Regina (10 page)

Barbed wire fencing ran along the road. I
swore everything looked familiar, from the gravel in the road to
the shape of the trees. Soon the houses disappeared and the only
scenery that remained was dark farmland. I shook my head; feeling
intense déjà vu was getting to me. I couldn’t recall the exact
dream but I knew I was on this road before in a dream and it was
important.

A few moments later, we arrived. Katie parked
her car and took her place in the circle. Most of the cars were
facing inside the circle, allowing the headlights to give us plenty
of light. The pickups were turned around, giving us seats and had
the music blazing into the night. I saw a couple of kegs of beer on
one side and cans of beer on another. A couple of kids were sitting
on top of the car hoods, laughing and guzzling their beers. Kids
who came with someone were off to the side, making out. A cute
older girl with her red hair in pigtails was walking around the
party with a video camera. Suddenly, the girls started flashing
their boobs at the camera and shouting. Others were dancing
together in center. I laughed; this was an awesome alternate
universe! People didn’t do stuff like this at Will Lawson! Then
again, we don’t have a big pasture to party in either. I decided to
let go of my stupid dreams and have some fun and this seemed like
the best place to have it.

Guys in their football jackets were dancing
with the girls in the middle while another was doing keg stands.
Some girls were doing back flips off the back of one of the pickup
trucks. The one who did the best got a huge shot of alcohol. I
could tell many of the girls had too many shots already. One girl
landed on her face when she flipped off. I laughed with Katie as
she pointed to it. But the girl got back up and tried it again!
Amazingly, someone kid was streaking through the crowd.

Oh my gosh, this party was crazy!

“Hey Regina!” Katie shouted over the music.
“These sexy chicks are my friends: Becky Lowe, Natalie Rogers and
Sabrina Turner. This is Sabrina and her brother’s party!”

Katie nodded to three very pretty girls.
Becky, the tallest one, looked like a model with her long legs,
slim torso and sleek body. Her tan was flawless as was her brown
hair. Natalie or Nat, as I learned later, was a brunette as well.
However, her plump figure was totally overshadowed by her green
eyes. They were as bright and brilliant as emeralds! I could
remember her easily. The last one, Sabrina, was very different.
That snobby, little upturned nose didn’t acknowledge me. Her
extremely long blonde hair was pinned up at the sides to try and
hide the dullness. Her round hips and bigger sized stomach gave her
curves that made the boys stare. Those blue eyes scrutinized me for
one second before she deemed me not good enough. The dislike was
mutual.

“Let’s dance!” Katie shouted at us.

We went to the middle of the clearing and
began dancing together. The song was fast and we moved to the beat
easily. Sabrina never acknowledged my presence while the other
girls were the opposite. They complimented me on my dance moves and
tried to imitate some.

“Where did you learn to dance?” Nat asked me,
having to shout once again.

“Clubs in New York!” I shouted in
response.

We laughed, except for Sabrina who continued
dancing as if she didn’t hear a thing. I looked for my so-called
cousin, but Katie never pointed her out.

After the song, Sabina announced she was
going for a beer. Katie stayed with me while the other girls went
with Sabrina. That is when I saw him staring at me. From ten feet
away, I saw the most incredible guy. He was over six feet tall with
beautiful short brown hair and blue eyes. In fact, those eyes were
so blue they lit up his face with beauty. Even from this distance,
I could see them. Muscles rippled thru his t-shirt as he brought
his hand to his mouth to take a drink from the cup he was holding.
I gulped. This guy was so hot! Probably the hottest guy at the
party.

“Who is he?” I asked Katie while trying to
nonchalantly point to him.

Katie followed my finger and saw him too. She
turned back to me and giggled.

“That’s Steven Rank. So hot!” She laughed. “I
think he’s looking at you!”

I laughed confidently. Of course he was
looking at me! I was the prettiest girl here and not available.
However, it wouldn’t hurt to have a little fun. I decided to go
talk to him.

“I’ll be right back. You won’t leave without
me will you?” I asked.

