Howl - Brieanna Boyce (free novel 24 TXT) 📗

arm and the girl, Melody, grabbed Adoni’s arm. I looked down in shame, this was not the first time I had endangered his life, Why was I so incapable of protecting those I loved?
We were walked into the airport and stood silent as the boy calmly and kindly ordered tickets for our flight. He even managed to sweet talk the elderly woman behind the desk so much that she gave us a discount for our flight. Not like he needed it, I’m sure he was rich and just enjoyed manipulating people. He muttered something and then said the word, “London,” that nearly took the breath away from me. I mean had it been different circumstances I’m sure a trip like that would be thrilling had it not been for me being captured and going to meet the vampire queen.
We had gotten into the plane and I sat thinking over my life and wondering what had led me to this point. I sat in front of the girl Melody and Adoni.
“What’s your name?” I asked the boy captor who sat himself next to me.
“It doesn’t matter,” he said bluntly.
“It does, you are holding me and my brother captive, the least you could do is give me your name.”
He rolled his eyes frowning. “My name’s Virgil, now quiet.”
I thought about that for a moment, “What’s the queen like?”
“Jesus you’re annoying, would you be scared of us at all if we didn’t have your brother.”
That was a pretty good question, “I’d be careful maybe intimidated… but you’re not what scare me.”
Virgil sighed leaning back his head on the seat, “The queen, is …alarming, she’s very intimidating and she can figure you out in a moment… in fact once we told her your name I saw her smile.”
“Wh-What’s that mean?” I couldn’t help but feel like the queen smiling was not good for me.
“It means she can’t wait to pick you apart!” Melody called behind me cheerfully.
I put my face in my hands, “How did you find me?”
“We found you because Delilah mentioned some suspicions about you,” He looked at me from the side, “I’d be very careful not to upset the queen if I were you.”
I thought about it and nodded than leaned back, I knew I wasn’t going to get a wink of sleep between now and when we get to London but I still tried to close my eyes and heard Adoni lean back in his chair behind me. I tried desperately to calm my thoughts, to slower the rapid beating of my heart but it didn’t stop.
A day passed, “We are here,” Virgil said in a very business-like tone. The girl Melody squealed excited, “The queen will be so very pleased with us!”
Adoni woke up at that moment groggy at first as if he had not realized where he was. Than when he observed his surroundings and noted that the plane had landed his dark green eyes widened. He looked around his expression resembling that of a deer in headlights.
Melody pushed him lightly, “hurry up boy we haven’t got all day!”
I growled at her under my breath, Virgil pulled me up to my feet and grabbed my arm leading me off the plane. We walked out into the sunny day, and although it was quite bright out the wind was merciless. My hair was whipped wildly around my face, distorting my vision. Then suddenly everything was black and I heard Adoni scream. The last thought I had before the dark enveloped me was “Please, please god don’t hurt him.”


Kale
We finally made it to the Dallas airport, it took a few hours but we managed all surviving our own way. Gerard occupied himself by sadistically kicking the seats in front of him when they weren’t looking. Meg spent her time filing and painting her nails, Derek made obscene gestures at the elderly or anyone conservative, Jason listened to music quietly. I spent my time desperately trying to focus on them and not what I was leaving behind, not on the girl with the captivating eyes that caught and absorbed everything, when I could I slept but she was even more prominent in my dreams.

“Why don’t you sleep?” Meg said, trying way too hard to make it seem like a wayward comment, but a little note of worry tugged at her voice.

“You look like crap.” Gerard said.
Derek smiled, “Freddy Krueger has been visiting you?”

Meg’s hand turned into tight fists and she frowned, “No I’m sure your close though.”

She threw a glance in my direction that said, “I know what you are doing, you almost risked us all for her,” and maybe I deserved that but that doesn’t mean I could face it and I wasn’t going to.

When the plane landed I smiled relieved, and got up, we walked through the airport wasting no time. I called a cab and Derek called for another, he was going to follow us with Jason and I would be in the cab with Gerard and Meg.

When our rides finally got there I slid in and somehow managed to be in the middle of Meg and Gerard. The driver was an elderly man with a slow-as-molasses southern drawl, “Where y’all headed?”

I shrugged, “a small town somewhere near Dallas, and preferably we’d like to be dropped off at a hotel in said town.”

The old man smiled his eyes dancing playfully, “What’re you all runaways or something?”

Meg crossed her arms clearly not amused, “What does it matter to you you’re getting paid aren’t you?”

“True,” the elder man chuckled, undeterred by Meg’s rude behavior. “Oh by the way that cab behind us is following.”

