Mundahlia (The Mundahlian Era, #1) (40 page)

Rini

38

Finally!

Home at last. I cried as soon as I saw the shore nearing in the distance. I didn’t waste time hopping off and running for the street either. I even left the boat running. I was glad to be home. Glad that the worst part was over. Glad that I could find my way back to Austin and sleep. Sleep in my nice soft bed. And-
oh yeah
. I had forgotten that my cabin and all my belongings had been set ablaze.
Ugh! What the hell did I do to deserve this?!
Typical phrase one uses when they’ve had shit luck. Perfect for me—very well-suited.

I spotted the familiar truck hidden behind a bush.
What the hell?
I thought, then made my way over. He did come for me! I prayed to everyone I could think of that he and whoever joined him made it out safe and unharmed. But, I needed to do it. I needed to steal their truck.

I peered through the window and saw the keys shining from within a jacket pocket.
The
jacket. The one I had bought Jett. It was only a little over a week ago that I was in this truck with Jett on our first date with Max and Sarah. In a matter of one
freaking
day, it all turned to crap!

I looked around the forlorn road. There were no cars even close to coming down it. I didn’t have long, I needed to take the truck. It was a last resort moment. They had super-strength—I had dirty skin and wild hair. They could defend themselves. I’d make it up to them later on. I opened the truck door, which had been left unlocked, and hopped in. Stopping for a moment to look at everything. The steering wheel, the brake, the accelerator, and the shift thingy—whatever it’s called.

The only thing I’ve ever driven before was a go-cart, but the pedals looked the same. I started the truck and shut the door.
Seatbelt. Set it to the D. Release brake.
Easy enough. The vehicle moved slowly forward. Not fast enough, I need speed! I pressed on the gas and jolted back at how fast it shifted forward. I stomped on the brake.
Okay Rini, you just learned something new.
I released the break and lightly tapped the acceleration pedal like it was extremely fragile and could break at the slightest moment.
Okay, good. Now, turn the wheel slowly.
As soon as I got to the street it was easier to maneuver.
Just stay inside the line.
Easy—now. I taught myself to drive in a matter of seconds and yet somehow they wanted me to go for three
weeks
to take a class on it. Preposterous!

The road was dark. No streetlights had been stationed yet on this side of the road. I had to press all the buttons to find the headlights and when I did, a figure stood a few feet away down the road. Suddenly illuminated from the lights at the front of the truck.

Gasp!
My heart jumped to my throat and I stomped on the gas. I hit the steering wheel first, then recoiled and hit the back of the seat. I managed to stop a few inches away from the figure.

I looked over the dashboard. The first thing I saw was the tan naked torso of a young man—stained with dirt, blood, and drenched in sweat. He was beat up. Really bad. His face was nearly purple and maroon and swollen as if he’d been hit over the head with something repeatedly. But the face, it was
his
face! Jett’s. His light brown eyes and dark chestnut hair that I so desperately wanted to run my fingers through again. I set the truck into park and undid my seatbelt. It was like seeing an old friend. At first you don’t recognize them, then in a second it hits you. All the moments of us together, from the moment I met him in the forest, all the way until a few days ago pulsed though my mind. Flooding my eyes with visions of flashbacks to those sweet moments. Then, the bad ones surfaced. The anger he’d had in his voice and face as he held me up against the cabin. The coldness of his actions as he let me fall into the freezing water. The exact moment he told me he didn’t care about me anymore. Didn’t want me anymore. But no,
that wasn’t him!

Jett came over to the driver’s seat and opened the door. “Move,” he said, a little icy. I slid to the very end and watched him crawl in, bare skin and all, and put the truck into drive and turn it around in the opposite direction.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“Be quiet,” He commanded. Apparently the coldness in his voice had yet to warm up. “It’s because of
you
that I had to come back here! It’s your
fault that I got hurt! Do you honestly think I wanted to get
you
back? Risk my own damn life, for
you
? I’d never hear the end of it from him! I wish I’d never found the damn thing!” He huffed. What was he talking about? Who was the
him
that he was referring to? What did he wish he didn’t find? Why did he look like he was tired and nearly dead?

