Waters of Lethe, Book 2

2. Fight or Flight

We were to arrive back in the states the next day, much to my displeasure.

"El is most likely not even in this part of the world anymore," Audi told me, trying his hardest to console me. It was a good attempt, but it ultimately failed.

"Where do you think she is, then?" I asked him after he told me we were getting on the plane to head back right after we gathered our things from the hotel.

"Could be a number of places," he answered.

"I told him we have it narrowed down," Burk said behind us as we walked into the hotel.

"And we do," Audi agreed.

We each broke off to gather our own things, which left me to gather El's things as well. Audi asked if I needed help, but I declined. I wanted to be the one to get her belongings. He nodded his head reluctantly, told me I had thirty minutes to get our bags packed and meet everyone else in the lobby.

I had a small meltdown when I closed the door to our room behind me, sliding down the wall, nearly choking to death because I couldn't seem to get oxygen past my tonsils. My chest tightened, but I soon regained control.

We declined room service, including maids, so the room was just as we left it. The bed was unmade, a few of her clothes were on the floor by her suitcase.

I sat cross legged on the floor by her things, gingerly picking up the pair of jeans and a couple of shirts that lay around to fold them and put them back in her suitcase.

After I took care of her, I gathered my own things, which wasn't a task. When I got something out, I made sure that something else went back in my own bag so that I didn't create a mess. My mother taught me to do that, and it was one of the only things that she taught me that really stuck with me. I always seemed to find a way to create a messy jumble, she had said.

I finished the chores in ten minutes, then decided to lay down for the rest of the time I was allotted.

I thought about going onto the balcony to sit, take in the view for the last time. I couldn't, though, so I just fell back onto the bed, grabbed her pillow and buried my face in it.

I ended up stuffing her pillow into her bag before I walked out the door.

I knew that, as soon as I got back to my own home in the compound, I'd place it neatly on her bed. The bed I'd been sleeping in before she'd even returned.

I began having nightmares again after being away from her for so long. One night, I dreamed that I'd stabbed a woman to death. She was trying to kill me, so I had to take her out first. After waking up and refusing to let myself call her cell phone, I went to her room. Her scent still lingered, making me lightheaded and calm and happy. I hadn't had a nightmare since.

I wasn't looking forward to the bad dreams to come.

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"Tibet. China. Italy. Greece. The United States."

I sighed. "I thought you said you narrowed it down?"

Audi looked at me, upset. "Do you know how many countries are in the world?"

He waited for an honest answer. I rubbed my hand over my mouth, trying to keep myself from murdering him. "No, Audi. I do not."

"One hundred and ninety six! That's a lot of damn countries! And you think I didn't narrow it down?" He threw his hands up, truly dumbfounded.

The only reason I didn't jump over the table we sat at was that, for one, I knew Audi got harder to deal with whenever he was really stressed. Which was most of the time. But there was a slight shift in his gusto when he got really, really upset. The second reason I didn't jump over the table was that I was ready to get home. I didn't want the pilots to have to land our plane to get back up to help pull me off of him. We needed to get home, sort this mess out, and find her.