[ 7:13 AM ]
my eyes pop open seconds before two loud bangs occur on the back of the van doors.
sephie jumps awake as i sit up.
"his friends," i state.
"how did they-"
"no time."
i go and push the van doors open, a toned guy with long brunette hair, a skinny guy with a buzz cut, and the girl i recognize as soraya stand before me.
buzz cut guy holds a pistol in our direction.
persephone grips my forearm.
"who are you?" soraya questions us, a scowl on her face. "why are you in our van?"
"can your friend get his gun from out of our faces," seph asks back, trying to match soraya's confident and bold tone but falling short.
"who. are. you?" she repeats.
i hold my hands up near my chest.
"juniper. dominic trusted us to use his van. he told us that you'd come," i explain to her.
"well get out," she spits, folding her arms over her chest. it's then i notice the sash of fabric tied to her body and tiny legs wrapped around her waist.
"i got a message from apple that dom needed my help," i further explain, trying to break this insane dismissive atmosphere.
"excuse you?" she grits, narrowing her eyes at me.
what did i just do?
"i-"
"i don't know who the fuck you two are nor do i care! get the hell from out of the van-"
"raya stop!" i small voice speaks up behind her.
soraya goes for my hand.
"wait, i-"
she grabs my hand.
"OW!" she shouts dropping my hand.
a shiver rolls through my body, a cold feeling replacing it instantly.
"juniper's ones of us!" the tiny voice speaks again.
"one of us?" i ask, rubbing my arms to try and get warm.
"what just happened? are you okay?" seph asks, moving my hair out of my face.
"i'm fine. i'm fine," i tell her, moving away. "what does that mean? one of you?"
"grayson help me," soraya says and unties her sash of fabric. grayson helps the small child on to her own two feet.
finally, i see the exact person that i saw in my dream.
apple.
she smiles at me and offers me a wave. i give her a small smile and wave back.
"what does she mean?" i repeat. "what just happened to me?"
"it's too much to explain," soraya sighs, "and we don't have the time to. so i say again, vacate the fucking premises."
"no! raya, juniper can help us!" apple tries to argue.
"yeah come on, you just activated-"
"she doesn't know a single thing gray and A," she cuts him off.
i frown.
activated?
"then we help her!" apple groans, grabbing raya's hand and swinging it.
"help me with what?!" i question, not liking this one sided conversation.
"no apple. we don't have the time to teach them. we don't even have a full proof plan once we do get there."
"can someone explain what is going on?!" seph butts in.
soraya looks at us.
"we could use the help ray," the guy she referred to as grayson tells her.
she sighs, rubbing her face.
"long story short, we're going to most likely be going into battle. i've got no time to explain the details right now, and apple seems to believe in you. so, are you in or are you out? keep in mind this is choosing life or death," she lays out.
"what?!" seph questions.
i knew things were urgent when we met dominic. i knew things were even worse when apple visited me. i felt that connection with dominic and i feel it now with soraya and apple. and although i didn't have a good relationship with my family, this connection feels deeper than that. deeper than my own family ties.
persephone and i look at each other with two distinct faces.
she doesn't feel what i feel.
but she'll do anything for me. i know that.
this is for dominic. for something deeper that i don't know.
she sighs and nods.
i grab her hand and look at the four in front of me.
"we're in."