Ignoring everyone around me, I scrambled from my place to get up and jumped at her. We both hit the ground and I burst out laughing, holding her tightly. "Oh my god, Brinnie, you're alive. Why did you never tell me--how did you find us?"
She shook her head, a smile on her face as she stroked my hair. "It's a long story." She buried her face in my hair. "I missed you so much, Lu-lu." she leaned back on her elbows when I sat in front of her. "You've grown, certainly."
I shrugged, still ecstatic that my sister was alive and here, right here in front of me. "Please, how did you find me?"
"Shush, shush, I'll get there eventually. I want you to meet someone special first, though."
My eyes found their way to Brinley's heart, that was a light purple glow. I covered my mouth, tears prickling my eyes. "Who..?"
"Awh, Bri, shut up. Not in front of Kate."
I turned my head to look at the blonde standing over us, Killian clinging onto his arm. "You're Griffin, aren't you? Griffin Scheff?"
Both Griffin and Brinley looked surprised as Griffin helped her up.
"Yeah, Griffie here is Kate's brother. He's lucky I found him or he'd probably be dead." she said, shooting him a playful look.
"So you guys are...soulmates?" Killian said, and they both nodded.
"Kate..?" I trailed off before remembering that Killian's name is Kate. "Oh, right, Killi."
"Killi?" They both looked at Killian, and she waved awkwardly, still not removing herself from her big brother's arm.
"Yours' still work?" I exclaimed, confused out of my mind.
She nodded looking just as confused as we did. "Yeah, weird, right? They might have just not shut off, but we're pretty much in the clear now since anyone who sees us see the hearts." she says cheerfully. "Honestly, I believe they still work. I doubt they even throw you out. They just don't give us enough time, I say," she said, wagging a finger.
"So, this is great and all, but, where's Charlotte and Quinn?" Dustin piped in, twisting his head to look for the two girls.
"Right here?" Charlotte yelled confused, waving her hand. Her other was entwined with Quinn's. They were further off, sitting away from our discovery.
"Come around, little children! Auntie Brinley has a story to tell you guys!" Brinley shouted, being as exuberant and cheerful as ever.
We all sat around Brinley and Griffin. I looked around the circle, and couldn't help but wonder where Talon was, and why he wasn't here yet. I pushed the thought away as Brinley started to talk.
"Alright. So, after Halton took me away, he ended up letting me go a few miles away from Rose Central's station. Don't ask why, he never told me himself. Anyways, I met this group with this cutie here," she paused to point to Griffin, then smiled at Killian. "He had his little sister with him, Kate, or, Killian?" she scrunched her face to think before shrugging. "I was in a different group. We passed by each other frequently, though."
"I was familiar with Brianna and Diana, they were, what was it, the," she paused for a moment before speaking again. "The Ruthless Twins, I think they were called. Not too sure. I thought they were only rumors till I heard about them taking the group of Griffie." she tapped Griffin's shoulder, letting him take the rest.
"Anyways, Killian became 17 back in December. So then Brianna and Diana came, took over, and forced us to do these raids. Fast forward to the night of July 18th, and Killian was sent out to do this raid alone. She was forced to leave the group after failing the raid, and it was either me or her." he shuddered as if reliving the memories of the group.
I glanced over to Killian, but she seemed fine. Killian looked over to me and sent me a thumbs up, before paying attention to Griffin again.
"..and once she left, Brianna and Diana kicked the ever-loving shit out of me. I was left there. Pretty sure I had a bruised rib from their kicking."
Brinley looked grim when he said this, and grabbed onto his hand. "Yeah, they're lucky I wasn't there when they kicked his ass, or someone would've died." she growled.
He shook his head and kissed her forehead to calm her down. "Bri, I'm fine." he cooed before returning back to his story. "Brinley found me a few days later and brought me to someone's house. I think her name was Sara?"
She nodded, leaning against Griffin. "Yeah. Sara Kian. Real nice lady." she said. "We stayed there for a few weeks, with her husband Luke and their daughter Ginny. We left in mid-June, since she made sure he was absolutely healthy before we went on our way. We caught wind of Brianna and Diana hunting us down, so we hid in Lunarin. Not many people here, as you can see."
