Damian was not amused by her complaining at all. He rolled his eyes, jumped out of the car, and forcefully ushered her into the passenger side. When she was sitting in there, scowling at him for being so rude, he revved the engine and drove the rusty old car out of the lot for good.
When they got on the road, he pointed the car south and took the freeway out of the city. They were stuck in traffic for over an hour, and the radio didn't work. Kayla sat low in her seat, people were staring at them and laughing at how ugly the car was. She was ashamed of being in there, but moreover, she was ashamed that she couldn't take care of herself. She couldn't go two hours on her own without being attacked!
Damian happened to be thinking the same thing. He shook his head. "What's with you getting yourself surrounded and outnumbered all the time?" He sniggered.
She rolled her eyes.
"What I find crazy," He continued, "Is that you had a chance to get away when you hit him across the face, but you stayed right there! Why would you do that?" He laughed in disbelief, unable comprehend her cluelessness.
"Here's a question!" Kayla snapped, "How'd you know where I was?"
He gave her a look as if it was obvious. "I was never far away."
She paused, a bit surprised and intrugued. He hadn't ever really left? Then something else came to her, "Then, why didn't you stop him sooner!? My nail wouldn't have been broken if you would've acted sooner!"
The traffic began to move again slowly, like a beast that had just woken from a deep slumber. He gently pressed on the gas and inched forward with the flow.
"I was waiting for you to get out of it yourself. I thought you'd at least be able to handle some humans."
She was silent. He was surprised that she had nothing to say. But what could Kayla say? He was right, they were humans, she should've been able to get rid of them easily. Yet, she could not.
She sighed deeply. "I guess, I was waiting for someone else to finish them off for me." She admitted quietly. "I've never really had to deal with that kind of thing on my own."
He glanced over at her curiously. "Look, if you want to survive, you need to learn how to do things for yourself. When we get back, we can't forget all this happened like a bad dream, the hunters know of our territories now." He didn't add the horrible possibility that they could very well have attacked the valley already. They still needed some form of hope to cling to in order to get home.
Out the windshield, traffic had picked up and now the freeway was running normally.
She knew he was right, the way she was accustomed to living would get her killed. She knew she owed her life to him, but she refused to acknowledge that at the moment. So she changed the subject instead. "Where are we going?"
"South." He replied, keeping his green eyes on the road. "It's the last thing they'd expect."
"How far south?"
"As far as this ugly bastard will take us." He changed lanes and entered the faster one on the left. "When the day ends we'll take a rest stop and continue in the morning."
They didn't talk at all after that. Damian had never driven on a freeway before, so he was plenty distracted, watching the traffic and maintaining his speed. Kayla was terribly missing the radio, but she managed by humming her favorite songs to herself and listening to the sound of the sputtering Altima. It reminded her of a little old man.
When the gas was getting dangerously low Damian would exit the freeway and find a gas station to refill. He'd made $500 on his own after he left the Dragonian's house, so together they had $2000. They set $300 aside for airfare, and preserved the rest as best they could. They snacked on the beef jerk when they got too hungry to function, and drank the juice boxes when they were thirsty.
The landscape continously changed from coastal, to flat and grassy, to rocky and mountainous. The sun traveled across the sky, moving west at the right of the two heirs as they continued their trek southward. They pulled into the San Bernardino city limits after the sun was long gone and a red half moon was glowing in a deep burgundy sky. The smog of Los Angeles had colored the heavens and made it look like it was burning. Damian guided the coughing Altima to a Motel 6 that was advertising vacancy. Kayla distrusted the looks of the place, she knew it was no where near a five star stay. She hadn't stayed in a motel before, ever. Her parents avoided them like they were the plague.
Damian was uncomfortable too, but he knew it was better than staying at a hostel or a run down place. At least this Motel 6 was semi decent, like the altima. They turned the car off and checked into the tiny little lobby. Kayla looked at the brochures, they advertised Disneyland, and other odd things to do nearby.
"How can I help you?" The concierge asked. He was a skinny male with a black torn T-shirt and multiple piercings on his face.
