บท 3: Chapter 2: "I need you to wake up,"
Rebekah squeezed Zayne's knee, shaking his leg. She pulled a bottle of water from the gas station bag, setting it into his cup holder. Zayne groaned, and she was struck again just how attractive he was. It wasn't fair. His hair grew outwards in thick curls, probably due to his mixed ethnicity. Giving him a strong jaw, full lips, and heavy brow. His jaw was covered in dark stubble that he scratched as he came awake. Those eyes were the same as his grandmother’s though. But Addeline’s icy blue eyes darkened when upset. Zayne changed his tone, but his eyes stayed the same flat crystal blue. It was eerie. "Can you stop doing that," he croaked, rolling his neck before stretching. "I can't," she started but he sucked his teeth, "I know you can't risk it. But where else am I supposed to go ?" he unbuckled his seat belt tapping the dashboard. "Stop the car, I have to use the bathroom." Rebekah swallowed hard glancing around at the woods surrounding them. There were a lot of places he could go. He was a smart and resourceful man, who would figure it out. And she could not risk it. "There's a bottle," she started but he interrupted again. "Dammit, Rebekah stop the car" he sighed, his tone still groggy with sleep. She decided ignoring him was the best tactic, until he groaned opening the car door, acting like he was going to roll out. Eyes going wide Rebekah jerked the car to a stop making him slam forward. He got out as if hadn't just been thrown into the dashboard. She followed him, heart racing because she would have to stop him if he ran. Addeline's words rang in her ears as she stressed that she could not, absolutely could not, expose him to their world all at once. He had to be slowly acclimated because when she broke the seal he could snap. And then he would be useless to them. He was already suicidal, showing a weakness in his mentality. She chewed her lip realizing that he had already been exposed to the world too much as it was. He seemed to be handling it fairly well so far.
"Don't follow me." He called over his shoulder casually walking past the tree line.
Rebekah only stared forward at the road glad he was staying in her line of sight but was far enough away to have privacy. Her fingers dug into the roof of the car, her nail beds sore from being chewed on all day. When he walked further into the woods Rebekah scrambled around the car, but he turned back almost immediately and met her in front of the headlights.
"Did you think I was going to run?" he mused, grabbing a loose strand of her hair as it fluttered in the wind, making her stomach flip. He pulled his hand away rubbing the back of his neck, looking out at the woods. Clearing her throat, she took a step back, "It would be a rational response." She quipped going back around the car but he caught her hand stopping her. Flushing at the jolt of electricity that went through her Rebekah pulled her hand away "We don't have time for this Zayne. I'm tired, you've had your bathroom break, we need to go." He rolled his eyes at this, giving her a look "Then let me drive, and you sleep." Rebekah's eyebrows rose at this, "Absolutely not," her voice raised about three octaves, she tried to level her tone. But the idea of that was just ridiculous. Maybe he was already unhinged. She eyed him suspiciously, "Come on, the GPS is up, when did you sleep last?" sighing deeply she begins massaging her temples. She was exhausted, having not slept in days.
"Zayne. I don't have time or room for error. This has already taken too long. He will notice eventually I'm not there. Then it becomes a whole new problem." His eyebrows drew up at the pronoun 'He', nodding he nodded his head to the car, his hands raised in a defenseless position "I understand. I'm not going anywhere. I'm here." he reassured her, and maybe it was his earnest expression, or exhaustion finally making her brain mashed potatoes but Rebekah finally nodded. He did a gesture of celebration, opening the back door for her. When she hesitated, he sucked his teeth and walked around the car getting in on the driver's side. Putting both hands on the steering wheel he gave her a ‘Waiting on you look.’ Slowly she sank into the back seat laying down, pulling the neck pillow and blanket from his now empty seat. They drove in silence for a while, she wiggled around unable to quite find the right spot, her mind buzzing with anxieties. "Are you Auromni?" he called to her, and she sighed.
"Hey if you are just going to wallow around back there, you can answer questions." He firmly shot back his tone having a slight southern twang to it. "No. I'm not. But my best friend is." She could tell this question split him in two, and he wasn't sure which direction to run with it. Surprising her he said, "Did you two grow up together?" Rebekah shifted so she was more wedged and the seat buckle wasn't in her hip. "Yes." She admitted not sure where he was going with it. "What's her name?"