I nodded, glancing around the field. "Is that how you found us?" I asked, smiling.
She nodded, stretching her arms. "It was by chance. We started living here, actually. Now that you guys are here, maybe you all could live here too!"
"We could. Once we find our soulmates." I said, pointing to all of the group.
She nodded, understandingly. "Good to see that you guys are working together. It's certainly dangerous." Standing up, she grabbed Griffin's hand to pull him up. "Lu-lu, want to walk around town so I can show you around?"
I stare at her, getting up and nodded. "Show me where you guys live!" I said, clinging onto her arm. I don't ever want to be separated from her. "Plus, I need to tell you so much."
"Alright, let's get on our way. Griffie, stay with the kids please," she said, leaving the group behind.
We walked down to the town, old memories resurfacing.
I was 10. She was 14.
Our feet hit the ground, puddles splashing up our legs to create little mud drips. I tripped, my face going flat into the mud puddle.
"Brinnie!" I cried out, tears in my eyes as I wiped away the muddy water.
She turned around, and walked towards me, frowning. "Clumsy Lu-lu," she teased, but crouched down to check out my legs. She furrowed her eyebrows, heaving me up onto my legs. "Walk, we gotta get you cleaned up, clumsy." she said playfully, but her eyes showcased worry.
I nodded, sniffing. "It hurts, Brinnie." I whined, looked down at the muddy cut.
"That's what you get for being clumsy." she replied, opening the door. "Mom? Lucy fell in a mud puddle. I'm gonna go clean her up." she shouted, taking me to the bathroom.
I took a seat on the toilet, kicking my legs. The sting had gone away now. "Hey, you don't need to clean it. It's fine now," I say quietly, watching her as she took out the cleaning alcohol.
She looked at me, shaking her head. "Nonsense." Taking a cotton swab, she dumped some of the liquid onto the cotton, and dabbed it onto the cut.
I grabbed her hand and squeezed, biting my lip. "It hurts, Brinnie," I whine, moving my leg away from the cotton swab.
"Hey, I know. Whenever it hurts, though, you can take my hand when I'm near and I'll make the pain disappear." she said earnestly.
"...Lu-lu? Are you even listening to me?"
I stared at her hand, biting my lip.
Whenever it hurts, you can take my hand and I'll make it stop hurting.
I grab at her hand and squeeze, shaking my head. "Sorry."
She stared at my hand on her before sighing. Driving me towards a fountain in the center of the little town, we sat down on the edge. She took my hands and stared at me. "What's up, Lu-lu?"
I watched as she furrowed her eyebrows in that sisterly way she's always done, and I already felt the tears come. "I met Lily. She killed people, Brinnie."
She opened her mouth, shut it, opened it, and shut it again. She looked away, her hands gripped mine tighter. "Lily."
I nodded. "She arrested me and my friends. Before we met Quinn and Charlotte."
She turned back towards me, but her eyes were on the water next to us. "Would you like to know why I always screamed at night?" Without waiting for my answer, she moves on to answer her question. "Lily beat me. Whenever you came, she threatened your safety. She didn't touch you, did she?"
I stay silent, watching her. I didn't have the heart that once she was gone I was the target.
Her mouth twitches in that familiar fashion, and she heaves out a sigh. "I see. I'll deal with her when we find her. She'll be put down once and for all, that damn bitch."
I wince and touch her shoulder, shaking my head. "Stay away from her. She's brutal. Please."
She looked at my hand on her shoulder before giving in, shaking her head. "You give up too much. I could take her. A few years of living in the 'wild' have sharpened my reflexes, you know."
"Can we..can we just see your house?"
She visibly brightens at this and lifts me off the side of the fountain, tugging me along. "Yeah, let's go! You'll love it!" she exclaimed.
Walking down the cobblestone path, she stops as a moderately sized cream house with white trim. She opened the door and shoved me inside, grinning brightly as my eyes scan the living room.
It matched Brinley's personality perfectly. Her cheerful, carefree, rebel nature was clearly conveyed into the room.
Gray couches, bright red walls, white trim. White shelves on the walls holding plants, books. There was a black clock on the wall, ticking with each second passing. The coffee table in the middle held a few cups of empty tea, an open book left lying facedown in order to hold their place of reading.