"How much for a room for one night?" Damian asked.
"It's $50 for one room." The guy said sounding bored. He had no nametag, and obviously didn't enjoy this job.
Damian thought, if he got two rooms that'd be $100, just for one night. They didn't have enough money to blow like that. They needed to save as much of it as possible.
"Alright, get me a room with two beds."
"It's gonna be a little more for two beds."
"Fine."
The concierge brought out a key when the purchase had been made. "Your room is 301, on the third floor. Enjoy your stay, and tomorrow from 8-10 am we will have a free continental breakfast available in the great room." He indicated to a set of closed doors down the hallway behind him.
Damian noted the free breakfast. That would be perfect, and they'd get an early start, he planned to start heading East now that he felt they were a safe distance from the mines and San Francisco. He took the keys and headed to the room with Kayla in tow.
She screwed up her face at the sight of the room. The carpet was sticky and dirty, the room was tiny. It had a single TV in front of the two queen sized beds, two lamps, a tiny closet next to a pair of sinks, a tiny shower and a single door that lead to a toilet. There was a wide window next to the door, Damian closed the curtains and called dibs on the bed nearest the window. Kayla dumped the backpack on the other bed miserably.
Silence continued to dominate the crusty hotel room. Kayla turned the TV on and flipped through channels. There was nothing good on, next door, the guests began arguing. Within the walls, roaches and mice nestled and munched happily, without a care in the world. It made her tingle in horror.
Damian stood from the bed and peeked out the window. He was tired of taking bites out of beef jerky. It was time for a real dinner, and IHOP was just across the parking lot.
"Where are you going?" Kayla demanded.
"Does it matter?"
She frowned, "No, of course not."
He paused, glancing back at her and listening to the bickering couple next door. They were fighting over something that had happened ages ago, and it brought him to his predicament with her. Whether he liked it or not, he had to travel across the country with her, as unpleasant as that was, he knew he could choose to make it less hellish. The three days he spent in the city alone, gave him a chance to blow off steam and reflect, a lot. He found that the past had brought this mess. If only their ancestors had swallowed their pride and been more forgiving, they wouldn't be here now. Plus, she didn't want to be alone, he could tell. She was trying to hide her discomfort, but he could smell the fear on her. There was a lot of it.
"I'm going across the street for a late dinner." He said. There was a thick lump in his throat, but he swallowed it. "Want to... join?"
She stared at him with wide amber eyes. He was being nice!? How dare he! It only made her feel worse about the way she'd been treating him. Should she go? She was hungry, but he was the Serius heir, she wasn't supposed to be his friend. Yet, he was the only other lobain here, he had saved her life, and he was in the exact same boat as her too. All he wanted was to get home as much as she did, and she could count on the fact that he despised her as much as she did, too.
Without a word, she shut the TV off and followed him outside. The red moon bothered her, everything was bothering her. His politeness was bothering her. He wasn't supposed to be like that, he was supposed to be a bloodthirsty, murderous jerk. Like his brother. The hostess gave them a booth and two menus, the restaurant wafted deliciously with pancakes. She glanced at him to see if he was playing any dirty tricks, but there didn't seem to be anything up his sleeve. His green eyes scanned the menu for a meal, a glow of predator concentration embedded deep within them. The guilt that had been eating away at her before, seemed to return. The insults he'd pinned on her replayed in her mind. As well as some of the other things he'd said to Victor before he stormed out.
He was only looking out for the interests of his pack. He truly wanted to protect them, as savage as they seemed to her, they were his family. It was his pack, and like a true heir he was operating with their interests in his mind. While she threw tantrums about plans she hated. She even considered running away with Cody, and leaving her pack behind. Her family! She was going to ditch them for a guy that wasn't even her boyfriend. Granted, she loved him, but he didn't clothe, feed and shelter her like her parents had, he didn't hold her when she had bad dreams. He stole away her heart when she was 12, but before then, he wasn't there. Her parents and Raul were, and she was going to leave them for him. She was going to sacrifice her entire pack, all 100 of them, for one Cody.