"Vor."
"I bet you two got into loads of trouble"
"Why do you say that?" Rebekah whispered, even though he was right. Aethalia's seal must be wearing thinner by the day, he was picking up on things quickly.
"Growing up, I remember seeing girlfriend groups. And they always were in trouble. A girl I went to school with, Eve, she was always up to no good with her best friend." He finished with a shrug. "I suppose it comes with the territory." he finished, she closed her eyes, lips turning up. "Tell me about Vor." Rebekah realized he wasn't trying to dig for information, but instead just wanted to talk to her.
"We are complete opposites. So really it was her in trouble, and me getting her out of trouble." He was silent so Rebekah kept talking about Vor, rubbing the blanket between her fingers, voice becoming drowsy. "She's always been the person I could always be myself with because I've always been groomed my whole life to be something else. She has kept me sane. And she doesn't let me take myself too seriously." Rebekah trailed off, peeking an eye up to the front seat. "What about you?" Zayne glanced back at her again, "You'd been quiet for a minute, I thought you had fallen asleep." He chuckled, surprising her. Had she? She must have dozed off. "I don't have friends." He said, making her scowl, "Surely you have at least one friend." He didn't answer and she opened her eyes, "Zayne?"
"I mean my father is my friend, I guess. I care about him and stuff." Zayne shrugged, "He isn't even really my Dad. But he's all I have."
"What about Eve?"
"What about her?"
"You mentioned her." Rebekah reminded him, settling back in the seat. "Yeah. She's someone I sleep with. That's all. She doesn't know anything about me. Except where I live." Rebekah's stomach soured at the thought. Stop it, she lectured herself. "She doesn't know anything about you?" Rebekah challenged and Zayne grunted now, "Well she knows how I like my dick sucked." Rebekah heated at this, burrowing her face in the blanket at his brashness. It was like a jolt through her, no one spoke about things like that in her life. Not even blunt Vor. "Does that count?" he raised his eyebrows at her in the rearview mirror, smiling at Rebekah's blush. His smile was something he gave it easily, she knew it would be even better once it hit those striking eyes. Rebekah remained silent and must have dozed off again because when the car parked her eyes burst open to the bright sun. "What?" she croaked sitting up, looking at her jumbled braid in the rearview mirror her expression dazed. Bangs stuck up at an odd angle, and a large red mark marred her face from sleeping on her hand. Zayne laughed out loud, the slight southern drawl in his voice coming out as he said "Mornin' sleepin' beauty." He handed back a bottle of water and a bright yellow fast-food sandwich. Before getting out of the car to walk around to the gas pump. Rebekah looked around groggily, confused sliding into the front seat, she saw they were only a few hours from their destination. Grabbing her phone off the charger she saw Vor had texted more than her usual amount, updating her on Eerikki's day, as she normally did.
3:48 a.m. Morning Patrol
6:00 a.m. Breakfast (Barf) with an eye roll emoji
7:45 a.m. Rebekah call me.
8:00 a.m. Rebekah
8:05 a.m. S.O.S
9:00 a.m. Never mind. Crisis averted.
9:08 a.m. Mamma said everything was running smoothly on your end, but something is wrong, I can't place it.
11:00 a.m. Rebekah, he knows.
Rebekah's breath left her lungs, snatching her bag she pushed out the door, "Bathroom," she muttered to Zayne who only nodded, clicking the pump back into place. For a moment she wasn't worried about Zayne running, none of it would matter anyway if Eerikki knew what she was doing.
Once in the toilet family bathroom, Rebekah paced reading through the other messages, they were telling Rebekah that he was acting like he didn't know. Going about business as usual. Vor knew in her gut that he knew, which was more than enough affirmation. Eerikki may have known she was gone but didn't know why. When she got to the last message Vor explained that Ople and Gray were back from patrol, they had tried to cover but he didn’t buy it. August and Bryce were now gone, making her want to vomit. Ople and Gray were her family, August and Bryce were die-hard Eerikki loyalists who would never disobey any order given. Panic began to eat at her, what if he hurt them? Ople and Gray were two of the four of her remaining family. She had grown up with the twins, Ople aside from Vor was one of her closest friends. They had learned how to hunt together, how to swim together, all the firsts. Vor had never been allowed to do those things, she was always training with Addeline. Ople and Rebekah roamed the woods while Gray tagged along to make sure they were safe. Washing her hands and practicing her breathing she pushed the thought from her head. She could not be responsible for any more deaths.
