.: DANTE :.
†††††††††
It was a relief to finally get back into my normal clothes. It didn’t take that long to convince Aaralyn to come with us to America and I was grateful for that. It meant less time trying to be part of a Mafia. After I changed back into my normal clothes and stuffed the suit in my backpack, we all got ready to board the plane. The new girl, Aaralyn, seemed friendly, though, like most others, I had a feeling she was hiding something about herself. What was new?
Under my shirt, my wings were starting to cramp up. I knew it was because they hadn’t been let out all day. As soon as we hid land again and I was away from everybody, I was going to let them out, at least for a few minutes. It might not due much, but it would hold them over until nighttime. That was when I took my nightly flying session. Though, lately, with all the bizarre dreams I’ve been having, I haven’t been going out at night. I was too busy trying to go back to sleep, though my attempts were all in vain. After those dreams, I didn’t get an ounce of sleep after that.
My thoughts were interrupted when the overhead intercom announced that out plane was reading for boarding. Grabbing my bag, I stood in line with the others and waited to board the plane. A few minutes later, I was ducking my head so I could get under the doorway to the plane itself. Most everybody in our group had taken their seats. Walking down the aisle, I noticed Acacia had an extra seat next her.
“Is this seat taken?” I asked, gesturing to the window seat. Wide-eyed, she shook her and gestured for me to sit there. For a minute, I gazed out the window. There wasn’t much to see, just black tarmac runways where planes were taking off and landing, trolleys that were carrying luggage to and from planes, men with orange shorts and weird sticks and the Moscow National Airport building. Nothing was of interest to me at that moment. I just wanted the plane to take off already.
Out of the corner of my eye, it looked as if Acacia was lost deep in thought. I was tempted to ask what she was thinking about but I decided against it. I had just made amends and I didn’t want to mess it up. I thought it was best to leave her to her thoughts so instead, I got lost in my own as well.
I still wasn’t able to figure out what about Acacia intrigued me so much. Though her personality did resemble mine in many ways, that wasn’t it. The more I saw her, the more I felt like I had to protect her, no matter the costs. I didn’t understand but I probably never would.
A large group of Russians then boarded the plane. They were bulky and very rock-like. They all wore what looked like identical black trench coats. Weird but whatever. Though, they did resemble a Mafia, not like the one we were posing as but as a real, dangerous Mafia. Exchanging a glance with Acacia, I saw she was a troubled as I was. Something wasn’t right. Suddenly, the plane roared to life under us and we began our take off. I saw Acacia grip the armrests, maybe in an attempt to calm herself. I guessed, though, that wasn’t the reason.
I saw that Griffin was also staring at the men, as if he was looking for a fight. If he started anything I was going to kill him. Everyone was looking wary and uneasy. It was like they knew something was wrong. Granted, with men like that in black coats, it wasn’t that hard to wonder if they were up to something.
As if proving everyone’s thoughts correct, they began their assault on our group.
The first thing I noticed happen was a man grab Acacia’s arm and rip her out of her seat, causing her to fall on the floor. What happened next shocked me. Actual thorns seemed to appear all over Acacia’s body like some sort of defense system. However, the man didn’t care. It was like he saw that sort of thing every day. Unfazed, he kicked her in the ribs, hard. Her head fell to the floor.
“Get away from her!” I growled at the man, lunging for him. In anger, I bashed his head against the wall and he fell to the ground, blood coming out from his skull. Some bloodthirsty side of me was satisfied but it was short lived because another man came up behind me and bashed my head against the wall. Groaning, I swung my arm and landed a blow right in his nose, hearing a satisfying crunch. With the other arm, a struck a blow to his ribs, knocking the wind out of him.
Touching the back of my head, I found it was tender and wet. Crap. Making my way to the front of the plane, I saw a man who had landed on Karin. She punched him in the nose as hard as she could. That girl could land a punch when she wanted to. Pulling the man off of her, I punched him directly in the face, knocking him out cold. After making sure Karin was okay, I turned around and went for the closest man I found.
He was bulkier than the rest of the men but I didn’t care. With a knife in hand, he swung at me; I took a step back and dodged his attack. However, I didn’t the man behind me who slashed the back of my shirt, getting my wings in the process. Groaning as he sliced my wings again, I turned around and smashed his shin with my knee, causing him to fall to the ground with a moan. I kicked him in the stomach for good measure to make sure he didn’t get up again.
I turned back around and faced the guy with the knife. My head started to throb, probably due to the wound on the back of it. The man saw my hesitation and took that opportunity. He lunged forward and swung his knife, getting my forehead. I threw a punch at his face that landed and another that landed in his gut. As he hunched over, I threw up my leg and kicked him in the face. It didn’t look like he was going to get back up.
“The pilot is dead!” Acacia screamed. That meant…no one was flying the plane. It just turned from bad to worse.
“They’re escaping from the back of the cabin!” Karin yelled over the uproar.
“Okay, there’s three parachutes and eight of us,” Sebastian said. Had he forgotten I could fly? He seemed to remember when Griffin took out a guy with his wings.
