Above all Else

by Sophia R Heart

  “For now, we need to find a place to comb through every word that’s on the flash drive.” He pulled up on the side of the road. “Wait here.”

  “Where are you going?” I asked, looking at him like he was crazy. It was pitch black outside, the only thing to be seen for miles trees. I climbed out after him and found him crouched down by the front of the car. “What are you doing?”

  “Looking for a tracking device. I don’t think they counted on us escaping, but they may have planted something on the car, just in case, before they entered the building.”

  I stared uneasily around the street, imagining those men tonight tracking us here. It was a frightening thought.

  Kellan stood up suddenly, causing me to stumble back a few steps as I’d been standing directly behind him. He moved towards the side of the car, his hand disappearing to pat around underneath it.

  I rubbed at my arms, trying to generate some warmth. Not only was it dark, but there was a tangible chill in the air, and in our hurry tonight, I hadn’t spared a thought for my outfit. Leggings and a sleeveless top did not retain much heat.

  I couldn’t see what Kellan was doing, but he pulled his hand back after a moment, a small, black box in his hand. It looked tiny and harmless, but Kellan dropped it to the ground grimly. “Come on, let’s go.”

  “Wait,” I said, picking it up and noticing a small green dot flashing on and off on the back of it. “If we see a truck or something, we can drop it onto the truck bed. If those guys are following, they’ll end up chasing it instead of us.”

  He stared at me, an amused smile appearing on his face despite our situation. “What movie did you see that in?”

  I rolled my eyes at him. “What does it matter? It’s a good idea.”

  He nodded, taking his cell phone out of his pocket. “Where’s your cell?” I pulled it out of my back pocket, and he turned both of them off. “We should keep them off just in case they can trace them. C’mon. We need to hurry.”

  We saw a truck a few blocks away. Kellan slowed the car down, staying close behind the truck, while I rolled down my window and aimed the tracking device onto the truck bed.

  Kellan sped up one I’d rolled the window back up, overtaking the truck.

  “You don’t think they’ll hurt the guy driving it, do you?” I asked, concerned.

  He shook his head. “They’re not stupid… well, not all of them. They’ll see we’re not inside the truck and realize we ditched the tracking device. In the meantime, it’ll buy us some much needed time.”

  We drove for several more miles, merging on to the highway. It was about thirty minutes later, after we’d exited the highway, that Kellan rolled the car to an unexpected stop again. The street looked similar to the one we’d stopped at before. There were trees – lots of trees – and little else to be seen. It looked like we were next to a forest.

  “We’re going on foot from here,” he said, pulling his keys out of the ignition. He grabbed the backpack he’d brought with him, and opened the door, a waft of chilly air entering the car interior.

  “On foot?” I said, getting out after him. “Are you crazy? We’re in the middle of freaking nowhere!”

  “I hadn’t noticed,” he said, rolling his eyes. “The only way to get there is by foot.”

  “Where are we going?” I asked wearily.

  “A friend’s place.” He shot me an impatient look, but frowned as his eyes slid down my frame. He opened the trunk of his car and rummaged through it, pulling out a blanket.

  “Why do you have a blanket in your car?” I asked him before shaking my head. “Never mind. I don’t want to know.”

  “Here.” He handed it to me.

  I stared at him. “I’m not touching that. Who knows what’s on it.”

  “I assure you, princess, the blanket has yet to be used. Now, unless you want to freeze that delectable ass of yours out here, you might want to wrap it around you. It’s a long walk.”

  “Who lives out in the middle of nowhere, anyway?” I muttered under my breath, ignoring the jolt that went through me at the comment about my ass. He loved to unnerve me.

  Locking the car, Kellan stepped into a small clearing that led deeper into the forest. He didn’t look back to see if I was following. My scowl deepening, I trudged after him.

  We walked for ten minutes in relative silence; his was alert and watchful, mine more stubborn than anything. It was dark, and cold, and there were so many branches that had grown out onto the pathway that scraped my arms as we walked by.

