by ID Johnson
My eyes were wide. After what he’d said in the gym the day before, I had hoped he would understand. “I can. And I am. And you can’t tell my sister. I have to get up there. I have to be a part of this. I’m sick of sitting by while everyone else is ridding the world of evil. I’m ready, Brandon. I can’t wait anymore! Like you said, it’s time to take fate into my own hands.” I knew it was when I’d heard those words come out of his mouth that I’d realized what I needed to do. This whole time, I’d been letting everyone else decide what I could or couldn’t do. I refused to be a pawn anymore.
“All right, all right, calm down,” he said sitting down next to me again.
“I am calm!” I wasn’t calm. Clearly, I was the opposite of calm, but I, like most women, hate it when people say that.
“Sorry—I was talking to myself.” I looked at him out of the corner of my eye, knowing that was a lie. “Let’s say you do go…”
“I am going!” I started to jump back up, to grab my bag, to check on the Uber, but he grabbed my wrist.
“Fine, so when you get there, what are you going to do? Cadence and Aaron will be furious.”
I knew he was right, and I’d thought about that. “I’m sure they will be, but by then it will be too late, and they’ll have to let me stay.” I needed to get going. The Uber would be there soon, and then I’d need to book it to the train station. I jumped up and double-checked the room again, making sure I hadn’t forgotten anything
“And then what? You hang out in a hotel room while everyone else is out hunting down Giovani? How is that any different than hanging out here?”
I stopped and stared at him. “Look, my friends and I have already been helpful. We found him in the first place, remember? She’ll have to let me help. Maybe she’ll leave me at the Philly headquarters, or whatever, but she’ll let me do something. I’m going, Brandon, and there’s nothing you can say to stop me.” I didn’t want to listen to his reasoning. I didn’t want to listen to anything at all. I was going, and I’d figure everything else out when I got there. I crossed my arms and stared at him, hoping he’d realize he wasn’t going to be able to prevent me from getting on that train.
Letting out a deep breath, Brandon said, “Fine. But I’m coming with you. There’s no way I’d let you do this on your own.”
I couldn’t believe what he was saying. I never, ever would’ve considered asking him to go with me. “You’d come with me? But, Brandon, I can’t let you do that. When my sister finds out, she’ll kick you off the team.” I couldn’t let him get in trouble because of me.
“Maybe,” he agreed, putting his hands on his hips. “But if I let you go by yourself, and something happened to you, I’d never forgive myself. Besides, I can protect you. I am a Guardian now.”
I couldn’t help but smile at him. He was being so sweet, offering to help me, to make sure I got there safely. “But what about the team?”
“Hey, if you can talk your way out of this, so can I. Besides, they can’t get rid of me completely—nothing can kill me, remember?”
I almost laughed. “My sister can,” I reminded him.
“Yeah, well, she won’t do that. I may end up in Siberia with that Eliza chick, but at least I’ll know you’re safe.”
Something told me I had about as good of a chance at changing his mind as he had of changing mine. “Okay—well, thanks.” I let out a deep breath. It would definitely be better with him alongside me. “I guess I can cancel my Uber then if you want to drive to the train station.”
“I guess I need to buy a ticket to Philly.” He grabbed my bag off the bed.
“Oh, one more thing.” I grabbed him by the arm, and he turned to look at me. “Give me your phone.”
“What? Why?” he asked, looking from my hand to my face.
“Just in case. I want to make sure you don’t call my sister,” I explained. I could trust him to a degree, but not completely.
“But I just got it back from Aaron a few hours ago,” he complained. I assumed the phone was in his room when he got back if that was the case, since I hadn’t actually seen Aaron give it to him, but I stuck my hand out and waited.
Brandon exhaled and pulled it out of his pocket, dropping it into my hand. “Thank you,” I said, shoving it into my jeans.
“All right,” he said. “Let’s go grab my stuff, and then let’s go cause some trouble.”