“Jett, please,” I begged. “You must still be under the influence of Floradelia blood. Bane told me what it does. That’s why you’re treating me so badly, because he made Vera poison you and then tell you to hurt me and push me away. You have no idea what I’ve been through, I-”

“Oh, boo fucking hoo! I don’t give a shit, sweetheart! Just sit down and shut up!” He stomped on the gas and the car pulsed faster. With a hand he wiped some blood from the welt he had on his face.

I whimpered to myself. It was like history was repeating itself—maybe it
was
just him. Maybe this
was
all really over. I had to hold onto the handle of the door for support as the speed increased. He was flooring it. The scenery was rushing by us in blurs of green from when the headlights illuminated the trees for a brief moment as we flew down the road again.

“Jett, slow down!” I said. He got angry and stomped even harder on the gas. It was like I was on a plane, building up speed for take off, only we’d stay grounded. “Jett, please!”

“You see what you make me do! This is all
your
fault you stupid bitch! This is all
your
fau-” In an instant the driver’s door flew open and the rush of air blew in. Through the gaps in between strands of my wildly flapping hair, I saw Jett be torn out of the accelerating vehicle by a large brown claw that dug into his chest and ripped him from the seatbelt he’d put on, leaving nothing but two ripped straps in his place. The truck was still moving at a blistering pace, veering left toward an empty ditch. I sprung myself to the driver’s side and stomped on the break. The tires of the truck screeched across the road as the whole vehicle skidded sideways, hopping on the tires on the right side as it threatened to roll over. I threw all my weight to bring it down just as it slammed into a roadside barrier.

I stayed clinging to the wheel, which I’d nearly yanked right off, with my dear life. My heart pounded in my chest as loud as a drum.

In the still of the night, I heard the skin-crawling sounds of gushy hits and a man’s yelping. Then,
snap! crack!
The screaming was masked by deafening snarls that I assumed could only belong to a mundahlian. A sound so frightening and terrifying it could make even the bravest man cower in fear.

CRACK!

Silence followed after the screaming stopped. A universal sign of death. I felt my heart sink again. Jett was gone. Gone. Dead. I peeked over the window outside as tears were beginning to form, and saw a tall beast-like shadowy figure making its way over to the truck. In the distance behind it, were Jett’s remains, shredded beyond recognition into a pile that looked like a hump on the dark road. I scurried upright and tried to start the ignition. Of course, I had no luck. It was too late, the large beast was already on the other side of the window staring at me. This was it.
I’m going to die,
I thought, shutting my eyes to save me from seeing the horror scene that was going to unfold as I heard the door creak open slowly. I heard its heavy huffs, trying to steady its breath, and felt the warm air escaping from its nose brush by my face. It reeked of sweat and dirt, but I also picked up on the rust-like scent of fresh blood.

Tap, tap, tap.
I felt a long sharp claw tap me on the shoulder. I jumped at the sudden touch, then sat frozen, taking my last deep breath.
Tap, tap, tap.
“Please don’t torture me anymore, just hurry up and kill me. I’ve had enough torment for one lifetime,” I cried.

The mundahlian sighed.
tap, tap
—then it put its large hand around my shoulder and shook me lightly. I cracked my eyes open slowly and looked at the claw on my shoulder. The beast motioned for me to scoot over. I couldn’t see much but its brown fur covered chest and the claw in front of me. A massive wall of fur.

I slid to the farthest corner of passenger side as it retracted its claw and attempted to slide in. I shut my eyes again, hearing the eerie cracking as the mundahlian shifted back from its hybrid form. I heard another sigh—this one human, and the truck rumbled to life after a few turns. It set the truck into drive and turned in the opposite direction we had been going before. The way I was headed before Jett appeared and turned us around.

“You can open your eyes now, if you want,” I heard softly.

