” Everyone laughed with me and gave my shoulders an extra squeeze of agreement.

Life can be hard. I should know that better than anyone. Another quality of life is that it’s weird. It’s weird because you think you know what’s going to happen then there’s a twist and next thing you know you’re all turned around and life isn’t so good anymore. But the biggest quality about life is that everything happens for a reason. There must be a reason why one minute I am fine and the next minute I’m running for my life. There must be a reason why I met the people I did and why I’m boarding a one way flight to Italy. There must be a reason… and there probably is, but right now, I’m not wasting my time figuring it out.

I gave my friends one last squeeze then picked up my luggage from the gravel and hurried after them.

“Are you the Charard family?” A perky flight attendant asked and I looked around at my friends.

“Yes, I’m Summer Charard and this is my family.” The flight attendant smiled and stepped back to allow us to board.

“Welcome to your one way flight to Venice, Italy. If there’s anything I can get you during the flight, simply call. My name is Doreen and I’ll be your flight attendant today. Please feel free to sit wherever you want and fasten your seatbelts for takeoff. Enjoy your flight,” Doreen finished by flashing us a smile as a man took our luggage and moved into a back compartment of the plane.

I let out a sigh as I plopped down into one of the comfy seats and fastened the seat belt around my slim waist. Zane took the seat next to me and my mom raised her eyebrows questioningly. “Looks like we have a lot to catch up on,” she said and I felt my cheeks blush bright red as Zane laughed with her.