THE SECOND THE interior was visible, my mouth fell open. Five other people sat in the Suburban. Three in the very back, one in the middle, and one in the front passenger seat. How had I not noticed that? I glanced at the windows. They were tinted, not to mention the interior light was off. No wonder I hadn’t seen them.
“Hello,” a girl exclaimed. She sat in the far back right. Unlike the driver, she had a bright friendly smile. Her button nose and shoulder length brown hair gave her a healthy, wholesome look.
“I’m Mica,” she waved.
“I’m Lena,” I replied automatically. I shifted my vision until her cloud appeared. Once again, the image completely blindsided me. Pink and blue hovered around her. I almost snapped my sight back to normal, but then assessed the two guys sitting beside Mica, the woman sitting in the middle row, and the guy looking out his window in the front seat.
They were all different.
Each person had colors in their cloud. All of them had the same blue but then everyone had a unique color. I’d never seen anything like it.
“Are you getting in?” Mica asked.
I shifted my sight back to normal. Mica still smiled brightly.
“Um,” I mumbled.
I wasn’t sure if I should. I’d seen hundreds of people, no, thousands of people, since that first morning in Rapid City. Every other person I’d met had similar appearing clouds. Dark, gray or white. The darker the cloud, the more evil a person was, the lighter, the more kind, but these guys? Not even close to normal.
“There’s plenty of room.” Mica still smiled.
I reminded myself their clouds didn’t appear bad, just inconclusive. “Right. I mean thanks.”
“Move your stuff, Jet.” Mica elbowed the guy sitting beside her. The guy reached forward and grabbed a duffel bag off the empty seat.
The two men beside Mica were obviously twins. Both had dark curly hair, stocky builds and bright blue eyes. Each of their biceps seemed as big as both of my thighs. The one by the window regarded me warmly. The one in the middle, Jet, smirked. I smiled tentatively in return before turning my gaze to the woman in the middle row.
She was stunning and for a moment, I just stared. She had to be some kind of supermodel. Her long blond hair flowed down her back in soft waves, and she had one of those hard-to-forget faces. Hollowed cheeks, a full mouth, and honey-brown eyes so piercing I couldn’t look away. Suddenly, I felt very self-conscious with my snarled, dark red hair and dirty, pale skin.
“So, get in…” Mica said slowly.
“Sorry.” I climbed in and closed the door. New car smell filled the cab. Whoever owned this vehicle must have recently bought it. When I sat, my knee banged into a huge suitcase in the aisle.
“Sorry about that.” The blonde supermodel shifted the luggage.
“Ready?” the driver asked.
I clicked my seat belt in place. “Yes.”
With a spin of tires, we were off. The driver eyed me in the rearview mirror. “I’m assuming this ranch is in the direction you were walking?”
“Yeah, if you don’t mind dropping me off when we get there, that’d be great.”
“Hmm,” was all she replied.
The Suburban picked up speed as we traveled down the bumpy road. The forest grew darker by the second, and the air flowing in through someone’s open window dropped in temperature. I sighed. Despite this group having strange clouds, I was glad to be in a vehicle. Turning away from the window, I was startled to find the supermodel watching me.
“I’m Jacinda.” She extended her hand. Her nose wrinkled slightly. I knew she’d detected my stench.
I shook her long, fine boned hand, and felt the usual embarrassment at my lack of hygiene. “Lena. It’s nice to meet you.”
“That’s Jet and Jasper,” Jacinda said, her face impassive again. She glanced toward the curly haired twins behind us. Jasper smiled, but the one in the middle, Jet, winked.
“In the front is Di and Flint,” Jacinda continued.
The woman in black, Di, eyed me in the rearview mirror as she drove, but the guy, Flint, sitting in the passenger’s seat, still stared out the window.
“Flint?” Jacinda said.
He didn’t move.
“Flint?” she called again.
He still didn’t move.
Jacinda frowned and shrugged, but my gaze lingered on the back of Flint’s head, not because he ignored me, but because there was something…about him. An emotion flickered through me, like a sense of déjà vu, but it passed too quickly for me to identify.
