It was during a party I felt it. I felt my body being attacked and I didn’t know why. I knew I wasn’t in heat anymore so why was I feeling so much pain. George sat me down in a chair outside and watched me as I clenched and unclenched my shirt. There was something terribly wrong with Landon I could feel him being ripped to shreds. I tried my best not to scream in pain when I felt something scratch across my chest. Then it was over the pain was gone and I looked into George’s grey eyes filled with concerned.
“I’m okay…for now,” I said standing up. It felt like the air was getting thinner and I looked around to see if someone was smoking something illegal. When I saw no one else besides George, I sighed.
“You should probably go home you don’t look to good,” he said studying my features.
“Alright if you say so Dad,” I said walking back into the room.
“I am not your father. I’m just a concerned friend,” he said in my ear.
“I guess,” I retorted.
We navigated through the cramped room and out the door. The air smelled different fresher, cleaner. We walked to the elevator and got in with a few other people. The ride was silent and I scanned everyone’s faces through the reflection in the door. The elevator stopped, the doors opened and we all tumbled out. I linked arms with George and we walked to his car. Once we were in his car, he turned to look at me again.
“What?” I asked feeling self-conscious.
“Nothing,” he replied simply turning on the car.
“Okay…” I said looking out the window.
I started to think about Landon as George pulled out of the parking lot. I wonder if the hunters attacked the pack and he was in a fight with Henry just like in my vision. I was deep into thought when suddenly a sharp pain spread through my chest totally catching me off guard. I screamed making George swerve the car and pull over. I closed my eyes as the pain increased and held on tight to my chest. Then it was all over the pain was gone and I was left with a burning sensation in my chest. I opened my eyes as the burning subsided and was left with a feeling of emptiness. I felt an unbearable wave of sadness come over me and I started to weep.
“Rosa what’s wrong?” George asked touching my shoulder.
“I need to go home,” I cried.
“I’ll take you home,” he said and I shook my head.
“I need to go home,” I repeated stressing out the word home and he finally understood.
“I’ll take you back to your house and arrange for you to get home,” he replied getting back on the road.
“Thank you George,” I said looking out the window.
“You’re welcome Rosa.”
The rest of the ride was silent and I didn’t feel the need to cry anymore although I still felt sad. I just wanted to crawl into bed and sleep these feelings of sadness away. Soon I was home and George told me to pack my bags because I was leaving tomorrow. I walked through the quiet house actually taking time to notice my surrounds. It seemed beautiful and pure in here but I never noticed it until now. I went into my room and locked the door I didn’t feel like being bothered. I packed my suitcases and got ready for bed. I made sure to charge my phone so that when I was back in the U.S. I would send a text message to Lucas telling him to pick me up from the airport. I closed my eyes and started to pray hoping that I’ll see Landon another day.
~~~
After saying good-bye to all of my friends, I boarded the plane to California. George said if I needed anything to call him and he’ll make it happen. I was anxious to get back onto American soil I’m not going to lie I had fun in Japan but there’s nothing like the great USA. I was asleep for most of the flight over and the other half I listened to my iPod or read a book. When I finally got off the plane, I took a deep breath and smiled. I forgot when was the last time I’ve been to California I think it was two years ago. I walked through the airport until I heard someone call my name. When I looked around I finally saw Lucas and Amelia standing by a vending machine with a sign that had my name on it. I smiled and ran over to them and jumped into Lucas’ awaiting arms.
“Welcome home Princess,” he said in my ear.
“Thanks Lucas it’s good to be back,” I said smiling at Amelia then he let me go.
“Velkomin til baka,” she said with a smile totally catching me off guard as I hugged her.
“Um takk?” I asked unsure and she smiled.
“You still remember how to speak in Icelandic,” she affirmed.
“Just the basics,” I confessed laughing and looked at Lucas who looked confused.
“I just said welcome back,” she said taking in her mate’s look of confusion.
“Oh I knew that,” he said with confidence, which made me, roll my eyes.
“Sure you did,” I said playfully nudging him in the arm.
“Whatever,” he said rubbing his arm.
“Let’s go you must be starving,” Amelia said grabbing my hand and leading me away from the vending machine.
“I sure am,” I said following her.
We walked through the airport until we found a restaurant called Encounter Restaurant. We immediately were seated since a few people knew Lucas and Amelia. I looked through the menu and sighed so many options popped out at me but I just couldn’t decide on one given thing.
“So how do you know those people?” I asked after placing my order.
“They’re in the pack we’re staying with,” Lucas replied taking a sip of his water.
“Oh does that mean you guys eat here for free?” I asked looking at Amelia and she nodded.
“The supervisor is actually the Beta’s wife,” she said and I nodded impressed.
After that, we just made small talk. I talked about school and Japan then differences between Japan and America. They seemed fascinated by what I was saying until the food came. After that, it was total silence from all of us. I loved the food in Japan don’t get me wrong I had six meals a day. But there was nothing like an Angus burger and some fries at that moment.
“Is it good?” Lucas asked with an amused look on his face.
“Yes,” I said breathlessly making him chuckle.
“Is it better than my famous double bacon cheeseburger?” he asked with a raised brow making me drop the burger. I didn’t even try to compare the two burgers.
“I don’t know it’s been a while since I had one of your burgers,” I replied.
“Aww I understand you’re just trying to make me feel better,” he said feigning hurt. “I know when my burger has been beaten.”
“No that’s not it—“
“Ow!” Lucas exclaimed. “Sorry Rosa.”
“It’s okay Lucas,” I said laughing then looked at Amelia.
“What I didn’t do anything,” she said moving her hand from underneath the table.
“Right,” I said shaking my head.
We continued to eat after that little discussion then left. We went to go pick up my suitcases then exited the airport. I followed them to their car and hopped in. I looked around at the scenery as Lucas drove past stores then houses. He finally pulled up into a gated community and I frowned wondering where he was taking us. As we drove by, I noticed that the streets were filled with mansions. He drove for a few minutes before finally coming up to a gate that was covered with bushes. He rolled down the window and punched some numbers into a security lock and the gates opened. He drove up to the door then parked. I got out and stretched my legs and arms.
“You’ll be staying here tonight,” Amelia said and I gasped.
“Wait I’m not leaving for Texas tonight?”
“Nope Lucas said he brought you a plane ticket for tomorrow at noon,” she replied looking at Lucas.
I sighed, “Alright if you bought me a ticket for tomorrow then I’ll go tomorrow.”
“That’s the spirit,” Amelia said smiling then grabbed my hand. “Come let me show you to your room.”
I didn’t object as she pulled me up the stairs and into the house. It was warm on the inside and the walls were painted in a golden yellow color. She walked me through the foyer and up the stairs; she stopped when she got to the first door then opened it. I let go of her hand, walked into the room it was clean, and the walls were painted a light blue. There was a full bed in the center of it with a nightstand on the right side and a dresser across from it. A door led to what I presumed to be the closet and there was a small window on the far wall. Lucas walked into the room and placed my suitcases on the floor.
“Thanks,” I told him and he nodded then headed out the door.
“Well we’ll leave you to freshen up,” Amelia said then closed the door.
I walked over to the bed and lied down. The bed had a weird scent to it almost as if someone was sleeping in it. I sniffed the bed and then evaluated the scent. It wasn’t human and it wasn’t a werewolf either. When I finally thought of what the scent could be a girl around my age walked into the room with a towel on her head. If I didn’t know what she was a minute ago I knew now.
“A witch,” I said aloud.