Awaken

“Just a bad dream,” I muttered.

“What was it about?” he asked gently.

“Just stuff from the past…” I trailed off. A sigh laced with a whimper made its escape, “Why can’t I just get a good night’s rest like normal people?”

“Because you are far from normal,” Finn smiled down at me; the depths of his blue eyes alleviating my suffering.

“Lucky me.”

He chuckled and readjusted the blankets to shield us from the cool wind that flowed off the waves. The sky was only beginning to lighten, so I curled up in his reassuring embrace.

“I’m the lucky one, Pasha.”

Chapter 15

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“Are you sure you didn’t murder somebody?”

“I’m definitely about to murder somebody,” I threatened; leering at Carmen. My newest trace had become the talk of the trip back to Bald Head as we hung out on the second level watching more movies. As was to be expected, everyone was throwing out guesses as to what my trace could mean; murder being the most recent hypothesis. My trace wasn’t teardrop, which apparently signified how many people a gang member had killed, but that didn’t stop them from running with it.

“Maybe you did it in your sleep? That’s why you don’t remember!” Phoebe figured.

“That must have been why I saw a bloody knife laying on the floor last night,” Cage snickered and watched me suspiciously. “It’s all making sense now…”

“Yeah, this whole ‘future leader of the Tydes-thing’ is just a ruse. She wants us all to think she’s all honorable and trustworthy, but just when you least expect it - WHAM! Knife to the chest.

Lights out.” Ricker pretended to stab himself dramatically. Ian shook his head at me from the other couch, as if he was disappointed at my unthinkable deception.

The rest of the trip was, for the most part, drama-free except for the once again glaring eyes of Carmen and Ricker. How two people could go from hating each other back to loving each other, and then right back to hating each other in one weekend was beyond my comprehension. It also sounded awfully exhausting. Willow and Liam tiptoed around each other, both waiting for the other to make the first move. Finn was all business, as he was intent on starting the preparations for my journey right away. Since we only had three weeks, my regimen would start immediately. Strength training in the ocean, memorizing a map of the Underworld, and a regular diet of slimy seaweed and coconut milk awaited me once we returned to Lorelei. The fact that Finn wouldn’t be accompanying me did in fact force me to raise the bar for myself. If I had to do this without him, I would soak up every piece of knowledge I could until the time came.

Upon returning to Lorelei and Maren Hall, we ran into Olivia, who was coming out of the elevator as we were getting on.

“Hey Olivia!” I grinned at her. As someone who had earned the nickname ‘Be-otch’ from my roommates, we were extremely surprised when she had offered up her yacht and accompanied us to the Fortunate Isle. After finding out her mother was the therapist who had coordinated my move to Lorelei, I began to see her in a new light. Underneath the attitude was a good person. Her dark hair had been straightened and her dark eyes were accented by smoky eye makeup. Her long black dress skimmed her black stilettos. She looked like she was going on a date. Either that, or to a funeral.

“Hey!” she smiled back at me, and then acknowledged my roommates with a sly nod of the head.

“You better be glad my hands are full,” Carmen threatened her with a smirk. We stepped onto the elevator and Olivia stuck a hand out to stop the doors from closing.

“Watch out for the people in your suite,” she raised an eyebrow. “They said they were looking for a girl named Hannah and that she lived in your suite.” I let go of the bag I was holding as my stomach dropped to the floor. The Whitmans were here? At Lorelei? In my suite?

“Didn’t you lock the door when we left?” Carmen asked Phoebe.

“I thought so…” Phoebe frowned in thought. My roommates didn’t know my previous name, Hannah. I had changed it to Anastasia on arrival to Bald Head Island.

“I think I know who they are,” I admitted to Olivia, still in shock.

“Oh good,” she let go of the elevator door, “See ya!” She disappeared around the corner in a cloud of strong-smelling perfume. Phoebe and Carmen looked at me expectantly.

“It’s my adoptive family,” I said with a disconcerted sigh.

“So who’s Hannah?” Phoebe questioned.

“Me,” I answered. “That was my name before I changed it to Anastasia.”

“And they don’t know about any of this?” Carmen swept her arms out; alluding to our ancestry and Lorelei’s true purpose.

“Nope,” I sighed again, but Carmen just smiled.

“This is going to be fun,” she said with a sneer and a twinkle in her eye. I could only pray Laura Beth had not come with them. Carmen would eat her alive. After Phoebe had to physically push me off of the elevator, I braced myself as we entered our suite.

“Hannah, darling!” Dee Whitman embraced me in an awkward hug. She wasn’t usually the hugging type. She was usually worried it would wrinkle her clothes. Currently her dark green tweed skirt and dress jacket matched the black and green plaid shoes accentuating her feet.

“Hi Dee,” I looked past her to see who else had come. “So…what are you guys doing here?”

“We wanted to surprise you!” She threw her arms up in somewhat-forced excitement.

“Charles and Laura Beth are out on the balc- Hannah Whitman! What is that on your face!” She grabbed my chin and yanked my head to the side in horror.

“I got a new tattoo.” I held my breath, hoping she would keep her composure in front of my roommates.

“We’ll talk about that later, young lady,” she threatened in a low voice and scowled at me.

She masked her distaste with her High Society face, typically reserved for people she believed to be beneath her. She turned to Phoebe, Willow, and Carmen.

“And these must be your little roommates!” She introduced herself to Carmen, Phoebe, and Willow while I took my bags into my bedroom. Unfortunately, all I could think about was how to make them leave. I hadn’t been prepared to reconcile my old life with my new life. I wasn’t sure it was even possible without a nuclear explosion occurring.

“Well hello, Hannah,” Charles Whitman greeted me as I walked back out into the living room. I gave him a warm hug and he froze for a split second as he zeroed in on my newest trace. I glimpsed the person standing behind him with her hands on her hips. “Hey, Laura Beth.”

“Hey,” she snipped. “All four of ya’ll live here?” Her skeptical green eyes scanned our suite like it was a smelly locker room.

“And you must be Laura Beth,” Carmen cooed in a feigned heavy, southern accent. I quickly made all of the introductions; silently hoping that would suffice and that they’d leave. Dee answered my prayers.

“We are actually on our way to Virginia for the week. Do you remember Uncle Stephen and Aunt Josie?” She didn’t wait for my answer, “We’ve been invited to stay with them this week and I couldn’t imagine not swinging by and seeing our other daughter!” Laura Beth’s expression as she stared at me was comparable to a laser beam.