"How did you afford all of this?"
She shrugged, putting an arm around my shoulder. "Work. Griffie helped. People in Lunarin practically gave us this house, though. Helped us furnish it and everything, people here are so incredibly nice!" she cooed.
My eyes drifted to the clock, and I shifted on my feet. "Maybe we should get back to the group. I just..have a bad feeling something's going to happen."
Brinley looked down at me, furrowing her eyebrows in thought. "Am I really that old to be hanging out with?" she clicked her tongue.
I step back, a red blush going on my face. "What? No! I never meant it like that! I just...something's been bothering me." My hand went to dig around in my back pocket, and I froze. Where was it?
"Lu-lu? You okay? You went really pale."
I had half a mind to strip out my pants to find that note. "I..I lost a note. It got put in my hand earlier last night. I shoved it in my back pocket to read later but..it's gone.."
Brinley sighed, patting my shoulder. "It fell out for a reason, then, Lu-lu." she told me sympathetically, dragging me to the couch. "Sit down. Please. I really want to know about everyone you've been staying with." she paused for a second to sit down, patting the gray cushion next to her. "Also, tell me what happened with that note business, too," she said, nosy as always.
I let out a small laugh, smiling. Of course she'd be nosy. "Well, with the note, we recently kicked out a guy who had..his heart broken. I'm guessing that it was him who gave me the note, because my poor cheek was kissed in the process." I shuttered at the thought of his lips on my cheek.
She frowned at this, shaking her head. "Are you okay, though?"
"Yeah, of course. That's really all there is to it." I shrug.
"So, uh, tell me about your group of friends, Lu-lu! You've made so many. So much better than Rena and Clara in my honest opinion," she said distastefully.
Secretly, I agreed with her. "Yeah, uh, so there's Killian, who's my best friend. Then there's Dustin Chayes, who's probably her soulmate. I can just tell, you know,"
She nodded thoughtfully. "I thought so. They seem pretty close, really,"
"Then there's Quinn Eneni, who's grew up with Dustin and Talon. Charlotte, the crazy blue-haired girl. She's pretty cool."
"You mentioned Talon, but, I didn't see another guy with you guys besides for Dustin and Griffie."
"Oh! Talon, he's, uh," I shrugged. "He's okay. He's my friend." Why was I so nervous? "B-by the way, have you seen him? Beanie, tank top, taller-side, brown hair?"
"I think so..I mean, maybe? Maybe not. There's a lot of brown haired people, Lu-lu."
"He told me--us, I mean-- that he'd be back by now. Maybe he's just back at the RV already." I say, trying to reassure myself.
Brinley patted my back, trying to reassure me. "Hey, don't get all emotional, you baby," she teased. "C'mon, let's head back to the group and see if we can find your--I mean Talon,"
Standing up and following her, I ignored her taunting, staring at my scuffed shoes as we walked.
A few minutes later, Brinley stopped in front of me, holding her breath. "Shit. Lu-lu, come on! Hurry!" She took off in a run, leaving me behind to catch up with her.
"What's wrong?" I asked, huffing. I ran into her again, peeking over her shoulder.
"Fuck fuck fuck fuck," she hissed, backing up. "They found us. Diana and Brianna have found us."
Trying to push me out of the way, without succeeding, she shoved me further away, trying to run herself before she was tripped by a brunette girl.
"Such nice of you to have you join us, Brinley. haven't heard from you in a while. Usually I heard stories of how good you were at negotiating! You've even got us new recruits. You're so sweet!" the girl said happily, grabbing at us both with surprising strength. "Come meet the others! We've missed Griffin so much, by the way. There's some new people too!"
We followed her, and I swallowed thickly staring at the group that was growing larger with each step we took.
A/N: So, surprise. I've officially finished writing Traveling Souls! Anyways, I'm going to be updating every Saturday now until I've uploaded every chapter. Onto the questions to think about!
Why did Halton keep Brinley away from the Soul Reapers?
Where is Talon and why hasn't he come back?
Who do you think it was that put the note in Lucy's hands? Julian? Or..someone else?