42 Visions and Promises
The phone almost fell to the floor. Her hands were shaking so much that she couldn't get a grip on it. Ara stood up like a deer caught in headlights, no doubt, she heard what Merda said. Seeing her, reminded Ley that she can't afford to panic right now.
She took a deep breath and asked, "What else did you see Merda?"
"Burning, only burning. Everything is burning," Merda repeated as if she was still in the throes of the vision.
Her heart thudded in alarm once more. Ever since she met Merda, every vision of hers happened in one way or another. That's why they always strive to intercept it no matter what however her vision could happen any time. Sometimes what she saw was so clear that it's easier for them to figure out but most of the time it's vague like today.
"How about the time? Is it morning or afternoon? Do you see the outside?" Ley tried again, hoping to have something more concrete to work on.
"The sky is dark. It's at night. The shifters. . . they're all badly injured and unconscious on the ground," Merda intoned, her words filling them with more apprehension.
They all simultaneously looked towards the only window at the cottage and saw the same dark night outside.
"She fainted already," Gale's voice echoed out of the phone after a few moments snapping them out from their horrific imaginations
She whipped her head back to the phone and urgently said, "I'll call you back later. Let me know if Merda remembered anything else."
She dialled Landon's number as soon as she hung up with trembling hands. They listened to the ring tone with bated breath. It rang a few times before it was finally answered.
"Landon speaking," his familiar rusty voice came out of the speaker, a telltale of no nonsense tone leaking out from it.
"How's everything?" She hurriedly asked, her pitch higher than usual.
"No new developments for now so I'm catching up on some company matters," he answered while her ears strained to hear every sound on the other end for any abnormality but all she got was paper rustling and the pen scratching the surface of it.
"How's the base?" She continued.
There was a slight pause followed by a chuckle, "Did you just call to check up on me?"
She glared at the phone, wanting to reach the other end and smack Landon. However, it looked like everything was normal there and it made her breathe easier now.
"Alright. Don't get mad," Landon playfully said and she felt the knowing stares of her audience so she went outside after signalling that everything was alright.
"We've heightened the defenses so it's a bit tense around here," he said.
"I see," she muttered, trying to think of the next words to say since they were safe for now.
"Tell me why you really called," He ordered, his voice managed to combine charisma and dominance which would have worked on others but it just made Ley bristled.
"I called just to touch base and check your end since you tend to hide things," she replied dismissively, hoping that he'll leave it alone.
"That was just once besides I'm pretty sure you hid more things compared to me. I'll unravel them all in due time," he lightly said but Ley knew that he was serious about it. He might even have suspicions already.
"Good luck finding things that don't exist," she bluffed without hesitation then ended the call.
Ley bit her lip in contemplation. She just can't erase this nagging feeling that something's wrong. She went back inside once she decided on their next course of plan.
***
Deep in the night, Ley couldn't sleep even though she was exhausted unless she saw the base herself so she let her feet take her there. She stifled a yawn as she quietly moved through the forest, trying to avoid creating any sound, lest she alerted the guards.
She was almost at the boundary when she felt something hit her back followed by a muted laugh. She halted her steps immediately in astonishment and looked for the sound. The culprit was high up the tree, looking down at her in amusement.
"Did you just throw a rock at me?" She said, indignant.
"You're lucky it was only a rock. Trespassers when caught get bound and gagged before they go to interrogation. What are you doing sneaking here in the middle of the night?," Landon replied in amusement.
"I was testing your security measures. What are you doing up in that tree?" she lied without even a blink of an eye and directed the conversation away from it.
"I was trying to catch someone who kept sneaking in here for some reason," he said in a deadpan tone but his eyes flashed with a knowing glint.
"Aren't you going to climb down?" She ignored his jibe as if she didn't get what he meant.
"I'm monitoring the base from here while taking in the air," he said while looking down at her as if he was daring her to climb up.
Ley was sure that the whole base was equipped with state of the art equipment for security but he was still up there looking over everything. She got busted by him last time too because of that. He must be bothered by something.
"Really? You can see everything from up there?" She was curious about the view and thought nothing wrong of checking it out so she climbed the tree and worked her way up to the branch Landon was sitting on.
It was pretty sturdy and it's not like she would be hurt if in case the branch gave up on their combined weight so she sat beside him when he scooted closer towards the edge to make space.
He looked mildly surprised, clearly not expecting her to go up but it only lasted for a few moments when he leered at her and said, "Why did you go up? Should we talk about what happened the last time we were in the woods?"
Ley stiffened immediately in reaction. She felt like she just delivered herself up to be eaten by a wolf. Though this guy was not a wolf but a tiger with the patience to lie in wait and pounce on unsuspecting prey.
He laughed at her expression and said only a few words but managed to sink enough promise to make her squirm, "We won't talk about that . . . for now."
They sat in companionable silence after a while just looking over at the base. The quiet was only disturbed by the occasional roving of the shifter on duty. She just can't imagine that this place would be burned down just like that according to the vision.
Her insecurity gave her the courage to voice it out, "What if the base was attacked?"
"Then we will defend and drive them off," he responded without hesitation.
"What if they're more powerful than we thought?" She asked again quietly as if she didn't dare utter the words in case they come true.
He gazed at her with an unfathomable expression before breaking out into a devil-may-care smile, "We still fight. We're not going down without even attempting to do so. I am a bad enemy to have. They should think twice before even trying."
Ley knows that there's still a possibility that the base would still get attacked but strangely she felt comforted with his words. The feelings inside her that were wounded tight finally relaxed. The exhaustion she was keeping at bay returned in full force. Her eyelids keep closing on their own accord.
She was really sleepy.
She slowly opened her eyes to a rocking motion that seemed to lull her to an even deeper sleep. Her drowsy brain can't keep up and saw trees flashed past her as she blinked blearily. She lifted her head suddenly in surprise when she realized she was being piggy-backed.
"You're awake?" Landon asked when he felt her movement.
"Huh?" Was her only dumb response.
He chuckled and the next thing she knew they already cleared the tree, past through the window and now they're inside her room. It all happened so fast that her sleepy self can't keep up.
He laid her on the bed and even tucked her inside the covers while she was still gaping like a fish.
"W-what. . . How did you enter? That window was locked," she managed to speak through her stunned state.
He just laughed at her softly and patted her forehead while saying, "Go to sleep. I'll go now."
He moved towards the window again and something unknown burst out inside Ley that made her implored, "Promise me that you'll call me when you need help."
He stilled for a second then said, "I promise."
Landon immediately jumped out of the window while she glared towards it, vowing that she'll get the lock replaced on that damn window.
She went to sleep peacefully with the thought that she's got everything covered and Landon's promise.
He was a liar.