“Let’s go hunt a Vampire, you mean.” Part of me still couldn’t believe I was doing this, but it was more exciting the way I put it.
“No, I’m pretty sure what we’re doing is definitely causing trouble,” he muttered. “But as long as you’re safe, that’s the most important thing to me.”
“I’ll be just fine.” I stepped out into the hallway, making sure the door was locked behind me and followed him to the elevator. Before I got in, I cancelled the Uber, and then gave him a confident smile, certain that this plan would work. It had to. I couldn’t be left out again.
Chapter 16
The SUV was sitting in front of Brandon’s building, just as Aaron had promised, and the keys were waiting for us at the front desk. I took them and went out to the vehicle while Brandon ran to the elevator to go get his stuff. I decided me sitting in the Enclave might make him move faster than if I tagged along.
I turned the car on to heat it up a little bit. It was a little chilly outside, and the thought of what we were doing was making me nervous. I sent Lucy a quick text to let her know I couldn’t talk right now but that I’d get back to her as soon as I could, and I drank more water than I probably should’ve waiting for Brandon to arrive. The idea of going to the bathroom on a plane or train was not appealing to me, so I made a mental note not to take the rest of the bottle of Ozarka with me on the trip.
Brandon burst out of the apartment building like a blur, and I probably wouldn’t have even seen him if he hadn’t had to slow down to keep from crashing into the car door. “Impressive,” I said as he slid into the driver’s seat.
“Thank you,” he replied, mimicking a superhero or something. I honestly thought he sounded a little bit too much like Shane. I cracked up as he tossed his duffle bag into the back seat, put on his seatbelt, and asked, “Okay, how do we get to the train station?”
I pulled it up on Google maps, and we headed in that direction. Both of us were quiet on the way there, and I didn’t know if he was contemplating how much trouble he could get in for this or just being careful of the KC traffic. I imagined Pryor, Oklahoma, probably only had a few traffic lights compared to this metropolis.
We made pretty good time, and Brandon pulled into a parking spot at the Amtrak station just a few minutes before the train was scheduled to leave. I knew it would take over a full day to make the trip, so I’d booked the next available departure time for myself. I realized I needed to get Brandon a ticket, though, so we hurried out of the vehicle toward the ticket booth, credit card in hand. Luckily, the line was pretty short.
“I can pay for that, you know,” he said, looking around like he was expecting my sister to jump out at any moment.
“I know,” I said shrugging, though I really had no idea if he could or not. “But why should either one of us pay for it when my sister can? She has an actual Monet hanging in her apartment. I think she can handle it.” It was true. I’d found that out the hard way, after I’d touched it yesterday afternoon, and she nearly ripped my hand off. It was our turn, and I told the booking agent the information to get Brandon on the same train as I was on. It only took him a few moments before he was handing me the ticket and the receipt. I also asked him to print my own ticket out, which he did with a smile. The whole time, Brandon shifted nervously from one foot to the other, and I noticed his hand was on his stomach, which seemed odd to me, but I didn’t ask what was going on. It reminded me of Cadence the night before. But then, he had just eaten three breakfasts at the same time.
I turned to walk away, toward the train platforms, and Brandon grabbed ahold of my arm, though not rough
ly. “How did you get your sister’s credit card?”
Instinctively, I pulled away, not sure of his intention. “She keeps an emergency card in her freezer. Now, come on. We need to board.”
“But—what if she uses the credit card to track us?” Brandon asked. I couldn’t believe he seemed to be hurrying to keep up with me considering what he was.
“She won’t notice until it’s too late,” I assured him. “Let’s go. I’ll feel much better once we are on the train. If anyone from LIGHTS followed us, they’ll be out of luck once the train pulls out of the station.” He was still looking over his shoulder, which made me turn and look, too. I didn’t see anyone I recognized, although I did notice one creepy looking guy who seemed to be staring at us, but then his eyes flickered back down to the newspaper he was holding and I decided I was paranoid and kept walking. I wondered if Brandon had noticed, too.
