Seeking The Present

I laid in the sunlight. Not much time left before we had to leave. I barely got to spend time at my home, didn’t get to see my mother or siblings. I looked over seeing Lee approach. “Hannah it’s time to go.” He held out his hand and I grabbed it. He helped pull me to my feet. “You know this isn’t fair right?” I said to him. “I know. We don’t have a choice.” Lee said sadly and held my hand as we walked to the front of the pack house. “Be a good boy ok?” Camille hugged Arnold. “I’m always good.” He said to her annoyed. “If you say so!” Camille said and looked at me. “Hannah, have a save trip.” I nodded. James and Hermia walked out of the pack house. “I have no doubts you’ll be safe brother.” James hugged Lee. “Hannah, take care of him.” “Of course.” I said to him. Hermia patted my arm. “Be good to my brother… please.” I patted her back. Declan came out of the pack house followed by Madison. “Drive safe!” Madison kissed him. “Ready to go?” Declan said swinging the keys around his finger. “Yes everything is packed in the trunk.” Arnold said opening the car door. “Hannah?” He ushered me to the door. I took his hand as he helped me in. Him and Lee raced to the other side. “Hannah, call me.” Madison said. We hadn’t been on good terms. “Of course.” I said and then I looked over and saw Arnold buckling next to me. “He was a little too slow.” Arnold laughed lightly. “Yeah laugh it up, I’m sitting next to her on the plane.” Lee said buckling into the front passenger seat. “Not fair!” Arnold whined. “I’ll sit in the middle. I don’t care.” I said out loud. Off we went. I watched the pack house disappear in the distance. I watched out the window as we emerged from the thick forest. Arnold grabbed my hand. “It’s only a few days. We’ll be back.” He reassured me and I nodded. I didn’t have words. I had a feeling it was going to be longer. We rode in silence. The mood in the car was somber. We started to approach PDX and I felt my eyes pool with tears. “Hey.” I looked at Arnold. “What’s wrong?” Lee looked at me. “Hannah?” He said reaching back and placing his hand on me. “I just really don’t want to do this. I have a terrible feeling about this.” I said squeezing Arnold’s hand. He unbuckled and hugged me. Lee patted my leg. “Hannah, I promise it will only be a few days, if you don’t come back. I guarantee James will be on the next plane.” Declan said. “Ok… Ok.” I said as I breathed through it. We pulled up to the unloading area. We got out and Arnold grabbed bags out of the car. Lee picked up a couple and Arnold carried the other two. Declan rolled down the window. “Safe flight, have a good trip.” We waved as he drove off. Getting through all the security and checks was ridiculous. We settled at the gate. “At least the flight to San Diego is only a couple of hours.” Lee said already exhausted. “San Diego?” I asked. “That’s where we are heading it looks like.” Lee pulled out his phone and showed me where it was at. “It’s at the very bottom!?” I was wondering why we didn’t just drive and now I knew why. It was closer to Mexico then it was to where we were in Oregon. “I guess if we run into any problems then we can run away to Mexico!” Arnold said and laughed. Lee stared at him. “There’s going to be no trouble. We will see to that.” He said to Arnold. “In all seriousness, yes. Hannah nothing will happen as long as we’re around.” Arnold got serious. “I just have a feeling that something isn’t right about this whole trip. We’ll find out what he wants and then leave.” I said to them. “Agreed.” Lee said. “Agreed!” Arnold joined in. We boarded the plane and as planned I sat in the middle. Each one holding my hand as we took off. The flight was nerve racking. I think I much preferred staying on the ground. I think Lee felt the same squeezing the life out of my hand while Arnold was glued to the window the entire flight. Thankfully two hours went by fast. Once off the plane we went out. “Ok, he said someone would pick us up.” Lee looked around. I pulled out my phone texting Hermia and Madison in a group text that we landed just fine. “There.” I heard Arnold and looked up. A man held a sign that said ‘Langoria’ on it. We walked up and I let Lee do all the talking. I turned and looked out at the people. Everyone looking so normal, so content with their life. I felt someone grab my arm and I looked at Lee as we started to follow the man. He led us all to a SUV and I hesitated. “Come on Hannah. Sooner we go, sooner we can go home.” Arnold whispered and placed a hand on my back. I got into the car and Arnold followed. Lee was not to far behind and we all sat in silence until the driver got in. “This your first time leaving the pack grounds Mrs. Langoria?” I looked at the review mirror and could see him look at me. “It’s Ms, and no. I’ve been to one other pack.” I looked out as we drove. I had never seen real palm trees before. The scene was like things I had only seen on tv and read in books. “San Diego is one of America’s finest city! The beaches are beautiful! You’ll enjoy it so much that you won’t want to leave.” The driver said to me. “Does Barion live here or is his permanent residence somewhere else?” I asked. The guys looked at me. “He prefers to be called King Barion Ms. Langoria. No, this is his vacation villa. It’s is just up ahead.” The driver started driving by very expensive looking homes. Each one looked as big as a pack house. I took out my phone and snapped some pictures. I sent a few pictures to the group chat. Then the car turned into the drive way of a massive home. We all looked out at it. The place was absolutely gorgeous. “This can’t be it.” I said.