Ian drove too fast. Not that it really surprised Matt. Ian did everything too fast, but this was becoming unbearable. Matt sat in the back seat, Wallace's head slumped over on his shoulder as she slept. Beyond Wallace, Kiya dozed too, her face pressed against the window and her breath creating a cloud of condensation in front of her mouth. Charlotte was curled in a ball in the passenger seat, asleep or awake, Matt couldn't tell, but he hardly had the ability to notice as Ian slipped off the freeway heading towards the darkening north sky.
"Can you slow down a bit? I think I'm going to throw up," he grumbled.
Ian's blue gaze met his in the rear view mirror, lingering far too long off the road that began to twist and turn like a snake before them.
"Relax Desmarais," he sighed. "We'll be there soon – sooner if you stop criticising my driving".
"I'm not criticising – I am simply pointing out that the rest of us aren't as used to travelling at this speed and..."
"The others don't seem to mind," Ian grinned.
"They're asleep".
"Well then they must find my driving very soothing".
Matt exhaled and gazed out the window at the sky tinged with pink from the dying light. Stars started to appear above them. How long had they been driving? Twelve hours? Fourteen? Wallace had woken him when dawn was a grey hint on the horizon, with two cars already waiting on the forest boundary to shorten their journey north. With few breaks and barely anything to eat, everything was becoming an irritant, but Ian's driving was the easiest to latch on to.
"How long until we're there?"
"Twenty minutes... don't think you're going to like it though. The farm house - it's in a valley..." Ian paused, grinning at him. "A lot of hairpin bends to get down to it".
Matt ignored him. "Is it close to Nicholls'?" Matt didn't recognise the route they had come. However, now it was a different season. Snow no longer blanketed the ground. Night didn't yet fully shroud the sky, and Charlotte was here safe and unharmed.
Wallace groaned and tossed in the seat beside him, her arm falling across his lap. Her dark eyelashes fluttered against her brown cheek, her expression soft. A smile tugged at the corner of his lips, and he had to fight the urge to take her hand in his. Thoughts like that were dangerous. He couldn't let his mind betray him to Wallace, not when he didn't even know what he was thinking himself.
"Two miles from Nicholls'," Ian said, interrupting his thoughts. Matt glanced forward, the headlights illuminating the darkening road.
"Is it safe to be so close?"
Ian shrugged. "Are we ever safe? We thought the hotel was safe... we thought the warehouse was safe... the campsite... I think we just attract the wrong sort of attention".
"You think?"
"I trust Ethan. If he says it's what we're to do, then we do it," Ian continued.
Matt trusted Ethan too. Though it wasn't like he had a choice. He wanted an end to this. He wanted a guarantee that they were free, that he could return home. He needed to know that they didn't have to spend the rest of their lives hiding.
He glanced back at Wallace, her lips slightly parted, her dark hair pulled into a tight ponytail. He trusted her too. He knew she could see what Ethan was thinking and she believed it was the right choice, the right path. He suddenly wanted to touch her cheek, to trace the angle it made above her hollow cheeks. A fiery flush lit up his face as he caught his wandering thoughts again. Silly, reckless feelings like that would just make things awkward. And he didn't need that. He liked Wallace. She was easy going and approachable, where the others...
Well Charlotte was pining over James, angry and despondent. James ran the risk of seriously injuring Matt at any time... and well... in the end, he was just the cumbersome human, the weakling among the elite. He didn't fit in with them. It was hard to believe he ever thought of a time when he could have fitted in with them.
Matt shifted his weight gently in his seat, not wanting to disturb Wallace. He reached into his pocket and withdrew his phone. Its screen was dead, the way he knew it had to be, but he wondered if Freddie and Rhian had tried to contact him. They had to be worried. He knew they would be furious, but now... months had passed. Or at least it felt like months, years, a lifetime. Time didn't really matter. He just wanted to hear their voices. He wanted to know that Freddie was still healthy, that Harris' intervention had been successful. He knew it had, but after years of dealing with his illness, it was hard to remove the worrying thoughts and concern.
He slipped the phone back into his pocket. He didn't need the temptation. He would be in contact soon he hoped. They just needed to get through the next few days.
Ian finally slowed down, turning the car from the road to a dirt track. The car ambled along, a cloud of dust blooming behind it. Wallace stirred. She sat up and rubbed her eyes.
"Are we here?"
Matt concentrated on the growing lights of the house, pushing all immediate thoughts of Wallace from his mind.
"This is it," Ian said. "Is Kiya awake?"
Wallace reached over and shook Kiya's shoulder. "Ki, wake up".
Kiya bolted up. "What's going on?"
"Your time to shine, Ki," Ian grinned. Matt could see Charlotte unfurl herself in the front seat, leaning forward as the farmhouse loomed before them. She didn't speak and he wondered where her thoughts were. He remembered how he had found her, the husk of a girl, broken and too close to death. The thought of what they had done to her, the injuries they had caused her, could never be erased from his mind. And he could only imagine how returning to Nicholls' would affect her, but for now they still had time. One more night before they had to lay eyes on that place.
Matt felt Wallace's gaze land on him, her hazel eyes reading him. He rubbed his chin and tried to think of something boring, of anything that would clear his mind of thoughts he didn't even want to think about.
Ian brought the car to a stop. The gravel crunched beneath the tyres. Annakiya exhaled a steadying breath, reaching for the door handle and clambering out. Wallace followed her. Matt watched them go. His stomach tightened as Wallace approached the house. He noticed her look back at the car for the smallest of moments, but he didn't think she was looking for him.
