Runner

Chapter 3

Absentmindedly throwing electric blue pants into my dark purple suitcase, I quickly scrounged the RV for any loose belongings. I needed to learn how to clean up after myself, in a total of three days time; I had managed to make a junkyard out of our RV.

I thought about what Peter had told me, our next destination, and our first extended stay for Amelia's sake. Fairwood, Virginia where my tragic past had taken place. Passing by a small wall mirror, I stared at my reflection anxiously. Would my old pack recognize me? Or was I far too different to place? 

I softly touched my cheekbone. I believed I looked significantly different, with my dyed hair and darker style. Not to mention the smoky makeup that accentuated my eyes, giving me a mysterious, sexy look, something that Laurel Langley never possessed. To outsiders, I appeared melancholy and cryptic, versus the shy and cheery teenager they banished. 

Turning away from the mirror, I slammed my suitcase shut, forcing the zipper around. Outside the tiny tinted window, I saw Peter change our license plates of the RV and Nissan we owned. Angela was decorating the back bumper with decals and slight paint jobs to give our car a different look. We would probably ditch the Nissan and RV and find another car after Virginia. We needed to change our vehicles every now and then. Except for Zea. My black, slick motorcycle with silver spiked rims, I named Zea. Although she was mine, I also shared her with Angela, since her motorcycle got severely damaged by a horde of angry Hunters. It was virtually impossible to ride, seeing as there was a shuriken sticking out of the seat leather. Zea was the only vehicle we wouldn't trade, and even suggesting it would earn a knife at the throat. Zea was my baby. 

In the midst of my thoughts, I heard Sammi yell, signaling that we were leaving. I dragged my suitcase into the small closet with everyone else's luggage. Peter would drive the RV, Angela would drive Zea ahead of us and Sammi, Amelia, Elle and I would take the Nissan. This was our usual arrangement when we changed locations. 

Throwing my dense leather jacket into the front seat of the car, Amelia started the engine. I faced forward in my seat, not looking back once at the campsite. I pushed the memory of Collin's still body to the back of my mind, as I usually did with my victims. It was an automotized ritual; I didn't even have to remind myself to do it. Amelia backed up the car onto the road, the snow creating grinding noises with the tires. Then we were out. 

I picked at the hem of my lace tank top, thoughts clouding my mind when Amelia spoke. "You doing alright, Lori?" she asked, concerned. I winced slightly, my hopes of humbly accepting our new location diminished. 

"I will be," I said truthfully. In truth, my heart was thumping right through my chest, about to fall and spill over my lap. Elle placed her hand on my shoulder, smiling, her cheeks a soft pink from the biting cold. 

"Don't worry, hun. We probably won't even run into your pack! I mean, what are the odds?" I shrugged and stared straight ahead. Always the optimist, she was. A part of me, the part that wasn't a cold blooded killer envied her brightness. She was just so happy all the time, despite all the shit she was put through. I could not understand her smiles, her laughs or her constant humming. If I, Lori Langley could ever strengthen myself to become even the slightest bit like Elle Travis, well. I would be one of the proudest people in the world.

The snow covered trees sped past us, all a blur. The world was white. The sky, the vegetation, the ground. It was like we had died and went to winter-paradise. A paradise where our dilemmas and pain followed us like shadows. Not to mention that fact that we were all damaged goods. Heaven was a delusion. 

I smiled bitterly. "Do not try to delude me, Elle. I know a disaster when I see one." Recoiling slightly, Elle sat back in her seat, her nude colored lips protruding in a pout. Well pardon me for my attitude, but I was in no such mood for cheeriness, let alone false comfort. These people; my old pack. The ones I had once called family had deprived me of an innocent life. Stripped me of my name, ripped the possibility of a happy future from my fingers. My mate. I had no intention of seeing them, now that I was accustomed to my new life. No matter how gruesome and morbid it was, I welcomed the killings, the death and cold. It was all that welcomed me when I was alone, so I embraced it.