Again, I slowly cracked my eyes open and faced the mundahlian. At first, I didn’t recognize the man sitting in front of me, who had a little bit of stubble on his cheeks and chin. But after the features of his dirty, shaggy shoulder-length hair, broad bruised chest, and large arms full of scratches and cuts, came into view I placed his face to the name I longed to say again to the person it belonged to. “Jett? Weren’t you just-”

“No. That was Bane. The bastard was posing as me after he thought he’d killed me back in Mundahlia.” I noticed the tone in his voice. It was him. There
was
something off about the impostor that was here before. He just didn’t act like Jett. Jett never called me
sweetheart
. Bane did. And he did have the ability to appear as anyone he’s met after all.

“What did you do to him?” I asked.

“Well,” he paused. Then as if it were nothing said, “I killed him.”

I relaxed a little in my seat and turned my head out the window to study the still, night sky. Not knowing of what else to say.

It was quiet on the way back to Austin. Jett stayed with his eyes on the road, and I kept to myself in the passenger side, playing with a few strands of my hair. He had something on his mind. I had to sneak in a few glances at him secretly. He was thinking, hard. Of what—it was oblivious to me. I sighed and rested my head against the window. The moon was high in the sky, watching over us on our journey home. The only sounds inside the car was the droning of the tires on the street and the low hums spilling from the radio.

“R-R-Rini?” Jett stuttered after he relaxed a bit and lowered his shoulders.

I kept my gaze outside. “Hmm?”

He spoke softly, “I know you probably hate me right now, but I just have to say that I’m incredibly sorry for what I’ve done and what I’ve put you through. I’ll never forgive myself.
This
was all my fault.” He paused. “If it hadn’t been for the damn floradelia blood, none of this would have happened.” He looked from the road to me. “And I would still have you.”

I was quiet as he continued.

“If I could, I’d take it all back. Every single word I said that pushed you away and hurt you. I ruined what quite possibly was the most special thing to ever happen to me.
You.
I’ve been waiting for someone like you all my life. And I just let you slip right away, unaware of the true treasure I had in my hands at the time. The only great thing that came of this, is that now my mother is safe.” That must have been why she was gone. Good—I’m glad she’s out of that hell hole. Jett told me it was once a beautiful nation. To me, I only saw a world of villainous creatures with intent of massive destruction of my world. If I had any tears left, they would be forming at the corners of my eyes. For his apology. For Angela. For what is to happen now that my kind is doomed. And lastly, for myself. I wouldn’t wish anyone, even Vera, to go through what I had. But a strong feeling inside me told me that the worst is yet to come. No tears escaped my sore ducts—I’d long run dry.

“I understand if you won’t forgive me and never want to talk to me again. I screwed up, and there is no excuse for why I did it.” There was. He was poisoned, it wasn’t him doing it, it was the floradelia blood. I couldn’t blame this on him anymore. But his eyes that day. Hollow and dark. They left a memory, and as much as I tried to erase it, it only further imposed itself. “But, if there is even the slightest of chance that I can make it up to you, I’ll do whatever I have to do to get you back. I know I’ve never told you before, but I need you Rini. I-” He flashed a quick glance from the road to me again, then returned it. “I
love
you.”

I looked at him blankly. I didn’t know what to think. He looked disappointed, and his facial expression dropped. “I’m sorry,” he uttered, now somber. “I’ll leave you alone now.” He raised the radio a little and a slow, gloomy tune began to play. It was like life was only further proving to me why it is indeed a bitch. It wasn’t enough to have gone through what I’d gone through, but now I had to have a soundtrack to it? I was half expecting the song about having a bad day to be playing.

I thought deeply of his apology. He had to of meant it. It was too real and heartfelt to be faked. Instead, I picked up the jacket and felt the leathery fabric in my hands. Something to distract me. He saw me playing with it and shifted his gaze back to the road. I snuck a glance to him again. He looked as if he were about to cry. Or he already was—it was too dark to tell.

The inside of the truck was nippy. The air conditioner blew its icy breath in my face, and the song playing shifted to another. I set the jacket aside and looked out of the window once more
.
In the distance, I could see the orange lights of a city. Not Austin—we were still far away from there. States away. But, a small city
along the way. It was the first thing to really bring me back to earth. A glimmer of reality. A sign that I was really in my world now. It was comforting, soothing even. Would I ever see these beautiful lights shine so brightly once the mundahlians come?