“So, you’re going to some ranch?”
I could feel Jacinda watching me and forced my attention back to her. “Yes.”
“Because some guy has your backpack that you left in his truck?”
“Yep.”
“Is he your friend?”
“Kind of.”
“Kind of?” she said.
I did an abrupt shake. “Wait, how did you know I left my backpack in his truck?”
“Isn’t that what you told Di?”
“Oh, right.”
“So this guy is kind of your friend?” Jacinda’s eyebrows rose.
“Yeah. I just met him today.”
She eyed me, her light brown eyes curious. “Then how were you riding with him?”
“I was hitchhiking. He picked me up this morning.”
“Hitchhiking?” Her tone told me exactly what she thought about that.
“Yep.”
“Do you hitchhike a lot?”
I assessed my filthy clothes and skeletal frame. I certainly didn’t look like someone who owned a car, or took the Greyhound for that matter. “Yeah.”
“Where were you going?”
“Little Raven.” Just thinking of the town made my breath quicken. I needed to get back there.
Jacinda’s smile widened. “So you were going to Little Raven.” She glanced toward the driver again. Di was still watching me in the rearview mirror. A small, almost smug expression shone in her reflection.
My brow furrowed. They knew I was going to Little Raven? But how could they know that? I hadn’t known I was going to Little Raven until this morning.
I shook that thought off. Of course, they didn’t know I was going there. I probably misunderstood, but then I remembered what Di murmured before I climbed in the Suburban, about how I’d changed course again. At least, that’s what I thought she’d said. But how did any of that make sense? I sank back into my seat as an uneasy feeling settled in me. They all did have strange clouds…
“So, Leeena,” Jacinda said, taking her time pronouncing the e. “Where are you from?”
“Rapid City.” It was the answer I gave everyone. After all, it was the closest I had to the truth.
“South Dakota?” Jasper called from the back.
“Yes.”
“How long have you lived there?” Mica asked.
“A while.” I turned in my seat to better assess everyone. Jasper and Jet stared at one another, their expressions twitching a few times. They seemed oblivious to me studying them.
“A while?” Mica said, forcing my attention to her.
“Yeah.”
“And you hitchhiked from Rapid City all the way to here?” Jacinda asked.
“That’s right.” For whatever reason, that statement made the entire Suburban fall eerily silent. I tried to keep my breathing even, but this group got weirder by the second. Between the strange clouds, probing questions and bizarre comments that I couldn’t possibly be hearing right, I didn’t know what to think of them.
Okay, it’s not the first time you’ve been in a strange situation. Just get control of the conversation and get out when they stop.
I smiled tightly and clasped my hands together. “Enough about me, where are all of you headed?”
I waited for someone to say something. Nobody did. Instead, the only reactions were a few, subtle glances to one another. The hum of the engine filled the void.
“Or, are you
all from Colorado?” I asked.
“Oh…” Jacinda finally replied.
I followed Jacinda’s gaze. Di was eyeing me again in the rearview mirror.
“Well, we’re…” Mica cut in, but then she stopped and glanced at Di too.
“Ah–” Jasper said.
“We’re from all over,” Di interrupted. After that statement, the silence resumed.
“Oh, okay.”
A minute passed, and then Mica pulled a book out of her bag. A second later, Jet and Jasper turned on an action movie in the headrest’s TV. The sound of gunfire and screeching tires filled the back. As for Jacinda, she smiled sweetly and extracted a nail file from her pocket. Lifting her hand, she squinted in the dying light and began filing.
I frowned and sank back into my seat. I eyed everyone suspiciously. They all seemed busy, except for Flint. Not once had he shifted. There was just a tenseness around his shoulders that hadn’t abated since picking me up. It was the only indication he was actually alive. Otherwise, I’d probably assume he was their last victim. A dead body in the front seat, me soon to be the second.
Stop it, Lena, now you’re talking crazy. They’re not going to hurt you. They’re just strange.
I tried to convince myself of that as I leaned back in my seat. It didn’t help that someone’s water bottle lay on the floor. The sloshing sound beckoned me.