Rebekah knew it took at least two to three days to get from there to where they were going. By car, and boat. But Eerikki had access to planes. And Vor's last message was at 2:40 p.m. It was almost 5:00 p.m. now.
Washing her face next she undid her braid and fixed her bangs, trying to calm her shaking hands. The honey color of her hair looked like it had black streaks in it where she had run her wet fingers through it. It was the only thing she had inherited from her mother, everything else was her father. From her green eyes to the freckles that dusted her short nose, and her oval-shaped face. Staring at her reflection she forced a mask of calm, gripping the side of the sink taking deep breaths. Pulling her phone out she searched distances from Alaska to Oregon. Three hours and forty-three minutes. Give or take, that was the shortest time. They would be landing soon. Going off guesswork from Vor's messages. They could already be here. Changing her clothes quickly she pushed past a pissed-off lady who waited outside the bathroom. "Sorry," Rebekah whispered, half jogging back to the car. Zayne sat dutifully on the passenger side, bundled up in the blanket, and rested back. It was sort of surprising to her, how easily he had grown to trust her, how willing he was to just give everything up and help a stranger. She couldn't help but feel another pang of guilt for dragging him into all of this.
"What's wrong?" he sat up looking ridiculous with the neck pillow on his broad shoulders. "Um. Nothing." Rebekah decided to lie but he just scoffed, taking the neck pillow off and leveling her with a stare. "You're scared, What's wrong?"
"Nothing that concerns you."
"Unfortunately, when you man-napped me it started concerning me. What the fuck is happening. You're shaking." Zayne snapped, searching her face. Rebekah rolled her lips into a grim line, unsure of what to say. "We ran out of time. He knows I'm missing. And now they are looking for us. We were supposed to arrive before he noticed I was gone. And you were supposed to remain a secret." She spoke fast, almost hyperventilating. "How would they find you?" he said plainly "Because that's what they are best at." Rebekah snapped then lowered her tone, "That's just.” she let out a shaky breath “That's just what they do." Zayne absorbed this nodding. "So they can track you over the ocean?" Rebekah hesitated. "They would know I'm not on the Island, and there is really only one way off without a plane. And that's by Bruce's boat." She explained, her heart calming. "Ok, we just have to find another way back on. That's not on Bruce's boat." Zayne pulled out his phone startling Rebekah, "You've had your phone this whole time?" she croaked, realizing she had never taken it from him that night. He had been too heavy and she figured it would die. "Yeah, you're not a very good man-napper." He said distractedly, looking at his screen and exiting out of her GPS screen. "Zayne, what are you doing?"
"Getting us another ride."
"They land within the hour Zayne, they are going to know where,"
Zayne looked up at her with an incredulous look. "How long have you been gone?"
"Almost two weeks." She could see his brain taking that information and processing it in several different ways, his eyebrows drawing together. "So, in a few weeks, you don't think your trail has gone down?" He said calmly, and she stilled. He was right. It would be harder to track her. And he was going off the assumption that they were Auromni or Seiors. Because that's all he knew about her world. Chewing her lips, she nodded, "Would a plane or boat be better? We have a couple of options." Rebekah glanced at him, "Which is closest to the docks we were going to? Because of the airstrip, they will land on it not far from there." Zayne made a sound typing on his phone quietly. "Boat would be better because it's in another state completely." He determined, finally typing in the GPS, it was a long drive, but it put more space between them. Rebekah glanced at him, "How are we going to pay for this?" She realized slowing on the gas as the route took her to another exit. She had relied on Vor to get to this point, she wasn't an option anymore. "I'm a vet in a very popular zoo and I spend my money on nothing. I've got it." He leaned back in the seat, putting the neck pillow back on settling back down. As if he hadn't just steered Rebekah away from the crisis.
