Chapter 13 - Lost
I open the door of Vulcan’s bedroom and peek out from behind it, greeted by empty and quiet hallways. Stepping out of the room, I start making my way downstairs. My plans to explore were set in motion the minute Vulcan had left the room. I had heard a car start and drive off, guessing he was not in the house before jumping off the bed and now here I am.
“Hi!” Two voices suddenly chirp, making me scream in surprise and turn around.
“You scared me! Wait, who are you?” I frown in confusion, holding a hand to my chest.
A girl my height stands beside a blonde haired boy, her brown hair up in a messy bun. She looks exactly like Vulcan but with softer features. She has the same green eyes and a slender build, clad in leggings and an over-sized knit sweater. The boy stares at me with baby blue eyes, his features resembling Vulcan’s sharp and angular ones. He stands before me in grey sweatpants with a white tee thrown on.
“We, are Vulcan’s siblings.” A feminine voice speaks behind me, making me turn.
She is dressed in a white sundress, her feet in sandals and her blonde hair in a messy braid. Her sharp features and clear blue eyes make her look stunning. I look between the boy and the woman slowly. They look freakishly similar with their eyes and hair.
“Are you twins?” I breath in amazement, looking between them.
“Ugh! I’d hate to be Natasha’s twin!” He mutters, shuddering in mock disgust as he looks at the blonde haired woman.
“Anyways! Let me introduce myself! I’m Nikolai and I like warm hugs!” He exclaims, walking towards me with his arms outstretched.
I squeal, opening my arms to hug him. “Olaf!”
“You are such losers. ‘Tangled’ is so much better.” The brown haired girl mutters, rolling her green eyes. Both Nikolai and I gasp, staring at her with wide eyes.
“You are not my sister anymore, Caia. ‘Frozen’ rules!” Nikolai states dramatically.
Caia? They all have such amazing names! I laugh happily. Vulcan’s siblings are so cool...unlike him. Natasha walks up to me and smiles, her hand on my shoulder as Nikolai and Caia shove each other, trying to hug me again.
“That’s enough. Let Aurora breathe!” She laughs, pulling me away. “I’m Natasha, nice to finally meet you. What are you doing down here?”
“Nice to meet you guys. According to your brother, I’m in danger so I have to stay here.” I smile sheepishly, watching Nikolai grin excitedly.
“Great! We’re going to pick up some snacks for movie night, want to come?” He asks, making me shrug and nod. “There will be guards following us so, we’re protected.”
“Oh, can I drive?” Caia exclaims, taking the keys off her brother.
“You can come with but I’m driving.” Nikolai smirks and snatches the keys from her, causing her to huff angrily.
“I shotgun sitting in the front!” I yell, laughing when Caia looks at me with wide eyes.
“No, I wanted to sit in the front.” She whines, grumbling as she walks down the hallway.
Nikolai motions for me to come and we both catch up to Caia. He breaks off into a run and I follow, giving Natasha one last wave. Thank God she in’t a moody sibling. Damon is still going through that with Sophia’s brother! I think to myself as we catch up with Caia, walking down a staircase to the ground floor. She opens the door to reveal a large garage with cars of all shapes and sizes parked against the walls. My jaw drops in surprise and awe as I look at each and every one of them.
Hurrying to a Range Rover, we slip in. Nikolai opens the garage door with a separate key, the purr of the engine echoing throughout the space as he backs out onto the driveway. As we speed down the dirt road, I look around the vast area of land.
In no time, we arrive at the local supermarket and head in. I stare at the two siblings when they start throwing all kinds of snacks and drinks into the basket, overflowing it immediately. Laughing at their antics, I pick the things I want and we make our way to the checkout.
But, as soon as we exit the store, Nikolai shoves Caia and I behind the wall. I groan when my elbow scrapes the wall, looking up to see the two very tense and serious.
“What’s going on?” I whisper, edging forward only to be pushed back. They’re trying to hide me from something and I don’t like it one bit.
“Nothing big, we’re just...uh...” I wait expectantly, realizing he’s trying to come up with an excuse. He sighs when Caia tells him there’s no point in hiding. “Okay so, the people that Vulcan said you’re in danger from are here.”
“Oh my god, what are we going to do?” I panick, holding my head in my hands. “I don’t have my phone on me.”
“Shit, I left mine back at the house.” Caia hisses, patting her jacket and jean pockets before face palming.
“I didn’t think I’d need mine for a run to the store.” Nikolai trails off, guiding us to the back of the building. “Okay, we need to get over that wall and run.”
I stare at the massive, stone wall with incredulity before turning to the two with a long sigh. “Go without me, save yourselves.”
“Yeah...no.” Nikolai grunts before dragging me to the wall.
Caia joins her hands for me to step on whilst Nikolai pushes me rather forcefully over the wall. However, he fails to judge how much strength he needs to push and I end up falling face first into the grass. I curse under my breath before standing up just in time to catch the bags of food thrown over, Caia and Nikolai following and landing with such grace, it has my jaw dropping.
We sprint across the grassy area as fast as we can, jumping over a thankfully smaller wall before ending up in a neighborhood that I don’t recognize in the slightest. And judging by Caia and Nikolai’s puzzled expressions, they don’t either.
“It’s alright, we’ll just get out of here and see if it leads to the town center.” Nikolai breathes, taking a bag from me before walking ahead. I nod patting Caia’s hand reassuringly when she grips my shoulder tightly.
“We’ll be okay. How hard can it be?” I state aloud to which they hum in response.
Clearly too damn hard.