"Don't worry about her," Charlotte grumbled.
Matt opened his mouth to protest, but Ian replied first.
"I'm not worried about her," he said. "It's just... she's so tiny and the world is so big. What if...?"
"Stop it," Charlotte warned. "You're giving me a headache. Trust her".
"I do trust her. But I also want to protect her – and don't even pretend you would do any different if it was..."
"Well it's Annakiya," Charlotte snapped, a little angrier than either Matt or Ian had expected. "She's not stupid and she's honest with you. She's strong and..."
"I get it Charlotte, relax," Ian grumbled, his tone wounded as the front door of the house opened. Matt leaned forward peering through the space between the front seats. An older lady, probably in her early seventies answered the door, a halo of gold light surrounding her body.
Wallace lips started to move, as a bright smile lit up her face. She radiated ease and confidence, just like the Wallace he had met in the pub in England. The woman frowned for a long moment, but Wallace's words seemed to placate her. With the slightest hesitation she shook Wallace's hand and then turned to Kiya's outstretched greeting. It took only the merest contact for the woman's face to relax, all expression fading. She closed her eyes, her white-haired head tilting forward. There was a long pause, before the woman seem to reboot, her head jerking up. She beamed and clapped her hands, pulling Kiya and Wallace into a tight hug.
"She's good," Charlotte murmured, as the old woman turned to the house and let out an indistinct yell.
"The best," Ian beamed. "Told you I had no need to worry".
Charlotte shot him a venomous look. Matt ignored them and watched as a tall, barrel-chested man with white hair to match his wife appeared behind the woman looking disgruntled. It took the slightest touch from Kiya before the man too appeared overjoyed to see them.
Wallace beckoned them from the car. Matt clambered out, following Ian who crossed the yard at an almost human speed. Charlotte hovered at a distance. She watched the couple warily.
"Oh and you brought Ian and Matthew," the old woman exclaimed. "And Charlotte! I can't believe it's been so long".
"It's terrible how life gets in the way," Ian grinned, allowing the elderly couple to hug him. They rounded on Matt too, hugging him tightly.
"Nancy was just about to sort something to eat," the man said. "I'm sure you wouldn't say no to a bite to eat".
"Do I ever?" Ian grinned.
"You certainly don't," Nancy laughed. "You have as big an appetite as Ervin here".
Nancy and Ervin led Kiya and Ian into the house, their laughter filling the dusk air.
"And when do the others arrive?" Matt heard Ervin ask as the porch door swung shut.
Even as he said it Ethan's car pulled into the yard. Charlotte glanced at it, a blush colouring her cheeks.
"I'm going inside," she muttered, pushing into the house after Ian, Kiya and their hosts.
"Is she okay?" Matt asked Wallace.
"Alexander issues," Wallace shrugged. "He's not coming round and I think it's beginning to sink in".
Matt glanced after Charlotte and frowned. "And Alexander?" Matt turned back to see Wallace staring at him. "What?" he breathed.
"Nothing..." she said shaking her head. She remained silent for a moment, biting her lip, before speaking. "Do you still love her?"
Matt frowned. "Do you need to ask me that to know the answer?"
"People have a strange way of lying sometimes... even to themselves," Wallace shrugged.
"I care for her, but..." he frowned.
"Too broken now?" Wallace smiled as if it was a joke.
"No". Matt's tone was firm, too sharp. He regretted it immediately as Wallace glanced to the ground, shy almost. "I just... wanted to be the first choice. I don't want her to settle for me just because Alexander isn't available to her anymore". He gazed at Wallace. Was that the answer she wanted? Did she really care what the answer was?
"And if she came to you? Asking for another chance?"
"Wallace, what is this all about? You can see my thoughts... you don't need to ask me?"
"I was just... making conversation. I don't always like invading your privacy you know".
"I don't want her to ask me. I don't want to be in that position. She wouldn't ask anyway. It's not like that with her anymore".
Wallace frowned. "She made quite the impression on you".
He had loved her. He still did, but in a protective way, in a nostalgic way. Too much had passed between them. Alexander was her choice. He would always be second and he didn't want to be second. He deserved better than that. He couldn't erase her. He didn't want to. She meant too much to him, but lately he was beginning to see a world beyond Charlotte Owens.
"What do you want me to say, Wallace? It's like you don't believe me," he sighed, as the others climbed out of the car.
A rose blush coloured her tawny-beige skin, her hazel eyes searching his face.
"I can see a world beyond Charlotte Owens. I want to live in that world, not because she's not available to me, or because in her world I would always be second best, but because I think I would be happier in that world..." his words trailed off. He wanted to say with you, but he had been burnt by the students of Kingston before.
Wallace didn't seem to be listening to his thoughts in any case.
"We should go inside..." she mumbled glancing towards the car. James was watching them with a dark expression etched on his face. "He's not in a good mood".
Matt rubbed his hand across his chin. "Does he always have to get in the way of everything?"
Wallace turned back towards Matt. "Get in the way of what?"
Matt grinned, glancing up at the navy sky sprinkled with stars. "I'm not sure. Just... for now stay out of my head Wallace Lynn". He held open the door for her, leaving it close on Alexander and his unpredictable jealousies.
Thanks for reading! I know it's hard to believe that I actually got my act together to update, but I hope you enjoyed! Please vote, comment and share! It always means so much! Hopefully I will update as soon as possible! The tension is building, the end is near x