Chapter Four

CHAPTER FOUR

Taylor

"I still don't think you should be coming along," I tell Isabel. 

"Dolores said I can," the younger girl says stubbornly, her hands tightening on the straps of her bag pack. 

'Boarding begins in ten minutes.'

The female voice on the intercom has me glancing at Isabel, feeling worried, "Look you were adjusting to the house. You don't have to keep trailing after-"

"I promised Beth I would look out for you," she says, tightly. "I'm not letting you out of my sight."

The mention of my best friend, back at Mistfall Wildnerness Camp, makes me go still. It's been weeks since I've heard Beth's voice, seen her face, our goodbyes miserable. We arrived at the camp together and spent more than a year by each other's side. It wasn't as if our friendship hadn't been tested. When I revealed the true nature of what I was, Beth had been frightened and I had been devastated. But during my imprisonment at the camp, we had managed to fix our relationship, only to be forced apart. 

I stare at the airport terminal, moody. 

I wonder how she's doing right now.

"Let's go," Isabel nudges me. 

As we walk past the window, it doesn't reflect my dark hair and green eyes. Instead, my hair has been dyed an auburn color, my eyes covered with light brown lenses. Like me, Isabel's hair has also been dyed a blonde color, and she's wearing green lenses. For some reason, her disguise is making me a little uncomfortable. It's hard to look at. She doesn't look unnatural. In fact, she looks quite pretty, but each time I find my eyes lingering on her, I feel a heavy despair settle within me.

"This is going to come off, right?" I touch my reddish hair.

"Relax," Isabel gives me a calm look. "It's temporary dye. We can just wash it off. As soon as we're in the forest, we can remove it."

"I still think Dolores went a little overboard with this whole thing," I murmur. "The fake IDs, I get, but disguising ourselves-"

"The Black Wreath Organization can have spies everywhere," Isabel's voice is a quiet whisper. "They must be looking for us, and all these places have security cameras."

I have to agree with her,

"It's just weird," I find myself touching my hair again. "The smell of the dye is just awful."

Isabel shudders, "It is. Let's just get this over with. I hate flying.

"I'll be fine," I tell her, not admitting that I also feel quite uncomfortable in planes. The idea of being trapped in a metal cage so many thousand feet above the ground is not my favorite pastime. Fortunately, though, our flight isn't supposed to be long. But the dark clouds, which had been gathering outside since Dolores dropped us off at the airport, make for a troublesome journey.

It's not even been twenty minutes since takeoff when the seat belt sign, which had just been turned off, turns on.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we're going to be facing some slight turbulence. Please do not be alarmed. Fasten your seatbelts and turn off all electronics. As for the crew, please all remain seated as well."

Since Isabel and I couldn't sit next to each other, I find myself stuck next to a pot-bellied man who is sweating buckets. My sensitive nose scrunches up in irritation at the odor, but I can't tell him to stop stinking.

"Bad flight, eh," the man gives me a shaky grin and I don't respond, trying not to throw up. This is another thing I hate about being stuck in planes. There are too many overwhelming scents, not all of them pleasant. I can even smell the disgusting odors coming from the toilets on the plane. 

Just then, one of the flight attendants leans over, "Miss Knight?"

Startled, I give her a wary look, "Yeah?"

"Your friend over there isn't doing too well. She has an empty seat next to her. She wants you to go sit with her."

I look over to see the woman pointing toward Isabel, whose face is white as a sheet. Her fingers are digging into the armrest, and my sharp eyes make out the unsheathed claws.

Oh, crap!

"S-Sure," I quickly get to my feet, nearly jumping over the man sitting next to me.

"Please hurry up," the air hostess says, urgently. "We all have to be seated quickly."

As if to verify her words, the plane shakes, loud thunder outside.

The composed air hostess lets her expression slip for a second, and I see the fear underneath.

"Why don't you go sit down?" I assure her. "I'll be fine."

She looks reluctant but nods, and as she hurries away to the back of the plane, I make my own way to Isabel, who is trembling like a leaf. She doesn't even seem to acknowledge me, her eyes unfocused as she just grips the armrests.

"Isabel," her name is barely out of my mouth when she suddenly grabs my wrist, her claws digging into my wrist, and breaking skin.

As soon as that happens, my body shakes and I feel cold sensation crawl over my skin and my eyes grow unfocused.