Honestly, I love exploring new places and all that jazz but walking around aimlessly for hours has me nearly ripping my hair out. I don’t know how much time has passed but it feels like years. My feet hurt because of my terrible choice of footwear, however, both siblings are completely fine and confident that we are going in the right direction but, I have no doubt that we are miles away from their home.
“Will we take a left here?” Caia asks me, her voice wavering with confusion as she reads the sign.
Behind us Nikolai swears loudly, turning to us with wide eyes. Caia seems to realize what is happening but I remain unaware, questioning them when they grab my hands and take off into a sprint. I hear shouting from behind me and the sound of rushed footsteps, making my blood run cold when I realize who we are running away from.
We run and run until we reach a street lined with stores, racing through it. We have no change on us to stop at some sort of payphone and call someone. Our plan is to look for an ATM, withdraw money, get change, and call somebody.
“There’s a gas station!” I point happily, trying to catch my breath. “Let’s go ask if there’s a motel or something near by.”
I walk in, rolling my eyes when both of them open the bags and start eating the food we had bought earlier, leaving me to walk up to the checkout. There’s a portly little man sitting on a chair, chewing his gum rather obnoxiously and playing a game on his phone.
“Excuse me?” I call, tapping on the counter and catching his attention. “Do you know if there is a motel nearby?”
He hums thoughtfully before nodding. “Yeah, walk straight down this street and take a left then a right.”
“Thank you.” I smile, hearing him grunt in reply as I turn and make my way back to Nikolai and Caia.
“Let’s go.” I grin, stepping out of the store and walking down the street.
They follow behind me and I can hear them shoving each other, grumbling under their breaths. They finally stop when a three story motel comes into view. Pushing past me they run inside, yelling happily. I catch up with them at reception where a balding man stares at them suspiciously, his gaze snapping over to me when I walk in.
After paying for the room and grabbing the keys, I thank him, turning around to walk up the stairs with Nikolai and Caia behind me. Reaching room 204, I unlock the door and slip in. It’s quite average, decent enough for a motel. There are two doors to my left, all of them open. One is a bathroom and the middle one is an adjoining bedroom. A window to our left blocks the view because of a brick wall.
How wonderfully scenic, I think to myself.
Caia checks the sheets on the bed uneasily before nodding and throwing herself on the bed. Nikolai sits on the couch whilst I set the plastic bag down on the table and walk to the edge of the bed. I notice a phone on the wall and rush over to it, ensuring that it’s working before catching the siblings’ attention.
“I know Vulcan’s number...but I think you should call him. I really want to go out this weekend and he’s definitely going to ground me.” He grimaces, probably thinking of his brother.
Now or never. I sigh before placing the phone to my ear. I dial the number he recites to me before waiting, hearing the bell ring. I’m extremely nervous, thinking about how he will react. The memory of him growling and snarling inhumanely has me shivering. I’m snapped back to reality when someone finally picks up and I almost wish they hadn’t.
“Hello?” A familiar voice mutters through the speaker. I don’t reply. I can’t. It’s as if my lips are sealed shut and my body can only tremble on the couch.
“Wassup?” I squeak, extending the word after a few minutes of just sitting there.
“Aurora?! Where the fuck are you?!” Vulcan roars making me pull away from the phone with a grimace.
I look at Nikolai for help but he shakes his head wildly before running to Caia who sits on the bed looking at me. Holding the phone away from me, I let Vulcan rant for a few minutes.
Sighing, I place the phone back to my ear. “I’m at...home? Yeah, I’m uh in my r-room, why?”
“Don’t you dare lie to me, Aurora. Where are you, Caia and Nikolai?” He asks quietly, his deadly voice making me shiver.
“We don’t actually know, we went to the store to get some snacks but there were men waiting for us outside so we ran.” I admit, my voice small.
There’s a long pause and for a moment I think he’s hung up on me. I almost cry out in relief but then he speaks and he’s definitely not happy.
“I told you to not leave the house!” He growls, his voice rising to a yell.
“I did what you asked and stayed, how was I supposed to know a trip to the freaking grocery store would land us in trouble!” I argue angrily, wanting to knock some sense into him.
“Just tell him to send someone.” Caia exclaims, ripping open a bag of chips.
I nod, staring at the food hungrily. Remembering that I had only ate lunch and a few hours have passed by now makes my stomach grumble. “Oh, can you pass me the bag of Cheetos? Throw me the sour Skittles too!”
Caia grins, throwing the packets to me. Holding the phone between my ear and shoulder I rip open the packets, my face scrunching when my taste buds erupt with the sourness.
“Aurora, will you answer me for goodness sake!” Vulcan yells suddenly, an undertone of frustration in his voice.
“Crap! Sorry, I forgot about you! Um, will you send someone down here to get us? We’re at a motel, please?” I mumble, chewing on a handful of Skittles.
“Baby, stop mumbling.” He growls before huffing in frustration. “English would be nice, Моя любовь. .” (My love.)
I swallow the sour sweets before speaking. “Can you send someone to come get us please? I don’t have much cash left and we don’t exactly have a car now.”
I tell him the name of the motel we are staying at before there is a long pause but, I can hear Vulcan talking to someone in the background. I’m contemplating on hanging up when he speaks again, his voice dark and low. “I’m coming to get you myself. And when we get back you will not leave my side, Aurora. I promise you that.”
I put the phone back down and stare at Caia and Nikolai, whose eyes are equally wide. It was easy to hear the conversation in the quiet room. I gulp and stare down at my Cheetos. Suddenly, I wish I never called him. He’s coming for me and I won’t be able to escape this time, or ever.
I am so screwed!
Cheetos anyone?