Chapter 17

Chapter 17

-Pax-

My heart was going to burst out of my chest and vibrate on the floor so much that it'd cause cracks on the pavement, or at least it felt that way. I had panicked, I could've pretended not to know who the others were, I could've pretended not to know they were there. But instead, I ran away. Running seemed to be the only thing I was good at.

"Why's he running from his alpha?" Rowan asked. "I mean, Caspian can be scary sometimes, but I wouldn't want to run away from him."

"His alpha isn't particularly welcoming," Farley grumbled under his breath. A warm hand rested on my shoulder. "What're you going to do?" he asked me softly.

I shrugged. "Not much I can do, other than sneak back into my room and pretend I've been there the whole time." I was kidding myself. There would be no way of getting back there without getting caught by Kian. He's probably hot on our tail, we shouldn't have stopped.

"You could come back with us?" Iris offered.

My breath got caught in my throat. I wouldn't be able to do that. There's no way I would be able to do that. I was enough trouble as it is for Kian, I didn't know anything about these people. I just know their names.

"I wouldn't argue against it much," Farley said. His hand tightened on my shoulder. "We'd be able to figure everything out, give you a bit of freedom. Introduce you to the world too." His voice reflected the emotions that I felt as he was speaking, hopeful.

I scrunched my eyes shut and sighed. "I don't want to cause more trouble." My foot caught a stone, causing me to trip. I hadn't realised that we were still walking, being too focused on the conversation. "Where are we going?"

"The bus stop," Farley informed. "We're gonna teach you what a bus is. If you'd like to come with us."

I had no choice at this point, there'd be no way for me to get back to the house. I'd be in too much trouble to want to go back. "Alright," I surrendered. "I'll come with you; I didn't really have too much back there." That wasn't a lie, but it was everything I owned.

"You really don't know what a bus is?" Rowan asked with a snicker. "I'm actually better-informed than someone."

"Get used to that around me," I replied awkwardly. "I could make anyone seem well-informed."

"Don't encourage him," Iris joked. "He'll start to think that he's intelligent and gets ideas."

"Hey," Rowan argued. Before anything else could be said, a noise travelled up the road. It was an unfamiliar constant sound. It only quietened when the heat of the sun was blocked from my face.

A hand found my arm and started to pull me forward. "There's a bit of a step here," Iris told me. She was the one gently hanging onto my arm.

I hesitantly raised a foot and nearly jumped when it found a solid surface, it was just like a stair. I stood still as Iris talked to another person. I felt self-conscious all of a sudden. I must look like a complete disaster. The other person asked if I was alright, I nodded shortly with an attempt at a smile.

"He's not been on a bus in a while," Iris told the person. "It's all new to him." I felt like there was some more communication going on which I couldn't hear.

"I'll wait until he's sat down to start the bus then." This was the driver then, that was a little terrifying. I didn't know what I expected from a bus, but it wasn't what I found. Farley had waited for us near the front of the bus. There were quite a few others here, I could hear a phone and at least two conversations. I was put onto a seat by a window, the cool glass made a chill run down my spine. It was easy to tell that it was Farley who sat beside me, from the smell of coffee and mint, along with his height.

"Alright so far?" Farley asked as the bus started to make the noise again.

I blinked a few times, my eyes started to feel a little bit uncomfortable. My hand was tapping my leg constantly. I hummed slightly and turned to the window, but I couldn't see anything outside. "Are we moving?"

"Yup," he answered. "We're reaching the end of the trees now."

I'm going further than I have ever been before. It was tricky to believe it without my feet feeling the gravel, but we were moving. The vibrations underneath me were unlike anything I could describe.

"It's strange, I don't feel like I'm moving." I wasn't turning to look at him, I was trying my hardest to make sense of the very thin trickles of light which came and went. I couldn't tell if it was my mind creating an image for me, or if it was actual light which was passing by.

"We are, trust me."

I wasn't sure if I wanted to trust Farley, but I didn't have any choice right now. I was stupid for going with them, but I could also be considered stupid for staying in the house where I was trapped.

"Can we take him to town?" Rowan's voice made me jump; it was right next to my ear. "Sorry."

"We'll take him another time if he wants," Farley responded, his breath tickling my cheek. "Not tonight, we'll just go straight home."

I couldn't stop myself from being excited about this, seeing another building and what another person considers to be a home. Along the journey, there were a few literal bumps in the road, causing me to jump and lean towards Farley. Every time I did this, he chuckled and told me I was alright. I felt like a scared child, but I was a scared child.

