Change, Samantha Perez [free e books to read online txt] 📗

woke up on one of the beaches in Miami.
"Tracey? Travis? Emily? Blake? Allison?" I call out, my eyes still closed.
"Rory?" A voice asks, sounding panicked.
My eyes snap open and I sit up in a rush, causing my head to pound with the sudden movement. And let me tell you, it did not help my aching head.
"Travis? Is that you?" I call out, scrambling up to my feet.
I see Travis a few feet away, looking from side to side. A look of panic plastered on his face.
I run over to him. "Travis, what's wrong? What's happened?" I ask, looking at Travis, who was still frantically searching for something.
"I can't find them...where could they be? And where is she? Where," Travis turns to me with a wild look in his eyes, "Where would she be Rory?"
I grip Travis's shoulders and shake him lightly, hoping to erase some of the wild look from his eyes.
"Who Travis, who's missing?" I ask calmly.
Travis turns to me. He whispers so softly that I think I imagine it at first but the look in his face comfirms what I have heard.
"Everyone."
I look around the beach but see no one that belongs to our group. Only tourists and others. Kids playing in the water, parents sistting on towels, couples walking along the beach, hand in hand. But no Tracey, Emily, Allison, or Blake.
"What happened? Why aren't they here?" Travis asks worriedly.
"M...maybe, maybe we just are spread out along the beach. Come on, let's go look for them." I say, extending my hand out to him.
Travis takes it after a moment of hesitation and we start to patrol the beach, looking for the others. We searched high and low, along the entire beach, but not a single sight of the others.
"I knew Tracey was too tired to do that last portal." I complain as we sit down, resting our aching feets from walking for hours.
"Do you really think it's beacuse Tracey was tired? That something happened while we were in the portal and it just spit us out here?" Travis asks.
I shrug. "Even though I think it's because Tracey was tired, I'm not sure."
Travis nods. Silence follows, leaving us with only the waves and distant laughter as noise filling the silence.
After a moment, a sudden thought strikes me. A thought that sends shivers down my back.
"Travis?" I whisper.
"Hm?"
"If Emily and Blake aren't with us...then doesn't that mean that we're not being shadowed anymore?" I ask, fear creeping into my mind.
Now I look like myself, long black hair with gray eyes flecked with green around the pupils. What if one of the divisions men were here? Watching us right now? If I shapeshift now, then they will surely come after us.
No, no our only safe bet is that they're not sure of who we are. But if we go around using our powers, then they will call for back up and take us to the division.
Travis stares blankly at the water, I can practically see the gears in his mind trying to work out the problem that is layed out before us.
"Travis?" I whisper again.
This time he only looks at me, fear evident in his eyes.
"We need to go now." I say, not turning my head to look at him, my mouth barely moving, making it look as if we weren't having a conversation.
I eye the man again. The one that has been staring at us with a confused expression, as if he were trying to figure something out.
He had a beard that looked ungroomed and looked as if he hadn't bathed in days. It was the same man that had smiled at us when we left through the portal from New York.
He must have made the same conclusion. He must of recognized Travis, because I had been some red head at the time.
The man took a step towards us, slowly walking up the beach towards us.
"Travis," I whisper more frantically.
"I see him too," Travis says, standing up and dusting himself off, his face emotionless, no trace of fear.
He extends his hand out to me, acting as if nothing were wrong. I put on a mask of no emotion and grab his hand, pulling myself up.
Travis slings his arm around my shoulder. I'm not sure what he's trying to do, but I think he's trying to make it look as if we're just another couple on the beach, not some kids running from the evil coorperation, of the division.
"Just keep walking and don't look back, honey." Travis says the last word with sarcasm, causing me to giggle in responce.
"Alright, honey." I say, with equal sarcasm.
"Excuse me, ma'am, sir. But have I seen you before, you look awfully familiar?" A voice says from behind us.
I recognize the voice as the guy. The guy that had attacked me with two other guys. His voice sends shivers down my spine.
I don't turn around, but suddenly Travis wirls around to face the man. Dragging me along with him. Again I get a good look at his uncleans face.
"I don't believe we've really met." Travis says in a calm voice.
The man squints his eyes. His face was emotionless, but I could see in his eyes that he was very suspicious and did recognize us.
Finally he stopped squinting, straightened up and smiled tightly at us.
"May I borrow your phone for a moment, I need to call someone." The man says.
"First, I don't even know you," I snap, nervousness exiting my body, "and second, I don't even have a phone on me."
"Oh I'm sorry, my name is Mr. Night." The man says, smiling, showing off his decayed teeth.
I tried very hard not to gag in front of him, but it was really hard seeing that he was losing teeth everywhere and how many were a very dark shade of yellow or even black.
"Well Mr. Night, it was nice talking to you, but we must be on our way." Travis says, his voice emotionless.
Mr. Night looks as if he would like to say more, but clentches his jaw and nods robotically, allowing us to leave in peace.
Relief flows in me as Travis turns us around again and we start walking away. I don't feel completely better until we reach a little shack off the side of the beach, very far from where Mr. Night who was now pacing.
"That was close, he remembered us." I say, my voice slowly wavering.
Travis stands in front of me, his face set in a distant stare, as if his mind were somewhere else.
Chapter 5

Travis and I continue to walk along Miami's steets. Everything belding into to one another. No one's faces

Imprint

Publication Date: 08-19-2011

All Rights Reserved

Dedication:
This story is dedicated to everyone that believes in magic and fairy tales.