“Pick up one of the girls! You too, Dante. Fly out of here and find us.” Griffin and I nodded and Sebastian tossed me his iPod tracker thing. I slipped it into the pocket of my jacket and looked for Acacia. I found her slumped up against the cabin’s wall. I outstretched my hand to her.
“Come on. It’ll be alright.” She shook her head, clearly somewhat afraid. I looked down at her sincerely. “I promise.” Sighing, she finally nodded and took my hand. Pulling her toward the open door, Akira gave me a nod. I turned Acacia around so she was facing me. I could tell she was afraid and I couldn’t blame her. With her hands on my chest and my arms around her waist, I took a step off of the plane…
And fell.
Under normal circumstances, I would have loved the feel of my stomach dropping and the vicious wind whipping through my hair. I loved being in the air because it was one of the only places that I felt calm and…tranquil. Though, I didn’t feel any bit calm or tranquil while I was falling through the air with Acacia. She didn’t seem to be enjoying it either because she buried her face in my chest.
As we kept failing and gaining momentum, the wind that was slapping my face only got harder and heavier. I knew I would have to let out my wings soon. It was either that or risk not being able to slow down enough. I didn’t want to risk that, especially with Acacia with me. So, groaning a little, I let my wings unfurl and felt it slow us down a little bit. Though it felt nice to have them out again and not under my shirt, it hurt. It was then I remembered of the men who attacked us had gotten my wings twice. It was strange, like he knew I had them hidden.
Was that even possible?
I started feeling Acacia go limp so I put my hands under her legs and started to carry her the rest of the way down to solid ground. It wasn’t long after that she passed out completely. I didn’t know if it was the height or the fear that made her black out. Either way, I had to find the rest of the group. I had to make sure the rest of them were okay.
As soon as I felt my feet his solid ground, I started searching around where I landed. I assumed Griffin had taken Akira, considering she was the only one left, and that they had jumped out after Acacia and I. I was proven right because it wasn’t long after I started searching that I found them.
“Are you okay?” I asked while walking towards them. Akira nodded though she was grasping her shoulder and her nose had nasty scratch on it.
“I’m fine. What happened to Acacia?”
“I don’t know. She kind of….passed out on the way down.” I sighed. “We have to find everyone else.” She nodded, agreeing with me.
“Sebastian’s IPod tracker is in the left pocket of my jacket. I would get it for you…but…since I’m carrying someone, it’s kinda hard.” I said with a small chuckle. Akira understood and started looking in the pocket. A second later, she had it in her hand and was peering at it, trying to figure out where everyone else was.
“It looks like they’re….east. Which way’s east?” She squinted her eyes and looked around.
“It’s that way.” I said, turning my head left.
“How do you know?”
“Just…trust me.” I said. Akira only shrugged and began to walk off in the direction I told her east was. I knew my direction only because…I used to get lost when I was flying. A lot. I made myself remember directions so that I wouldn’t get lost and end up in France…again. Silently, I followed Akira and Griffin as they started looking for everyone else. I thought they both doubted which way I told them was east but, I didn’t really care at that moment. I was tired and I wanted to make sure Acacia was going to be okay. Her…and everyone else.
About a half an hour later, it turned out that I was right. We found the rest of the group all crowded around a small fire. Sebastian rushed over to me.
“What happened? Is she hurt?” He asked. I opened my mouth to answer but Griffin had to butt in.
“I am fine. Shot through the wings, but thank you for asking.” He said, annoyed. So, he got shot in the wings? I got slashed in the wings. Twice. And he didn’t see me complaining.
“She just fainted on the way down. I don’t really know what happened.” I explained, kind of embarrassed about it. I kept thinking somehow it was my fault. For a second, I tuned out to anything that happened after that. I wondered what had made her pass out. Was it from the actions that happened moments earlier or was it from the flight? I would probably ask her when she woke up.
The only reason I tuned back into reality was because some random girl had walked up to the group. She looked really…ladylike, if that was the word.
“Please excuse me,” She said in a prim and proper tone “If you don’t mind my saying, you ladies and gentlemen look like you could use some hospitality.” She curtsied to everyone.
“I’m Colette Marie Duncan. Pleased to make your acquaintance!” She was a strange one.
“What is a girl doing in these woods?” Griffin asked, confused.
“I live here.”
“You live…here? Where are we?” Akira asked.
“Transylvania, of course.” She said it like it was the most obvious answer. Colette then caught a glimpse of me with Acacia in my arms. “Oh my!” She rushed over to us, worry filling her eyes. She laid a gloved hand on her arm.
“We must tend to your wounds.” She turned back to everyone else. “Please, come. Come to my mansion. You can eat and sleep there for the night. I promise you all will be safe.” Everyone waited for Akira, since she was the Alpha basically. As soon as she started to follow the girl, we all followed her. I jogged up to Colette.
“Miss. Colette? I want to thank you for giving us a place to stay.” I said.
“Oh, it’s no problem. Anytime!” She smiled at me.
“I…..can I ask a favor? I don’t know if you were planning on showing everyone around or what but…would you let me lay Acacia down somewhere?”
~~~~~~~~
Sorry for the cliffhanger. I didn't know what else to write. And sorry that this was before Acacia poV..... Please no killy me....
