Chapter 44- Whispers In The Wind

Levi felt lost. Crystal had gotten under his skin. Deep down he knew she was right. Athens was no longer their home. The dangers hidden within its trees would see their newest members of their coven’s crumble.
But how could he disobey his father? How could he crush his dream of going home? The very same dream he had held onto once. After all he was the reason, they were all banished in the first place.
He paused mid stride when he saw Beth sitting on her front porch looking up at the moon. Slowly he made his way towards her.
“When are you going to help me?” she asked without looking at him. Levi closed then opened his eyes.
“I said no promises,” he whispered, afraid that his fear of his father would show in his voice.
“Two more days and she will be beheaded,” Beth turned to him her eyes fill of unshed tears and Levi gulped at the pain he saw on her beautiful face. She looked like a small child who had lost everything.
“I don’t have much time. My sister and stepfather are dead. Soon so will my mother. Who will I have then?” she asked him, and Levi’s heart broke for her.
“When I do this, you run and you don’t stop,”
Levi turned to leave and then glanced back. “If he finds you, you will suffer a worse fate than death. Can you handle that?”
“I will do anything to be with my mother. My family,” She answered with power behind her words.
Levi nodded and made his way to his own home.
He would have to ask Crystal for help. If he was to save Beth’s mother, then he only had tomorrow to do it.
He didn’t have much time to put a plan in place. Yet something inside him told him he was making a big mistake. Going against his instinct was something he didn’t take lightly. However, the look in Beth’s eyes made his heart want to take the risk.

***

The irritating beep of the alarm woke Crystal from her slumber. Sleepily she swung her hand at the annoying contraption and missed. Still the bleeping blared out. Again, she hit the alarm clock with force and the noise ceased.
Turning over she snuggled back under the covers and closed her eyes. A few seconds later the alarm started singing its own announce. She had pressed the wrong button and put it onto snooze.
Tossing the covers back and climbing from bed she yanked the plug out of the wall.
“Beep again if you dare,” she said to the now dead alarm clock as she tossed the plug on the floor. She wasn’t a morning person and liked her sleep. Getting up for school only worsened her mood.
There was no way she would be able to sleep now she was up, so she made her way into the bathroom to shower and get ready for her day at prison.
She didn’t rush showering as she sang at the top of her lungs and relished in the feel of the hot water spraying her body.
Taking her time with the blow dryer she glanced at her alarm clock that was void of life. Checking her phone for the time she saw that she had a message from Levi.
“What time is your lunch today?” he had asked.
Crystal felt a little flutter in her stomach from receiving a message from him. The first message she had since swapping numbers.
“One,” she texts him back and applied makeup which was something she rarely did. If she was to meet Levi, she wanted to look like she had slept at least a little and not have to sport her baggy eyes.
She took extra care picking out her outfit for the day. She chose dark jeans and a black top. Studying herself in the mirror she smiled. She looked fairly good.
After pulling on her black boots, she picked up her phone. “I will meet you outside the front doors at one,” he had text back.
“See ya then,” Crystal replied grabbing her bag and heading downstairs, with a smile on her face. She never had company at dinner. It would make a change.
When she entered the kitchen, her mother was waiting, sitting at the breakfast bar.
Crystal ignored her and busied herself making her cereal.
“Last night someone stole your father’s body,”
“You’re kidding,” Crystal made her voice sound high pitched and shocked using facial expressions to go with it.
“Who?” she asked placing her spoon back into her cornflakes.
“Whoever it was, will meet my full wrath,” Jeanette stood up and pushed her chair under. She gave Crystal a deadly stare.
“It better not have been you,” Jeanette said in a grave voice before leaving Crystal to eat her breakfast in peace.
***
Crystal arrived at school just as the bell rang and headed straight to her first class.
“Hay,” Hugo said as she took her seat.
“Hay,” Crystal responded taking out her notebook that held nothing relevant to class.
“So how did the Halloween dance go? I saw this bright light. Did you see it? It was wired ehh?”
“I can’t say I did,” Crystal said turning to face the boy that she was once betrothed too.
“So how was it?” he asked again, and her heat beat picked up pace.
“Uneventful,” she lied.
“Snot nosed teens getting drunk. Not your thing either?” he responded scrunching up his nose.
“Well, well Hugo dishing out insults,”
“I guess you have rubbed off on me,” he joked, and she laughed. He was a good man; he just wasn’t her type. She didn’t yet know what her type was yet, she just knew he wasn’t it.
The morning passed slowly, and she found herself watching the clock tick away. At times she could have sworn that time had frozen. Then finally the bell rang. With excitement pushing herself up she leapt from her chair and dashed to the door and into the corridor.
Crystal tossed her bag into her locker and pushed passed the throng of students as she made her way to the front doors.
She burst outside to find Levi leaning against a black jeep. Giving him a smile, she walked towards his flashy car.
“Nice wheels,” she complemented the jeep that looked like it had been ridden of the showroom floor.
Levi opened the door for her, and she climbed in. The seats looked brand new, leather and to her surprise they were heated too.
“Wow, this car is amazing!” she gushed as he sat behind the wheel and the engine roared to life.
“Thanks, she is a beauty,” he smiled at her flashing his dimple.
Levi pulled up outside an Italian diner and led her inside.
They picked a table for two and both ordered a pizza and fries to share.
“How was your morning,” Levi asked her.
“Wow, small talk. This has got to be new,” Crystal said as the waiter placed their glasses of coke in front of them.
“It was okay. I was in school what more can I say,” Levi laughed.
“Not your favourite place, eh?”
Crystal pulled a face and took a sip of her coke.
“I need your help,” he blurted out and she nodded.
“What with?”
“Breaking someone out of my father’s prison,” Crystal’s face dropped as the waiter delivered their meal and asked if there was anything else they wanted. Both shaking their heads the waiter quickly walked away.
“Why would you want to do that?” she whispered.
“Can you trust me?” he asked her to avoid the question.
“Can I?” she asked him. She wanted to trust him and feared she already did. She had learned from an early age to trust no one. Yet Levi was different he had slithered past her walls and made her venerable to his charm.
“Yes,” he whispered, and she sighed.
“When?”
“Tonight,”
“Wow, not much notice there,” she joked even though her stomach felt like a knot of nerves. She had met his father and he looked like a mean man.
“So, what’s the plan? She asked him.
“I will pick you up at eight. Tell your mother were going on a date,”
“Yeah, keep both our parents sweet. Let them think we are getting along,” Crystal shot at him.