The Descendants Series Vol. 2

Chapter 12

Chapter 12

The sun was getting lower and lower on the horizon, and before I knew it, I was asleep. 

It was just a swirl of images at first, but then I was back in the field where I’d first talked to Rowan.  She was there again, sitting up and facing me.

“I still don’t know who you are,” she said.

“I finally know who you are,” I said.  “My grandma told me about you.”

“And what did she say?” she asked.

“You’re my sister,” I said.

She looked confused.  “No, I’m not.  I don’t have any brothers or sisters,” she said.  “Well, I did.”

“Yes, you do,” I said.  “You’re my twin sister.”

“So that’s why we look alike?” she asked.

“Yeah,” I said.  “We were only a year old when someone broke into our house and took you.”

“But who…?”

I could feel someone beside me with their hand on my face. 

“What?” I asked, sitting up face.  I groaned as my neck locked into place.  Falling asleep with my head slumped back wasn’t very comfortable.

“Sorry,” someone whispered.  I looked and saw Kade sitting beside me.  “I was going to turn off your earpiece because you were mumbling.”

“Oh, sorry,” I said.  “Did you turn it off?”

“No, I’m not going to now that you’re awake,” he said. 

“Where are we?” I asked, trying to loosen my neck up.

“We’re still flying,” he said, and looked back up at Xander in the front.  “We’ve been up for a few hours.  We’ve still got an hour or two of darkness before we have to land.  We’re going to land when we have about three hours until dawn.  That way we can get some sleep before we have to start walking.”

“How far have we gone?” I asked.

“We’re over halfway there,” he said.

“And how do you know that?” I asked.

“This used to be a Directrix helicopter, so we’ve got all of the coordinates to all of their bases, including the actual city,” he said.

“Oh,” I said.  I looked up at Xander and realized he didn’t have his earpiece in.  “What’s wrong with him?”

“You have to ask?” Kade asked, smiling.

“Never mind,” I said, understanding.  “So he can’t hear us?”

“No,” he said.  “He can tune out anything.  That’s what he’s doing right now.”

“So…”  I looked Xander again and then back to Kade.  “What do you think about them?  Peyton and Xander?”

“Peyton’s probably the only one you’ve talked to about the two of them.  You don’t know the other half of that story,” he said, laughing.

“Oh, really?” I asked.  “Well, why don’t you tell me what you know?”

He leaned in close to me.  His eyes slipped down to my lips, and then back up to my eyes.  “You see, Xander’s had a thing for Peyton ever since we’ve all been together.”

“But I thought…?”

“That’s just Peyton.  Xander, on the other hand…”  He looked back up at him.  “He’s like her for a long time.”