“I bet your sister could find a way to stop the train if she really wanted to,” he muttered as he followed me to the loading platform.
“She’s not going to leave Philly to come and chase us down, and by the time she figures out where we are, we’ll be disembarking at…” I glanced back down at my ticket, “Thirtieth Street Station.”
“And a few hours after that, we’ll both be dead,” Brandon said sarcastically as we headed up the steps to board the train.
“Oh, come on, Brandon! Be adventurous!” I couldn’t help but chide him a little bit. We needed to focus on the fact that we were actually doing what we wanted to, or what I wanted to anyway. I was finally going to be involved in a hunt, even if I had to force my way into this situation and was likely going to make my sister angrier than she’d ever been in her life. But that was not the positive, so I pushed those thoughts aside.
“I’m still in the middle of my last adventure,” Brandon mumbled. “You be adventurous—I’ll be planning my new, new future.”
“It’ll be fine,” I assured him. “She’ll be mad, but she’ll get over it. She likes you. She loves me. We’ll survive!” I had to hope my words were true because the alternative would be a disaster. But I really felt like, between Jamie, Aurora, and possibly even Aaron, I’d have enough people on my side to keep Cadence from murdering me. And I was prepared to take full responsibility so Brandon wouldn’t get in any trouble. I hoped.
“I’m glad you’re so certain,” he replied, tossing his gym bag over his shoulder as we slid down the aisle. “I just hope it’s all worth it.”
“It will be,” I assured him once again. “It will be.”
We took our seats and I was relieved to see they were fairly comfortable. I settled back, sticking my bag underneath the seat in front of me in case I should need anything, and took a look around. I didn’t see anything or anyone unusual and thought maybe I’d actually get away with this. I had my phone still, and Brandon’s, not that he’d be using it, a book, a few snacks, and a really long time to think about what a mess I might’ve just gotten us into—though I refused to think about that.
I glanced over at Brandon, and he had his arms crossed and was looking out the window. In his reflection, I could see his eyebrows were knit together, and he looked strikingly like his father just then. I wondered what Elliott would say if he knew what I was doing and realized he’d be livid. I swallowed hard and tried not to think about it. Surely, he’d understand this was me seeking that open air, the freedom he’d showed me in the Lamborghini on the highway that day.
My stomach told me otherwise, and I wondered if Brandon’s was still bothering him. I couldn’t blame him if it was. Nerve-wracking didn’t begin to describe what I’d just gotten us into. I was thankful he was with me, though. It would’ve been harder not to chicken out on my own. As the train pulled out of the station, I didn’t know if I should feel relieved or start to question my own sanity. Brandon turned and looked at me. “I guess there’s no changing our minds now,” he said.
“Nope,” I agreed, thankful my parents would think I was still in Kansas City, assuming Cadence hadn’t bothered to call and tell them I’d be headed home. I didn’t think she would. She’d assume they’d realize I was coming home early when I got there. So… they wouldn’t be worried, at least. I was worried enough for all of us. I did wonder how long it would take before Cadence realized I wasn’t where I was supposed to be but figured she’d be too busy to think about me for a while. Just in case, I turned my phone completely off, thinking it was possible that Christian might know how to track it, and did the same to Brandon’s. He made a sort of kitten mewing sound when I pulled it out. “Sorry,” I muttered, putting it back in my pocket. “You can have it when we get there.”
“Yes, Mother,” he replied, turning his attention back out the window. As Missouri whizzed by out the window, I settled back into my seat again, satisfied that at least they couldn’t say I wasn’t passionate. I just hoped they didn’t end up having to say it on my tombstone.
Brandon and I sat in awkward silence for longer than I expected. A few times, I tried to start a conversation about school or movies, but he didn’t have much to say. I was hoping that my insistence on bringing him with me didn’t ruin the friendship we’d just started. It wasn’t until I noticed the jacket of a man making his way down the aisle to go to the restroom (something I refused to think about as I was sure I’d instantly have to go myself) and commented, “Man, the Chiefs sure aren’t off to a very good start this year.”