While he slept, she wondered if his attraction was him recognizing her energy. She tried to imagine him all alone in the mortal world, not fitting in anywhere, with a seal on him to prevent him from absorbing energy from others. She remembered Addeline getting the letter saying it had been done, Vor had cried for him, saying it would be like being completely blind to the world, to be completely cut off. Addeline explained it would be different for him, because he did not see the world as they did, but instead felt it. This had only made Vor cry harder. They were eight years old. So, Zayne had been eleven or twelve. Around puberty age. So, when he saw her and recognized a piece of his former life, subconsciously, was he clinging to it in the form of attraction? She knew that wasn't why she was attracted to him. When her eyes met him for the first time and he saw her, she felt it. The awakening in her chest, the heat lighting her skin aflame with goose-bumps. He was hers. Her souette. Of course, he was. Because fate was cruel and knew she could never be with him. Just add it to the list of ways life had picked her to bear down and deal with.
"If you don't have friends, what do you do for fun?" Rebekah yawned, he had just woken up stretching. "You first." He groaned mid-stretch before sinking back down in the seat, closing his eyes again. Rebekah stared straight ahead shifting, setting the cruise control on the straight shot of the freeway for the next three hours. "I run." She decided, "And I enjoy time with my friends," Zayne made a face of understanding, not opening his eyes. "I spend a lot of time outdoors. I also like to run and hike. Anything outside. I enjoy kick-boxing a lot also. When I was a teenager, I would fight a lot," he said off-handedly as if talking about the weather. "Why? Were you angry?" She asked, wondering if subconsciously he was furious with the world, but couldn't feel it. It just boiled beneath his bones growing as he grew and didn't, no, couldn't understand. Zayne shrugged. "No. I just needed an outlet. I was always very restless then. And didn't know what to do with it. I couldn't make friends. So, I fought people." Sitting up he took the neck pillow off, spinning it in his lap. "Dad got me in sports, no good. Different branches of martial arts. Finally, kickboxing and track seemed to be the perfect combination to exhaust me. I also enjoy watching TV. I guess." He trailed off looking out the window at the dark woods.
"Who is he?" She glanced over, licking her lips, nervous. She thought about playing it off, aloof, but knew it would just be a big circle. A waste of breath. "Eerikki. My," she hesitated for a moment, chewing her lip. "Husband. It was an arranged thing. Since I was a kid." Zayne turned in the seat watching her in the glow of the dashboard. She gave a tight polite smile at him, unsure how to respond. "Is that what you need me for?" he whispered he touched her hand briefly, she realized he was stopping her from scratching at her cuticles. He pulled his hand away waiting for an answer. She wasn’t really sure how to answer it though, "Eerikki is trying to," this was hard, to find the right words. She blew her lips out in frustration. "Addeline would be able to explain all of this easier. " Zayne looked up at her briefly, pursing his lips tightly together. "Am I supposed to kill him or something?"
Rebekah gave a dry laugh at this, "He cannot be killed. He traded his family members' lives for immortality." She glances down at him to see if he followed, "Remember, auromni can control energy, at a cost. His request is immortality, the cost to him is a sacrifice. Which isn't much of a cost, unfortunately. Not to him at least." Zayne processes this silently. She doesn't mention the unspoken cost Addeline doesn't tell Eerikki about. Which is infertility. This affects her daily as he keeps trying to get an heir from her. With no success. He believes she is his, due to Vor, so he becomes unhinged every month her cycle begins. Addeline kept this part silent so he wouldn't kill Rebekah. After all, what use was she if she couldn't produce a son?
"So a bullet to the head?" she smiles at his suggestion, shaking her head, even though his eyes are closed. "He will heal. When I was thirteen, I tried to drown him. I held him under for an impossibly long time. Until he woke up from the sleeping draft I had given him. He just came up vomiting water and extremely angry" Rebekah remembers the day as if it was recent. Because that was the day, she had truly just given up trying to fight him. What was the point?
"I'm sorry that at thirteen years old you were pushed to the point where you had to try and murder someone," Zayne says finally getting a drink of water, she glanced over eyebrows raised. She had never really looked at it like that. "It is what it is." She shrugged it off, earning a look. "Don't downplay it. Don't do that. He sounds horrible." Rebekah stared at the freeway blankly, only able to nod. He is horrible, she thought. An absolute monster.
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