'Take her. Protect her.'

"Stay here, with us. We can keep you safe."

There's a woman looking down at me, but my head feels all fuzzy. It's almost as if my brain is trying to recognize her but can't. Something is blocking it. My hand is small, smaller than I ever remember it to be. It tightens around the hand of the woman whose features are blurred.

"I can't stay. They're following me. I have to lead them away," her voice is desperate. "I've explained everything in this letter. Protect her. Love her. I might never be able to do so."

The couple standing before us looks devastated, "We will. You have our word."

The woman crouches before me, stroking my hair, "I'm sorry, my darling. I'm sorry. One day, you'll understand."

Why is my heart breaking?

Why do I have the urge to wrap my small arms around her neck and stop her from leaving?

Her scent, as she hugs me, is warm and comforting. I cling on to her, my tears falling as she kisses my forehead, my cheeks with a desperation.

And then the couple pulls me away.

"No. No!"

But the woman is leaving, running, shifting into a magnificent wolf as she races back in the direction of the forest. 

"Mama!"

I jerk up, my eyes widening.

I'm still in the plane. 

Heart beating wildly, I press my hand against it as if the pressure will slow it down.

What the heck was that?

My eyes flicker towards Isabel, who is slumped in her seat now, her nails still in my skin. Shaking from the force of what I just saw, I touch her, only to realize that she's simply unconscious. Her breathing is level. She doesn't seem to be in any sort of danger.

Leaning back in my seat, I let out a slow breath, trying to calm down. 

I was a child in this, whatever this was. I was looking at it through the eyes of the child. But I didn't recognize the couple, and the features of the woman who left there were blurred. So, how could I tell that she was upset?

Is this part of my concealed memories, or is this something else?

Was that my mother?

Was I that child?

It doesn't feel right.

Dolores never mentioned my mother taking me anywhere. This woman was fleeing from someone. Who? 

I slowly extract Isabel's claws from my skin and watch my skin heal. Her claws retract, leaving behind normal stubby human nails. 

My brow furrows. Why did she even get on this plane when she was this deathly terrified of planes?

I really don't understand this girl.

As the plan jolts, another wave of turbulence taking over, Isabel's head slumps onto my shoulder. For a moment, I contemplate pushing her away, but I end up leaving like that. 

Instead, I take out the necklace which I wear under my clothes. It's a thin silver chain with a ring attached to it. It's a simple-looking ring, nothing spectacular. I've looked at it so many times over these past few weeks that I can see the design engraved on it even with my eyes closed. It's all I have of Jesse. 

'Every first son in my family gets this. This one is mine. It's my most prized possession. I want you to have it.'

I fell in love with Jesse when I first came to Mistfall Wilderness Camp. I've always stayed away from guys. finding them too bothersome. But Jesse managed to carve a place for himself in my heart before I could stop him. But our relationship was short-lived. I had been drawn to him, but I could never understand the reason. And when he found out that I was a Blood Moon Hybrid, he walked away. That broke my heart, not that it stopped me from rescuing him from the clutches of his ex-girlfriend, one of the members of the Black Wreath organization. That organization has been a thorn in my side since I arrived on this island, their goal to retrieve all the missing limb pieces of some ancient evil, sealed in several vaults underneath all six islands of Camp Mistfall Wilderness.

Even though I forgave Jesse for leaving me, I never intended to get back together with him, having already been burnt once by him. But when I broke the seal on my powers, making me the monster all my friends had thought I was when I had slaughtered a clearing full of the enemy who had intended to kill my friends, the Director imprisoned me under the Level Two island, in one of the empty vaults, the same vault in which my mentor, Raeina, now sleeps while healing from the fatal stab wound she received from Susan, a traitor amongst us. That dagger was meant for me, and Raeina had protected me.

So much has happened, I muse to myself. 

I never thought that after it was proven to Jesse how dangerous I was, his initial reasons for breaking up with me, that he would try and get back together. But he did, no matter how much I refused to. In the end, however, even I couldn't reconcile with the idea of not seeing him, and he gave me this, promising that we would find our way back to each other. I had laughed then at the cheesy line but I'm not laughing now, a small ball of hope in my chest.

'I want to see you again.'

'I hope your words come true, Jesse.'

The ache in my heart is so strong that I have to close my eyes and I clutch the ring to my chest, as I whisper hollowly, "I'll find my way back to you."