Leonidas ✔️

Chapter 27 - Eleanor

Goddess, this was worse than the first time. The pain hadn't hit until we'd crossed the border of Leo's pack. It also hadn't started that strong, but grew stronger slowly the farther we got from pack lands.

"Are you doing alright"? Emma asked. She was sitting in the backseat with me, watching my face contort in pain. I gave her a shaky nod, and she turned back to face the front. Alex was driving and Councilman Harry was in the passenger seat with a book in his hand.

"We'll be stopping at a Council safe-house for the evening, but it won't be until long after dark," Harry murmured, his eyes never leaving the book, "Before we get too far into the trip, would you like to stop somewhere for something to eat, or something to do on the way?"

I turned to Emma and she gave me a slow nod, so I accepted Harry's offer. A few minutes later we were Alex was pulling the car to a stop outside of a small building with odd stands connecting the roof to the ground. I turned to Emma.

"What is this?" I asked. She gave me a small, sympathetic smile.

"It's a gas station," she said, and when I made no sound or movement of acknowledgement, she continued, "Alex has to fill up the car with petrol, and we can go inside and purchase snacks and other things inside."

I nodded and took her hand, stepping out of the car cautiously. I followed her into the building, looking around me to ensure there was no danger. Harry was still sitting in the car and Alex was standing on the driver's side, looking at an electronic screen attached to the stand connected to the roof.

"C'mon, Eleanor," Emma said as she pulled me inside. A really intense, sweet, sugary smell made me wrinkle my nose, and Emma laughed.

"There's a lot of sugary items in here, I know. Would you prefer to get something sweet or savory?"

"Savory, please." I answered immediately. I didn't think that sweet smell was ever going to leave my nose. Emma walked a few feet with me trailing behind her, and she turned down an aisle filled with multicolored bags of what I assumed were salty snacks.

"There are some potato chips, or you could get a snack mix." Blindly, I pointed to the snack mix, and when Emma handed me the bag I noticed it had a variety of different things.

"We'll be stopping for dinner, but this will have to do until then. Would you like a drink as well?" Emma asked. I nodded.

"I'd just like a bottle of water, please. Maybe two, if it's going to be a long time until dinner." Emma pulled open the glass door and I shivered as the cold air hit me.

Two water bottles were placed in front of me, so I tucked the bag of snack mix under my right arm and used both of my hands to hold the bottles. She pulled out three more bottles, tucking them under her arms and walking away. I blindly followed her to an aisle where the sweet-smell was the strongest, and wrinkled my nose.

"You can wait by the counter, if that would make you more comfortable," Emma offered. I nodded, and quietly walked over to the counter. An older male was sitting on a stool, doing something on a small electronic screen.

I noticed now that I wasn't focused on the smell that there was soft music playing in the background, and I closed my eyes.

"Are you ready, Eleanor?" I jumped and opened my eyes wide, but Emma was simply staring at me, waiting for my answer. I nodded, and set my stuff on the counter as Emma did the same.

She handed some bills over to the man and he pressed a button to his right, causing a loud, shrill noise to pierce the air. I jumped again and Emma placed a hand on my arm, calming me down.

We left soon after that, both of us getting in the backseat and Emma began to pass out what she had bought. Alex had gotten what Emma referred to as potato chips, she passed the councilman a small but colorful bag of what looked like candy, and Emma bought two bags of something unfamiliar to me.

When she saw I was staring she blushed.

"I have a sweet tooth," she whispered as the car began to move. I nodded and opened the bottle of water, taking a few swallows then placing it in the cup holder to my left.

"I forgot, Eleanor," Emma said, turning to me, "I grabbed some puzzle books for us." She pulled four multi-colored books out of one of her bags, and I turned to her with a confused look. Where had those come from?

She passed a green one to me and I opened it up, seeing a block of randomized letters. I turned to her, my eyebrows raised. What was the point of this?

She pointed to the list of words on the bottom, then pointed to the block of letters again.

"You're supposed to find the words—here, I have a pen, so you can circle them once you've found them."

I set to work, finding simple words, and after a few minutes I took another gulp of my water. Emma rested her hand on my right forearm, and I jumped.

"It's alright, Eleanor, don't take it too seriously." I watched her soft smile, then nodded and took a deep breath to relax.

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"Eleanor? Eleanor, wake up." I grunted as right side of my body was shaken. I opened my eyes after rubbing them slightly, and squinted to find Emma's face in the darkness.

"We've stopped at a safe house for the night, let's get some sleep," Emma said quietly. She helped me step out of the car and I realized I'd drooled a little on the book she'd given me to keep me busy during the car ride.

As we walked to the house, Emma continued to make conversation.

"You're lucky, you managed to sleep through most of the drive and keep the pain away." I turned to her and smiled. She was right! I had slept right through the pain.

"Where is everyone?" I asked as I looked around. The car was empty, and there were a few lights on in the safe house nearby.

"Councilman Harry and Alex went inside, I've spoken with the guards and now we need to go to the safe house, Eleanor. The more time we take, the less sleep we get."

"Guards? I don't see any guards," I murmured while she began to tug me inside.

"They're posted almost everywhere, don't worry. Let's get some sleep."