"Our stop is next," Farley informed me. He leaned away and a familiar dinging noise came from the front of the bus. After a few moments, I was told to stand up and gently tugged towards the door.

"Big step," Iris told me whilst still holding onto my arm. I had the feeling she'd done this sort of thing before. "Thank you."

I didn't like how I was feeling at the moment, the floor under my feet was moving. I had to jump up and down a few times to get grounded again.

"Oh, I hate that." Rowan laughed. "You get that sometimes when you come out of a lift too, like you're still going up and down and up and down."

That made me feel a little bit better, it was a normal sensation. I'm not so sure about trying a 'lift' anytime soon. It took a few minutes for me to stop feeling like I was walking on water.

Iris had joined her brother again so that Farley and I could walk side-by-side. I didn't know why it felt awkward, it might've just been my crippling anxiety when it comes to being in new places or meeting new people. The awkwardness might've just been something I imagined. That was another anxiety of mine, my own imagination fooling me.

There were so many new noises outside of the forest. The things which I've been told are cars, made a noise very unlike the ones Alder used. There were a lot more people around, from children to elderly men who said hello to us as we walked past. I thought it was strange to talk to anyone who passed, surely, they were strangers. But Farley told me that's just how things were done around here. People talked to each other and helped others out. I had met more new people today than I had known last month.

"We'll go ahead and tell Caspian we have a visitor," Rowan told us. "He probably won't be too happy, so best let Iris do it."

"Be careful," Farley replied. The two started to run down the street, the sound of their shoes hitting the floor rhythmically. "I hope he's not too mad at me."

"Why would he be mad at you?" I asked in a small voice. My confidence had been lost for quite a while. "Did you talk to him about me?" That was the only logical thing I could think of at the moment.

"I did."

I stopped walking and turned to him fully. "What did you say?" I had to know if what Cedar said was true. Even thought it was a large leap to the conclusion that Caspian would know.

"He thinks he knows who you are." I didn't know what he meant, but it intrigued me. "He had a photo album."

"A what?"

He paused for a few moments, making me wish to see his expression. "A photo album...is an album of photos." He started to laugh. "I'm sorry, I don't know how to explain these things. A photo is like saving an image or moment. You use a camera, which has a screen on it, and it takes a photo of what's in front of it."

I was clueless, but a faint memory of small hands picking up a frame entered my mind, a photo frame. The scene inside of that must be a photo. I used to imagine that I could step into the photo frame, growing very frustrated that I never achieved it.

"A photo album is a book full of photos," Farley continued. "He showed me a photo of two people that looked like you. I'm assuming that they're your parents."

My mouth went dry, I hadn't had a drink in a while, but that wasn't the reason. This man could possibly know something about my parents. He could possibly tell me if I've been lied to or not.

"Are you okay with coming still?" He nudged my arm. "I know it could be a bit shocking, I really should've told you sooner."

I shook my head and smiled. "No, it's fine. Really, I feel like I should be doing this." That was a bit of a lie, I didn't know how I felt. I was doing it no matter what happens. It was far too late for either of us to back out now.

"We're here." I hadn't even noticed that we were walking again. The sound of a gate closing made me jump; a barking came from not far away, along with the sound of a radio. Farley led me up a path, we had to go single file due to the narrowness, but I managed not to completely topple into the hedge which was on my right.

He opened the door and helped me up the two stairs leading into the house. The sun's warm rays were blocked, so I assumed it was a fairly big house. I could also hear neighbours, so I wasn't sure if the entire building was theirs. The passage was a little cramped, an ottoman wasn't too far away from the stairs. I was shuffled around, feeling very in the way, as Farley opened and closed a box.

"Could you take your shoes off please?" Farley asked politely. "Just cause we've been in the forest."

I nodded and quickly slipped my shoes off. I bent down to pick them up, but my hand brushed Farley's. The tips of my ears started to burn as I quickly stood back up. "You know, I'm not totally useless." I attempted to hide how flustered I was. I should be used to doing things like that by now.

"I know you can, but it's just easier if I put them in the shoe box," Farley replied with a brighter voice. "Anyway, I can hear them in the living room."

I was fidgeting with my fingers when my wrist was pulled. I held back a scared whine. Time to meet even more new people.

Question of the day! -Wow I hope that I can come up with these for the entire story-

Do you guys like going on buses?

I quite enjoy it when it's not crowded- but if it's cramped than it's a totally different experience. And of course, the window seat is a deal-breaker