“But…”
“No buts, I’ll be okay, I can hide out long enough through the night until he sun comes up tomorrow. If the three of us stay together there will be too much energy concentrated in one place, easier for him to find me. But if I’m alone and shielding I might stand a chance until morning.”
I kept my stern face on and did not waver even as I lied to them for the first time. I couldn’t let on that even as we stood there I could feel his presence breathing down my neck and the mark on he’d left on my skin was starting to feel as if he were inside me, a part of me.
They looked at the car and back at me but with a lift of my brow I got them moving. I wasn’t surprised when the car started right away, or when the strange hazy like vapor evaporated, letting them pass. I watched as they drove away as slowly as possible before turning to head back into town with tears in my eyes.
I didn’t know where I was going, I couldn’t go back home. I can’t just drop in on one of the many friends we’d made over the years because that would be putting their lives in danger. So I kept walking, putting one foot in front of the other as I tried to come up with a plan.
I still had some time left, it was just after one in the afternoon. We’d made good time driving to the city limits. I had money and more than enough plastic on me that I could get a room somewhere but I have to be sure to be far away from him. Shoot, I don’t even know where he lives, we’ve never had that conversation. And yet I’m essentially supposed to marry him and spend the rest of my life with him.
Not that that’s unusual, that’s pretty much how imprinting works but still, I could’ve done with a little more time. The nuisance on my neck had calmed down as I walked back towards town which made me think he might live somewhere close by or not too far at least. Which defeats the whole purpose of my little escape plan.
I looked back towards the direction of the car but it was long gone of course. Just as I started to feel sorry for myself my phone rang in my pocket and I answered it to find Annalise on the other end of the line. “Stop worrying and go home. I’ll call you guys in a couple of days to let you know that I’m okay.”
I could hear the tears in her voice when she answered me, and saw them in my mind’s eye, parked on the side of the road. I started to give her a final message for my parents but nixed the idea in favor of getting them well away from here. If I gave them any indication that things may not turn out right they might go rogue and I can’t have their deaths on my conscience.
So I convinced them that I had a plan and that everything was going to be okay. Just another adventure in a long line of many. They didn’t believe me, but there was nothing any of us could do, so we all pretended that everything was fine.
It all seemed so surreal as I walked along the sidewalk. The picturesque little town that I’d once found such joy and comfort in had become my prison almost overnight. As I looked at the dwellings as I passed them by, I found it almost irrational that behind those walls human beings were going about their lives without a care, while I, a being who is significantly stronger with powers they can only dream of, was trapped.
How did it happen? Just a few days ago I was listening to my sisters sing a ditty about the sun coming out tomorrow. All I had to look forward to were more carefree days and the coming summer months that were my favorite time of year.
I kept switching up between fear and frustration, I can’t say that I was really truly angry, who would I be angry at? I can’t blame the crown prince because I’m sure he didn’t choose me out of a hat, not that he had anything to do with me being chosen for him. When you think about it, he’s in pretty much the same predicament as I.
Not really though, if I remember correctly, my ancestor died, his lived on and was the cause of the great divide between our people. No matter how I try to shake it off my mind keeps coming back to that one thing. And since there’s no precedent, nothing that gives us another version of what could possibly happen if we even attempt this madness, I keep coming up with the same answer. Run!