To ignore the water, I switched my vision. All of their clouds appeared, dancing and flowing together. They were incredibly beautiful in their own, unique way, but they were still different.
Very different.
CHAPTER THREE
About five minutes later, Mica lurched forward in her seat, her eyes glued out the windshield. “It’s just up ahead, a mile on the left.”
“What is?” I snapped my vision back to normal.
“The ranch you’re looking for.”
I eagerly peered ahead, but all I saw was road and dark trees illuminated by the headlights. “Are you sure?”
“Yep.”
A few minutes later, just as Mica promised, a ranch appeared. Moonlight illuminated vast open fields that seemed to stretch for miles. Fences lined the perimeter. Large, black specks dotted the distant hills. I guessed those were the Black Angus Pete told me about. Di slowed the Suburban.
“Is this it?” Di asked.
“I think so. Pete said his ranch was up this road, and it’s the only ranch so far.”
“Do you know what the name is?” Jasper asked.
Cocking my head, I paused. “Um, I think it was Hollow-way Hills or Hideaway Hills or something like that.”
“The entrance is up there,” Mica pointed.
I looked through the windshield again. “Where?”
“Up on the left.”
“Are you sure? I can’t see a thing.”
“I can see–” A thud sounded, and Mica’s voice died in a muffle. I snapped my gaze to her, but she was rubbing her arm and glaring at Jet.
“You can see what?” I asked.
“Nothing.” A strained smile covered her face. “But I think the entrance is up there.”
Before I could reply, Di sped up, and a classic arched timber entrance appeared like a giant mouth beckoning us to enter. A sign perched at the top. H… H something.
“Can anyone see the name?” I asked excitedly.
“Hideaway Hills,” Mica answered promptly.
I grinned. “Thanks a lot for the ride. You can drop me off here. I’ll walk up the road.”
“No!” Mica and Jacinda shouted at the same time.
I leaned back, wide-eyed.
“We’ll drive you up there,” Di interjected. “It’d be rude to leave you in the dark.”
“Okay,” I said. Jacinda and Mica now smiled sweetly as if their loud outburst never happened. I reminded myself nothing about this group was normal.
We crept slowly up the drive. Lights shone at the top, illuminating a few buildings. Gravel crunched under the tires, and the breeze coming in through someone’s window carried sounds of chirping crickets and a distant owl.
When we reached the top, Di put the Suburban into park. Off to the right stood a large, well-lit two story house with a wide, wraparound porch and a hanging swing in the corner. A sign over the front door read, “Y’all come back now, ya hear.”
“That looks like the main house,” I said. “I can get out here. You really don’t need to wait.”
Di’s dark eyes flashed in the rearview mirror. She turned off the Suburban. “We’ll wait. Just in case you can’t find your friend.” From her tone, I knew there was no point arguing.
Mica grinned as I opened the door. She tucked a strand of brown hair behind her ear. “Want me to come with you?”
“If you want.”
We jumped out and walked along a stone pathway cut into the yard. Nighttime crickets chirped, and the wooden steps creaked softly underfoot when we climbed the porch. Once at the front door, I knocked and fervently hoped I’d find Pete. If I didn’t, I’d likely never see my backpack again. My stomach plummeted. I didn’t want to consider that possibility.
Muffled footsteps sounded on the other side. The door opened, revealing an older woman wiping her hands on an apron. Her gray hair was wrapped in a bun. Several wispy strands escaped to frame her cherub cheeks and warm, hazel eyes.
“Hello.” She smiled and opened the door wider. The smells of home cooking wafted in the air. Roast beef and freshly-baked bread. I licked my dry lips. I didn’t think I’d ever smelled anything more appetizing. Her eyebrows rose. “Can I help you?”
Focus, Lena…
“I hope so.” I slapped a hand over my stomach when it rumbled loudly. “I’m trying to find a man named Pete. Does he live here?”
The woman smiled brightly. “Pete Henderson? He certainly does. And who may you be?”