  “How much longer?” I finally asked after I felt like an appropriate amount of time had passed that I wouldn’t appear like I was whining.

  Being in the woods, at night, was freaky as hell. A part of me kept waiting for the guys from earlier to jump out at us. Though how they would have tracked us without a tracking device I didn’t know.

  “Not much,” he said, pushing a branch out of the way. He didn’t have a jacket either, but had only given me a blank stare when I offered him the blanket. “You are terrible at this.”

  “I’ve never been all that outdoorsy!” I protested, knowing that I looked as miserable as I felt.

  “I know.” A small smile played on his lips, his dimple flashing. “Remember that weekend your dad took us all camping?”

  Despite myself, I couldn’t help but smile too. I’d thought about it just this morning after seeing the photograph of us in Kellan’s room. It was strange. I hadn’t thought about that weekend in years, and yet I’d thought about it twice in the space of one day. At the time, I hadn’t enjoyed myself very much, but it was a comforting memory now.

  Life had been so much simpler back then.

  CHAPTER TEN

  * * *

  - THEN -

  Four years ago

  I WAS HOT AND sweaty. I also needed to use the bathroom, but was putting that off until it was absolutely necessary. Needless to say, I wasn’t having the greatest time of my life.

  This wasn’t my first time camping. We used to go all the time when I was younger, and I’d really enjoyed myself. In fact, I’d loved going camping. This time though... not so much. I didn’t know what it was, but I remained in a constant state of irritation. Maybe it had to do with the fact that Kellan and Dad had built a fire last night, but Dad had made me step back when I’d tried to help. Or the fact that they’d both just left to go fish by the lake, and an invitation hadn’t been sent my way. I didn’t even like fishing and Dad knew that, so I wasn’t sure why I was annoyed.

  It was supposed to be a family trip, but it seemed to me that this weekend was turning into more of a male bonding excursion. I hadn’t minded so much at first. I’d hung out with Mom. She’d been fine yesterday, laughing, and glowing from the light of the fire at night. But she was feeling tired today and had just gone to her tent to take a nap.

  I sighed, and debated heading into my own tent for a nap. It would help the time pass, but I wasn’t tired at all. After flipping through a magazine I’d brought along with me, I grabbed my iPod dock, and got up to find Dad and Kellan.

  It was a short walk to the lake. We weren’t in the middle of the wilderness like Dad would like us all to think. Instead, we were at a popular campsite a few hours away from home. A lot of people came out here to camp out by the lake, but so far, we’d only seen a handful of other people.

  It was kind of like a holiday resort without a hotel. The camping ground really just gave the illusion that we were out here at one with nature. There were communal bathrooms and electricity. A path decorated with small electric lanterns led the way from the campsite towards the lake, the bathroom areas, and back towards the highway. There was a shop where you could rent fishing gear and purchase other food and supplies.

  I found Dad and Kellan sitting in two deckchairs near the lake, talking amiably to themselves.

  I had no idea how Dad had managed to convince Kellan to come along on this trip. It didn’t exactly seem l
ike his kind of scene. I remembered the kids he’d used to hang out with in high school and could only imagine the things they used to do for fun. Still, he was here, much to everyone’s surprise.

  I sat down in the shade under a large tree, and switched the iPod dock on. It was wireless and had been a Christmas gift from Dad.

  Dad turned around as music poured through the small speakers, looking surprised to see me. “Everything okay, sweetheart?”

  “Yeah, Mom’s just taking a nap. So I thought I’d come down here and keep you company,” I told him, leaning back against the bark of the tree.

  After almost an hour of sitting under the tree, just listening to the music, the tranquility of the lake and the serene atmosphere began to lose its appeal and got really freaking boring. Dad and Kellan seemed content to just sit there and wait all day. They were in their own little world, looking relaxed and drowsy from the sun blazing down on them.

