"I'm not afraid of storms for I am learning to sail my ship." ~Loisa May Alcott
Though we are not falling out of the sky, this plane ride is worse than the one before. We couldn't manage to stay in the sky before, and now it seems this flight won't come to an end.
Having members from HEXA on board doesn't lighten anyone's spirits. Bob and I share nervous glances from across the aisle, and I find myself squeezing my sister's hand even harder.
I try to distract myself from our current situation by looking out the window. The color green floods my field of vision, sprinkled with the occasional blues of water. Vertigo doesn't come over me until I feel Diana escape from my tight grasp.
"Chill, Perry," she smiles slightly, probably finding my discomfort amusing. "I'll be back in a minute."
She walks down the narrow path of the plane, and closes the small door to the restroom. I try to once again distract myself, this time by playing a game Diana and I would play on long road trips to pass time; the goal is to make a conversation with someone, but the first word of each sentence has to go in alphabetical order.
A pillow would be nice to have right now.
Better yet, an order of french fries.
Can you eat fries with your head rested on a pillow like that?
Doesn't stop me from trying.
Each fry would get its grease and salt all over from the crazy angle you're laying because of the pillow.
"Fries and pillows can coexist so just stop!" I accidentally say aloud, gaining the attention of the rest of the squad. Some shoot me strange glares, and others try to hide their laughter.
Gosh, look what you've done now, I think. As I try to form the sentence starting with "H," Alice crosses the aisle and fills Diana's seat. She looks calm, considering the situation, and I can't help but hope that it rubs off on me.
"How do you do?" She asks. It takes me as second to realize her question starts with an "H." I take a deep breath, feeling just a bit calmer already.
"I'm fine," I answer in a shaky voice, continuing the game.
Her eyes stare back at me with hard concentration. I'm fooling no one.
"Just take another deep breath." She smirks. It amazes me that she can handle all this stress without imploding. That's the only way I know how to take my possible peril.
The door to the bathroom opens with an air conditioned whoosh, reminding me I'm on a plane. The shock of reality jars me and feelings of absolute terror course through me. I'm helpless, I'm helpless.
Diana makes her way to my table to sit down next to me and sees instead Alice and me, closer together than I thought we were.
Rather than looking offended that I chose Alice over her (although technically Alice chose me), Diana raises an eyebrow before making her way to Guad, who looks surprised to see her sitting down next to him. My sister isn't wrong in assuming that if she wants to have any sort of relationship with Guad she's going to have to make the first move. However, I'm not very sure I support anything she wants in regards to the Chilean.
My eyes find themselves on the HEXA scientist once again. With his slicked blonde hair and stone cold face I don't find it hard to imagine him in scrubs and a mask, leaning over a young Bob and injecting drugs into his veins. Considering all my friend's been through, I find it a lot easier to sympathize with him over Guad.
"Kill me now," I mumble for the sake of the game (and my own). I don't care what I say, I have to keep my mind off HEXA. Anything but that. But if PHIE was created to stop them, where are they? I shake my head. Stop, Perry.
"Listen to yourself," Alice insists. But I don't. I look out the window and gaze at the lush, ancient jungles below me. Thousands of feet are between the safe ground and us. And whether or not this will end in catastrophe is up to an organization that's already chased us from Chile to the capital of Colombia.
"Maybe we'll be alright," I say.
"Now you're talking." What she says could be sarcastic or truthful. Either way I begin to smile. Alice is more creative at this game than Diana has been for over 12 years.
"Bob Andrew Sawyer and friends," a voice says over the plane's intercom, "we begin our descent into Mexico City."
Before any of us can utter a word, another voice says in a Mexican accent, "Bienvanidos, los amigos de Bob Sawyer a Mexico D. F."
I find it hard to stifle a laugh. Do they not know that Guad speaks fluent English?
Glancing to the Chilean, I see that he doesn't even seem to have heard the intercom at all. He and Diana are deep in conversation. There are no more laughs to stifle. What can they even be talking about?
Just as my mood, the plane begins to descend, but my stomach ascends into my throat. Landing has always been the hardest part of flying for me and this time it seems even more stressful, considering the last time I flew the plan didn't even land at all.
The landing seems a lifetime long. I would like to say that Alice and I exchange nervous glances, but it is mostly me clenching my teeth and looking to her.
I once read about the symptoms of hyperventilation: numbness, tingling, anxiety, and fear. Now that I think about them, the more convinced I am that I'm to begin hyperventilating.
I start to physically feel my heart pound, like a hammer echoing through my chest, as the world around me shakes and tosses.
Alice notices my terror and takes my hand. For a second I don't even take note, but soon the warmth seeps through my arm and I shiver slightly less.
Normally I'd be silently freaking out over this, but right now the "freak out" occupation is stolen by almost dying.
If you die, Perry, I tell myself, at least you'll be with Alice and Diana, right?
It's like our plane circles the airfield in Mexico City for a decade. But when we finally touch ground, I'm not 26 years old. I'm still 16, flushed and coated in sweat.
Anxiously and embarrassingly, I wipe my face with the back of my letter jacket, the only thing I have left from home besides my sister.
Like zombies, the squad and I file out of the plane one by one, knowing HEXA has their eyes on us.
"They would have killed us by now, wouldn't they?" I hear Janis whisper to Alice, who's hand I've somehow let escape.
The question is one I'd never thought I'd hear in my life. And the answer isn't very soothing either:
"Well we're alive aren't we?"
The sun is shining brightly, almost like it's angry, as we stand in the private airfield of the charter company.
"May we offer you any travel services?" One of the plane crew offers. The way he's poised, his back so straight and his shoulders so relaxed. And the way his aviators rest on the bridge of his nose. How can I say no? He's offering a way to get back home.
"No, we're just fine," Bob snaps, bringing me back to reality. His blue eyes are flicking about nervously. I never could imagine him being so on edge.
"Are you sure?" The HEXA henchman asks. And the next thing he does gives me an image I know I'll never forget:
The man lowers his aviators just enough for us to see his eyes. And they alone ruin the entire image of sincerity.
He's wearing fake contacts and they turn his pupils into an insignia that forces my stomach to crawl.
Even his eyes are HEXA. Everything he does is literally seen through the lens of this organization.
Behind me I hear Diana yelp. Everyone else has a look of pure horror on their faces. Guad is the only one that seems to be able to keep a level head.
"No thank you, we're fine," Bob chokes out.
Looking disappointed, the man pushes his aviators back up. "Very well. I am honored and proud to have served you today."
The next hour is a blur. We are driven away from the private airfield and to a hotel deep in the heart of the city.
As I stare blankly ahead, all I can think of are those man's eyes, making me terrified to close my own. I know everyone in HEXA has some form of the insignia on them, like Ashton's tattoo.
But this lunatic took it too far.
Even though it is hot outside, I pull my letter jacket around me. I need to be home. I've never been so far from it.
The squad and I are wandering into a fancy hotel. Bob and Janis seem to have taken the initiative and are gathering food.
"We're going to go up to our rooms and get some sleep I believe," says Alice in my ear. "Tomorrow morning we're going to regroup and see what our next move is."
I nod and gather my thoughts as we ride the elevator to the 6th floor. Why are we even at this hotel? The plane crew brought us here. It's a trap.
But neither the squad nor myself listen to my thoughts. All I can think is ti sleep as I stumble into our hotel room and crash into the darkness.
My eyes are blinking open and I already know I've had the best sleep of my life.
Everything around me is warm and I'm shrouded in soft comforter. My drowsy eyes have trouble staying open but I somehow manage to climb out of bed.
The room comes into focus and I scream.