The man nodded and pulled out, “It’s obvious you ain’t from here… are y’all some Yankees?

“Some of us,” Gerard said dismissively.

The old man nodded, “Hmm I see…”

I rubbed my head and tried to survive the rest of the trip finally when we drove through a small town and reached a hotel, I handed him the fare plus tip for Gerard and Meg being so challenging and rude. Jason and Derek’s cab pulled up behind ours and they both got out.

We brought our very few things inside the hotel and paid for 2 rooms. One room was for Meg and Gerard since no one wanted to deal with them right now. Maybe they both had jet lag, who knows; at any rate I shared a room with Derek and Jason who were both sharing a bed.

I looked at them both, “Look, I know you’re gay and I don’t care but if I see or hear anything resembling sex I will murder you both.”

Derek chuckled and Jason smiled and held hands tangling their fingers together.

“We’ll try,” Derek said.

“No promises,” Jason added ginning even adding in a wink.

I rolled my eyes but smiled and settled my things down, lacing the picture of my mother and I on the nightstand, my guitar in the corner and one more possession that was secretly hiding in my pocket, even I had to admit it was creepy but I had a ripped piece of Skylar’s T-shirt from the night I’d turned her, it even smelled like her. I didn’t even know I had it for a long while, but since I gave Skylar her mother’s sweatshirt back I had nothing left of Skylar. I couldn’t lose anyone else, I may be part of a pack but in truth I am all alone, my mother’s gone, O’Leary’s gone, and now Skylar, but I had to keep her with me somehow. I had to.

I lay down on the bed and wondered what she was doing, where she was going, and then I shook my head and tried to focus on the pack, I paced around the room it was as if I was completely split in two. One side of me wanted to repair all the damage I’d done to my pack and to pay attention to the task at hand but the other part of myself wanted to go back and check on Skylar. Then again she was obviously out of the city and I’m sure if anyone could escape it would be her and yet there was a gaping hole in my chest as if she ripped out a part of me and took it with her.

Derek went into the bathroom; Jason glanced over at the bathroom, checking if Derek was going to come back out in the next moment. Then he leaned over to me and frowned, “I’m sorry Kale.”

I blinked taken back, “For what?”

Jason bit his lip, “everyone knows you’re found of Skylar… I’m sorry I sold her out.”

“She’ll be fine I know it,” I wish I could be as sure as I sounded, I rubbed the piece of crumpled cloth in my pocket and closed my eyes tightly, hoping maybe saying it out loud would make it true.

“Still,” Jason prompted, “She’s a part of our pack, she’s been a good member of the team and despite her having a secret life and being half vampire and needing blood she’s never done anything to deserve ill treatment from us.”

“Thank you,” I said smiling, “I don’t think everyone feels the same.”

“Don’t worry Kale,” Jason said, “I’m sure she’ll return.”

I looked down feeling a sudden sharp pain in my chest, as if I’d been booted in the gut. “Yeah,” I smiled sadly, “I wouldn’t be so sure, she’s not like most people she’s constantly changing and going.” I want to go with her. The shock of it of it being my own thought, the absolute vulnerability of it astounded me; once again I was getting close to a person who was destined to hurt me. I wasn’t sure what or who I was anymore; I used to think I was just Kale, the leader of a pack. Now I wasn’t so sure, Skylar appeared in my life at a time where I thought I’d faced, and gone through everything.

“I’m hungry,” I said and stood, not giving Jason a chance to respond to what I had said, I didn’t want to think anymore and I wouldn’t I would be empty and should Skylar return to our pack, I will regard her as any other.

Jason nodded, as Derek left the bathroom and looked at us, “Where are we headed to?”

“To go get something to eat, come on, we’ve had nothing but peanuts and water from that stupid airplane and I’m starving.”

Derek grinned and took Jason’s wrist, “We’ll catch up with you, and you can go get the others.”

“Try to behave,” I added chuckling and closed the door behind me than headed to Gerard and Meg’s room and knocked on the door.

Meg answered, her face was red and her arms crossed, “ god, do I really have to room with this jerk?”

I frowned, “Come on, can’t you stop picking a fight for two seconds.”

Meg shouted angrily, “He said my outfit made me look like a whore!”

I looked her over, she was wearing very tight jeans that had rips all the way up her thighs and a halter top that dipped rather low, in fact her whole outfit clung to her curvy figure.

“Well…” I began to say, not sure how you tell a girl they look a little skanky without her ripping your head off especially considering we were talking about Meg here who certainly proved that hell itself, is in fact a woman’s scorn.

Gerard walked out nonchalantly in a white tee shirt