  An old song that I’d danced to all the time back when I took Ballet began playing on my iPod. I’d been sad when the school had cancelled the after school Ballet classes, but excited that I’d get to hang out at Dad’s school and maybe bump into Kellan. The music sent waves of memories through me – most of which were not pleasant at all. Mom had been at her worst when I’d been taking those lessons, and fear had been my constant companion back then.

  Feeling antsy and curious if I could still do any of the moves, I stood up and began going through some old stretches.

  Listening to the music, I moved into one of the most practiced poses I could remember, the Arabesque position. I stood on my toes, and carefully lifted my left leg up. Keeping both knees straight, I extended my left leg up behind my body as far as it would go, my right hand raised in the air. I stilled, seeing how long I could hold the position.

  ‘Legs straight, head forward, don’t frown...’ I could recall my Ballet instructor’s words clearly.

  I heard some clapping and opened my eyes to see that Dad had gotten up and was facing me. “You look good, sweetheart,” Dad said. “I don’t know why you ever quit.”

  “Thanks.” I smiled as I let my arms and legs relax, and rolled my shoulders. I’d forgotten how much they could ache after practice.

  “I’m going to check on your mom and make a start on prepping dinner.”

  “I’ll cook it,” I offered quickly. Dad had hovered near me last night whenever he’d thought I was too close to the open fire – as though I’d trip and fall in. He was way too overprotective at times, and it had exasperated me increasingly as the night wore on.

  “I think I can manage. You just enjoy yourself. We don’t want you to burn yourself,” Dad said. Seeing my exasperation, he added, “or our dinner.”

  He kissed me on the forehead before he disappeared back towards the trail leading to our tents.

  I sighed and started the music back up from the start. I resumed my earlier position, and then let my leg drop. Standing on both my toes, I brought my hands together on top of my head in a circle. I paused, holding still.

  “Don’t pull a muscle, precious, or we’ll have to rush you straight to the emergency room,” Kellan said, imitating Dad’s voice.

  I huffed as I dropped my arms and glared at him. “Screw you.”

  “Don’t let your Dad catch you talking like that.” He smirked, amused at my annoyance. I always seemed to be amuse to him. I hated it

  I grabbed my iPod dock, ready to head back to the campsite. He turned back around to face the lake just as something tugged on his fishing line. He bent forward to untie the fishing pole, and began to quickly reel in the rope. Curiously, I moved up behind him.

  “Have you–” I began.

  Kellan jumped forward, seemingly startled by my voice. He lost his footing and fell right into the lake.

  I blinked at him for a second, before breaking out into loud laughter. Kellan came up to the surface of the lake, spluttering. I clutched at my stomach, doubled over from laughter.

  He glared at me, but the vehemence in his face was lost by his hair plastered to his face, making him look very much like a drowned rat.

  I would have killed for a camera.

  * * *

  I turned over later that night, trying to get comfortable. Though the days were blazingly hot, the nights tended to get cold. Dad had fixed up a space heater in my tent for me last night, but it only had one setting. Having it switched on made my tent too hot, but turning it off left me freezing. Finally, I unzipped my sleeping back and stuck a foot out of it.

  That felt better.

  I finally began to doze off when I felt something tickle my foot.

  Something wet.

  And slimy.

  Looking down, I saw a small, green lizard on the floor by my foot.

  I screamed bloody murder, scrambling out of the sleeping bag as fast as I could. I fumbled with the zip on my tent, desperate to get out of the small, enclosed space and as far away from the little green monster as I could.

  I scrambled out of my tent, still screaming as Mom and Dad shuffled out of theirs.

  “What is it?” Mom asked, alarmed. “April?”

  “Lizard,” I gasped.

  Dad looked confused. “What?”

  “There’s a lizard in my tent... it was right next to my sleeping bag,” I said, my voice wavering.

  “Oh, you poor thing,” Mom said soothingly. She put her arm around me, and I relaxed into her hold.

