Chapter 16

I finally calmed down and convinced myself that it was just a dream and that I am over reacting. Waaaaaaaaaay over reacting. I fall asleep after a while and told myself that everything would be okay in the morning. I would apologize to Ian then. Sounds good.

So I drift off to lala land and do not have any more dreams about me being murdered. Which is a good night in my book.

I wake up the next morning, not exactly well rested, but feeling better. Which is good. I’m pretty sure that screaming and freaking out whenever Ian comes near me would scare off anyone else we find. Which would sorta be a waste of time. They’re probably not going to believe us as it is. 

We drive for another hour and a half after checking out of the hotel Goodbye pool… Anywho. I haven’t gotten around to talking to Ian yet who keeps glancing at me nervously at me as if he expects me to go nuts again. God, I hope not.

I start to feel claustrophobic in the van.  No I am not crazy, thank you very much, so stop acting as if I am. Just as I am about to burst, we stop at a house in the middle of this small town that would be in a movie. You know the type with the population of 200 but the type where the average Joe becomes the hero. You know the type that I’m talking about?

It was a light yellow cape with a porch and a huge front lawn.  There is a grill and a picnic table out front. I take in every detail of it.

“Okay so what ‘s the game plan?” I ask.

“Ring the doorbell?” Cole suggests.

“Huh. I was thinking more elaborate, but okay. “ An so the four of us march up to the front door and press the doorbell.

A teenage boy answers it. And guess what. He’s the one from my dreams (not the more recent one of being murdered but the other one). My jaw practically hits the ground.

“Hello?” He asks. Yep. Defiantly him. Unless he has an evil twin. I wouldn’t put it past the universe for him to actually have an evil twin at this point.  

“Umm…Hi.” I say very professional-like. Not. The Doc decides to come out of the van and save me.

“Leesha, meet your brother Logan. Logan, this is your sister Leesha.” Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat? You’ve got to be kidding me. And he didn’t tell me this before?

“What is this, a practical joke? Did Joey put you up to this?” Logan says first laughing then sounding pretty P.O.ed. Well, I am too.

“Maybe you should come with us…this may take a while to explain. How odes ice-cream sound?” The Doc asks in his grandfatherly way.

“Uh…how about no way?”

I sigh and know what I have to do to get him to believe us. “Fine.” Then I will myself into another form. My body wracks and shakes as my muscles transform and fur grows from my limbs. It’s not exactly “poof!” and I’m something else, but hey, this isn’t a magic show. I stay like that for a minute or two so that he knows that its not just his eyes playing trick on him and then change back. “Will you talk to us now?”

He nods, stunned.

“Now that we got that out of the way,” I say while we walk towards the van, “we can discuss the more important issue here.” I spin on the Doc. “Brother?!”The Doc smiles sheepishly. I stare at him in disbelief. “And you didn’t think that that was worth mentioning?” He just keeps giving me a very sorry look that I choose to ignore.

 I study Logan. Same eyes and hair color. Nose? He has the same lean athletic build, but that doesn’t mean anything. Hmmmm…

We have him give us instructions to the nearest ice-cream shop. We pull into the almost empty parking lot and climb out of the van. I order a small moose-tracks in a dish with a sugar-cone on top.

Everybody but me takes turn telling the story while we eat our ice-creams. There is a moment’s pause after they finish. “SO let me get this strait. You four,” he says pointing to us, ”are like me. and you,” he point to me, “are my sister that has never known about me until about twenty minutes ago.”

“Apparently.” I answer.

“Great.” He says, turning away and pacing.

“I’m not any happier about it than you.”

 He turns back to me sharply. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“The same thing that great means.”

 “I didn’t mean it like�"“

“Don’t worry about it, I get it. I’m not exactly having the time of my life being on the run with strangers and now they add revealing one more secret into the mix.” I pause and he stares at me expectantly.  “Listen, I’ve been through a lot these past few days. More than I thought humanly possible. I’ve found others. I’ve found out my parents had adopted me. I’ve been kidnapped and tortured. I’ve met one of the men responsible for creating me and getting me into this mess. And now you. So, no, I will not hug you and start crying and singing some peppy song about the universe being a wonderful place. And I don’t expect you to do that either. If you want nothing to do with me, I respect that. Just…think about coming with us, okay?” I laugh. “You probably think we’re crazy. Actually I think we’re crazy. “

The seconds that pass seem at least twice as long as usual. Then finally he say, “when do you leave?”

Everyone lets go of the breaths they’ve been holding, including me. “how about one am? Meet us here?” the Doc asks.

“I’m not saying I’m coming. I’m saying I’ll think about it. If I decide to come I’ll meet you here at one tonight.”

So we drop him back off at his house and discuss what we are going to do to waste the time from now to one. And pray that he chooses to go. 

Author's Note

reviews please

Reviews

[Sophie]

anxiously awaiting more :D

[Pencrafter]

Your certainly have a good imagination, along with the ability to write a story. When you proofread, carefully and slowly, then I'm sure you'll catch the small mistakes, such as in the fourth paragraph, "glancing at me nervously at me". Also, every writer should do a re-write. You write a story, or chapter, then wait a few days or weeks. Then carefully read it again, pretending that you are a first-time-reader of the story. Does everything make sense? Would it be better if you re-arranged some words or used different expressions? A good story can always be improved upon. Your chapter is a good effort.

[Odayin]

You know, when I first started reading this book, I wasn't really into it. But now--call it either getting used to your style or the fact that it's moved so much and you've gotten a lot better--I'm actually find myself waiting for the next chapter. It's quite obvious to myself that my favorite part was in the hotel. I don't know, maybe cuz I think Cole is a pro and he was pretty involved then, but I actually smiled quite a bit during the story.
Nice twist adding Leesha's brother to the mix, I feel like his addition to the group could make things a lot more interesting...in multiple ways. I really love your diversity of characters.
Now quickly, write the next one! I'm waiting haha.
Once again, nice job and keep up the great work.