I sighed in relief. “I’m Lena. Pete gave me a ride into Little Raven earlier today, but I left my backpack in his truck. I’m hoping he still has it.”
“Lena!” She opened the door wider and looked me up and down. “Pete told me about you. Said you traveled all the way to Little Raven by hitchhiking. Such a bold thing to do these days, m’dear. You’re lucky to have made it in one piece.”
She ushered us inside and closed the door behind us. The heavenly scents floated stronger in the entryway. “I’m Val, by the way, Pete’s wife.” She held out her hand. “It’s lovely to meet you.”
Everyone thought hitchhiking was dangerous, and they were right. I wasn’t so stupid I didn’t know that, but I did have an advantage. I switched my vision as I took her hand.
Val’s cloud appeared as we shook. I almost gasped. Long and thick, like a cloak, her white cloud swept around her shoulders and trailed down her back in a waterfall. I’d never met anybody with a cloud like that. I smiled. I couldn’t help it. Val had a rare soul: kind, pure and with no hint of malice. I sighed in relief. I knew Val would never hurt me, but more than that, I knew she’d help me.
“Are you okay?” Val dropped my hand.
I switched my vision back to normal. “Um, yes, fine.”
My stomach rumbled again as a hint of dizziness swept through me. It suddenly felt very hot, but I shook it off. “And I’m sorry for interrupting your evening, but I need my bag back. I hope you understand.”
Val swished her hand in the air. “Of course, it’s all right. I’m just sorry you had to come all the way out here to get it.” Val turned to Mica. “And who may you be?”
Mica said something, but I barely heard her response. I felt so light headed. I put a hand on my forehead and took a deep breath. Is the room spinning?
“Come on in,” Val said. “I’ll go find Pete.”
I took a step but swayed. It felt like the entire earth moved. Reaching a hand out, I grabbed hold of a small table in the entry.
“Are you okay, dear?” Val stepped closer, frowning. “You look so pale.”
“No, I’m always pale,” I mumbled, but I swear the room
really was spinning.
“Lena?” Mica said. “Are you all right?”
Her voice became distant, muffled. Everything went fuzzy. I blinked rapidly a few times, but my vision wouldn’t focus. The next thing I knew, the floor rushed up to greet me and then…
Blackness.
CHAPTER FOUR
I floated in darkness. I figured I must be dreaming. For starters, I was warm and wonderful smells surrounded me. Normally, my unwashed skin, exhaust, and the unique scents that came with vehicle interiors were what I lived with. But this smell was pleasant. Cooked food, an undercurrent of pine-scented cleaning detergent and…tangerines?
“Lena?” a deep voice said. “Can you hear me?”
My body stiffened. Awareness slid through me like a gentle caress. That voice. I knew that voice.
I opened my eyes, but any hope and longing I’d felt vanished. An entire circle of people stared down at me. I would have jolted back, but a hard surface pressed against my head.
“Lena!” Mica exclaimed.
I blinked a few times and tried to comprehend what I was looking at. The ceiling light gave it away. It seemed I was lying on a floor, and a crowd of people circled around and above me, like a football team huddling.
“Lena, are you all right?” Di asked.
I frantically searched their faces. That voice. The deep one. Whose had it been? Did I dream it?
Lifting a palm to my head, I tried to figure out who was who and what happened. The huddling group was from the Suburban. I remembered that much. Di, Jacinda, Mica, Jet, Jasper and a man I didn’t recognize. My eyes widened when I saw him. He abruptly pulled back.
I tried to sit up to see where he’d gone, but my head pounded.
“Take it easy.” Di forced me back down. “You fainted and hit your head.”
I rubbed my temple. Fainted? Hit my head? Well, that explained the pounding headache. I tried to see past her to where the man had gone, but she blocked my view.
“Do you remember what happened?” she asked.
I continued rubbing my head as memories surfaced. Meeting Pete. Traveling to Little Raven. The instinct roaring to life. Walking along the county road. Meeting this group. Finding Pete’s ranch. Feeling lightheaded in the entryway. Falling.
Forgotten (The Lost Children Trilogy Book 1) Page 2