“Excuse me?” Brandon asked, as if I’d just called his mother a name. “Just because they haven’t quite gotten their defense together yet doesn’t mean they can’t turn things around.”
Finally finding a topic he was passionate about, I tried to think of every comment I’d ever heard my dad say about any football team and make it sound like I had any idea what I was talking about. While I loved cheerleading for football, Cadence was the one who actually followed the sport. “Well, sure,” I began, “but until they get that offensive line straightened out….” It was a generic thing to say, but it got a response.
Thus a conversation that lasted a good two hours began, and by the end of it, I’d said more about football than I probably ever had in my whole life. I was pretty proud of myself, too, because I had a feeling he didn’t even know that I had no idea what I was talking about. That conversation led to several others, and before long, we were both hungry and went off in search of something to eat.
As we got up and headed in the direction we believed held promise of food, I glanced behind me and noticed that creepy guy I’d seen in the station was actually on our train. He was reading a book now and didn’t even look up, though he was only a few seats behind us. I wasn’t sure what it was about him. Maybe how his face was sunken around his eyes or his greasy hair, but he didn’t look very pleasant to me.
“What’s the matter?” Brandon asked, looking at me with concern in his eyes.
“Oh, nothing,” I replied, smiling. “I’m fine.” He seemed to buy it, and we kept going. It wasn’t as if I had anything to say anyway. “I think that guy looks like a weirdo,” wouldn’t get me too far.
We explored some of the other carts, found a movie playing in one that wasn’t so bad, and watched it while we snacked on pizza and potato chips. A nice grandmotherly-type asked us if we were on our honeymoon, and Brandon said yes, grabbing my hand. That was kind of fun. The wedding he described to her was so perfect, I sort of wanted to take notes in case I ever got to have one someday.
That wasn’t the end of his tale-telling, however, and I found myself listening intently, along with a small crowd of people, as Brandon told plenty of fascinating stories about all of the places we’d visited and why we were going to Philadelphia next. His version seemed almost as exciting as the truth, which I wasn’t allowing myself to think about. By the time we found our way back to our seats, the sun was going down, and I felt like I knew him a lot better than I had when I’d managed to convince him to get on this train with me earlier that day.
“How do you do that?�
�� I asked as we settled back into our seats.
“Do what?” he asked, turning to face me from staring out the window at darkening cornfields.
“Make stuff up like that so quickly.”
“I don’t know,” Brandon shrugged. “It’s just always been something I can do. Sometimes I feel bad for lying, but I’m never going to see these people again anyway, so I don’t know that it matters much.”
I nodded, and he shifted his gaze, like he wasn’t sure if he could turn back to the window yet or not. I had more I wanted to ask him, but I wasn’t sure if I should. I poked my toe in the water slowly. “Do you think your mom is worried?”
“Nah.” His answer came quickly, and his eyes were focused on the landscape again.
“You think Aaron was able to convince her not to be?”
“No, I don’t think she cares.” He turned and looked at me then, and I could see hurt in his eyes. I was surprised. It was hard for me to imagine his mother wasn’t a nice person since Elliott had loved her once. I didn’t want to ask him more, but I didn’t have to. “My mom and I don’t get along very well most of the time.”
“I’m really sorry to hear that,” I said quietly.
Brandon half-nodded, half-shrugged. “It’s okay,” he said. “I don’t have to worry about it anymore.”
I supposed that was true, for the most part, though I couldn’t imagine not caring about my mom anymore. Still, I let it go.
“What about your parents?” he asked quietly. “I know they think you’re in KC still, so they won’t be worried, I mean, assuming Cadence didn’t call them. But are you close?”
“Oh, yeah,” I said, smiling. “My parents are great. They’d do anything for us. They do everything they can for us.” The more I spoke, the more I realized I really didn’t appreciate them enough, and I felt pretty bad that they had no idea where I was.
“So your mom would flip out if she knew what you were up to.”