For the first time in her life, she was truly disgusted with herself. When she looked at the tiny square mirror on the wall next to her, she saw the selfish glare in her amber eyes, the thankless scowl of her red lips and the pompous cloud over her big head. The necklace of gratitude around her neck, given to her by Scott, sizzled against her skin. She didn't deserve that. Would she have even saved Scott if she had been the one to find him? It brought tears to her eyes, she wanted to scream. She wanted to tear those amber eyes out of her head, and she wanted to claw off that spiraling black scar of an heir on her shoulder. She was not worthy of that title! She wasn't even worthy of Bermuda!
"Miss?" Kayla snapped out of her thoughts and looked up at the middle aged waitress. "Your order?" The woman's mouth dropped when she saw Kayla's bloodshot eyes. "Oh, are you alright?"
Damian looked up quizzically.
Kayla sniffed. "I'm fine, it's just um, allergies. I'll have an order of the French toast, extra bacon on the side." She said pointing to the first thing her eyes landed on.
The woman nodded slowly, not convinced at all, but she got the picture to leave it be and disappeared with the order immediately. Kayla exhaled shakily and took a small sip of her water, she didn't dare to look up. She could feel Damian's blazing green eyes scorching into her.
"I never said Thank you." Kayla said quietly. "I know your whole incentive is to save your pack and stuff, but still, if it weren't for you, Scott and I wouldn't exist anymore. My pack, too, if I'd been killed."
He looked around the restaurant, as if hoping others had witnessed what she said. "Wow", he breathed, "You actually sound sincere."
This produced the glare he was used to seeing. She reached into the backpack and pulled out the bracelet. "That reminds me, Scott asked me to give this to you, and he told me to tell you he says thanks."
He took it from her, and smiled. "I'm going to miss that kid." He glanced back up at her. "You know, there's a difference between saying thank you out of courtesy, and saying it because you mean it."
She groaned. "I'm not saying anything out of courtesy." There was a pause, "I feel like crap, okay? Everytime I look at you..." She stopped, "After you took off, Scott was very upset, and it made me think: I could've stopped them from being so rude to you with one word, but I didn't, and I'm sorry."
He stared at her, and sighed deeply. "I did a lot thinking too, and I couldn't stop going over the past. Why am I holding a grudge that's over a century old? It's a waste of energy."
"What are you saying?" She inquired.
He locked his gaze on her. "What is it about me you don't like?"
She didn't respond, but she did think about his question and realized she knew absolutely nothing about him, except generic insults she'd heard others make.
"Do you even know when you started to hate me?"
She considered it, and slowly shook her head. As far back as she could remember, she'd always disliked him. She thought she had been born to feel that way about him.
He frowned, "I do." He fiddled with the silverware in the napkin. "I'd forgotten about it, but I remembered when I saw Scott's confusion about why Victor and Nora mistreated me."
"When was it?"
He chuckled humorlessly. "I was five years old, playing at the park. You were there too, and I saw that you had a mark just like mine on your shoulder, and I thought you might want to play with me."
Kayla's eyebrows screwed together, she rammed her brain for this ancient day Damian spoke of, but there was no trace of it in her mind.
"But, when I approached you, you just stared at me. I thought you were shy, so I reached out to start a game of tag. As soon as I did that, Raul pushed me to the ground. He was a year older, and a lot stronger than me, I didn't stand a chance." He frowned. "He told me: 'Pelisians don't play with Serians.' Then he kicked dirt onto me, grabbed your hand and left. Kevin showed up after that, he picked me up and said I was an idiot for trying to make friends with you. From that day on, I hated you, and everyone in your pack. I learned it."
"I don't remember that."
"You couldn't have been a day over 4."
The waitress returned, placing a huge hamburger in front of Damian, and French toast in front of Kayla.
"My point is," He finished, "We're not born with enemies, it's learned. Our parents have failed by keeping a rivalry that could've been taken care of years ago, if they'd only been forgiving, and we're the ones that have to pay for it."