  Dad shook his head, the alertness in his expression fading drastically now that he knew I wasn’t being attacked by an axe murderer. “I’ll get rid of it.” Dad rubbed at his head and yawned.

  “I won’t be able to sleep in there!” I protested with a shiver, my mind conjuring up images of more lizards creeping into my tent as I slept.

  Dad sighed. “I’ll sleep in here tonight. You can share with your mom.”

  Mom rubbed my back as Dad picked up the lizard and walked into the forest to deposit it far far away from the campsite.

  I turned, only then realizing that Kellan had been sitting on a log near the campfire in the middle of our campsite. He looked up at me, not at all sluggish or bleary-eyed like Mom and Dad had been. He looked wide awake, his eyes glinting mischievously in the light of the fire.

  My mouth dropped open. Had he...?

  He had.

  The crazy asshole. A lizard in my tent? That was a hundred times worse than startling him into the lake – which had been purely accidental on my part anyway.

  I let Mom usher me into the tent, already planning my revenge.

  However, I’d ended up twisting my foot the following day, and Kellan had carried me all the way back to the car. An unspoken truce had been formed.

  - KELLAN -

  “You so put that lizard in my tent,” she said, shooting me a peeved glare.

  I tried to tamp down the grin forming on my face. Judging by the way her glare intensified, I could tell that I hadn’t succeeded. “It was years ago!” I said, chuckling at the indignant look on her face. “You’re not honestly still mad about it, are you?”

  Her shoulder slumped. “No. It’s just… this whole situation sucks.” She tightened the blanket around her, biting her lip. God, I loved her lips. They were full and fucking kissable, the small beauty spot above her top lip adding to her allure.

  I had to look away, and good thing, too, as I almost walked straight into a branch.

  It was pure coincidence that I’d glanced out of the window of my apartment earlier right in time to see a man tuck a gun under his shirt as he crossed the street. The small movement might have gone unnoticed by anyone else, but it had set off alarm bells in me.

  My instincts had never steered me wrong. I’d followed them, and I’d gotten us the hell out of there. But I wasn’t so sure what we would do now. Phoenix was a great guy, and I knew he’d have absolutely no qualms over housing us for however long we needed, but we couldn’t stay at his place indefinitely.

&nb
sp; The path had gotten out of control these past few months since I’d last visited, and a walk that should have taken no more than ten minutes was taking more than double that amount. Phoenix had really let the place go.

  He tended to go through these phases. He’d either be on top of the world like a freaking energizer bunny, or he’d go through periods where he barely left the house. It didn’t take a genius to deduce what period he was going through now. He usually kept this path trimmed and neat for visitors, but it looked like he hadn’t been out here in months.

  “You know, I had a lot of fun that weekend,” I said eventually, surprising even myself.

  “You did?” she asked, skepticism clear in her voice. She turned to glance at me, before frowning prettily at the floor. She was still in the clothes she’d had on earlier, and every time she moved, I’d catch a small flash of exposed skin at her stomach – taunting me before she’d pull the blanket closer around her.

  I needed to get a fucking grip on myself.

  Ballerina could be as vicious as a pit viper at times, and yet there was this air of vulnerability around her – there always had been, come to think of it – that drew me to her. It was even more pronounced today after everything we’d learned about Mario last night. She just looked so defeated that my arms kept itching to hold her, to pull her towards me and comfort her. I’d been fighting an internal battle with myself all day.

  We need some distance, I decided. We were spending far too much time together and it was beginning to mess with my mind.

  “Yeah, I did,” I answered her. That weekend had meant more to me than I would ever be willing to admit.

  I’d never been on a family vacation before. It had been a first for me, and I’d loved every minute of it. Even if I had been a little envious. Everything had just been so... so normal and loving. Ballerina had been so blessed, so incredibly lucky her whole life, having parents like Mario and Louise, and she didn’t even know it. It had made me oddly annoyed, and I’d acted like a jerk because of it.