“No! I promise I won’t! Go! Go!” She gestured
for me to go talk to Steven and walked away.

I turned back around and didn’t see him
anymore. Searching the party, I kept looking. Oh no! I guess I’m
going to have to find him. It seemed like hundreds of heads were in
the way. Before I could take one step forward, he appeared in front
of me.

His eyes were now dark, like a monster’s. A
slick smile crawled across his face as he put his hand out to shake
mine. As I cupped his hand in a polite and firm handshake, I felt a
jolt of desire surge thru me. I closed my eyes for a second to feel
the warmth travel from my toes to my cheeks. I giggled as I felt
the blood rush into them.

“I’m Steven.” Came his suave voice.

I looked up and let my blue eyes gaze into
his. I wanted to melt into a puddle of pleasure as he led me to the
clearing and began dancing with me. A sexy techno beat was playing
and I felt good as Steven put his hands on my hips, leading me with
him to the beat. Our foreheads and noses were touching as we were
breathing into each other as we danced.

Sweat was escaping from our hairline as we
moved together. Pulling me close to him at an intense moment in the
beat, I felt my heart drop. His hands were on my lower back, arms
wrapped around me as we continued to breathe into one another. I
moved my fingers into the belt loops of his jeans and held on
tight. He was fast as he moved his hips and feet to the music. Jeff
was a good dancer, but nothing like this guy.

I was hypnotized by his touch and closed my
eyes as I let my body go. Our sweat became intertwined like our
bodies. I could feel everyone’s eyes on us as we danced. We were
the center of attention and the sexiest couple dancing. Even Katie
and the girls were watching us.

I was lost in one of those moments in life
where I will never forget it. Steven’s strong hands led me into a
world of desire and satisfaction I didn’t think existed. Touching
his face now, I wanted him to kiss me. The desire to be kissed by
Steven burned so deeply inside me; I thought I would die from it.
We clung to each other, not wanting to ever let go.

Then the song was over. I was left breathless
and full of desire for this guy.

Our eyes met and I knew the spell had been
broken. The music was gone as well as our moment. It passed us
by.

“Thanks for the dance. See you around.” He
whispered as he walked away.

Oh, that was so unfair! It was such a
‘Regina’ move! Standing there, in the clearing with shaky legs, I
felt like I was on fire from him. Katie began making her way thru
the crowd, squealing with delight as she came up to me.

“That was so hot!” She exclaimed. “I don’t
think I’ve seen that at one of Sabrina’s parties before!”

“Who
was that
guy?” I asked again.

“I told you, his name is Steven. He’s
seventeen and THE sexiest guy in school. His parents own the dress
shop on Main Street and the diner.”

“Where did he go?” I was still craning my
neck around everyone to try and spot him.

The rest of the night was the same, lots of
kids drinking and dancing and acting like wild kids do. However, I
didn’t see Steven the rest of the night. I was a little drunk but
not too much. Katie was driving so I wasn’t too worried about
getting home. However, it was so funny watching those who drank too
much. Thank goodness we were in the forest, plenty of places for
drunkies to hurl! I had a good time with the girls, though Sabrina
never warmed up to me. I met a lot of new people and cute guys.

At the end of the night, I felt as if I’d
seriously misjudged these people. I thought this place would be
redneckville, but it’s far from that. It was a shame I wasn’t going
to school here next year. I would be the new, cool kid and it would
be a blast. And, I would probably go to school with that Steven
guy. Oh, the possibilities were endless!

I quickly hated myself for that idea. I
didn’t want to break up with Jeff, I didn’t want to live here and
there’s no way I would go to school here. I’m too different!
Besides, I knew I wouldn’t see that guy again. I doubted mom and
dad would let me go to a party again since there was nothing to
guilt them about anymore. We were leaving after the summer anyway,
so it wouldn’t matter if I did see him again. He didn’t know who I
was anyway.

He didn’t ask my name!

Chapter
Thirteen

Lady Sarah was waiting anxiously to report to
The Pirate. She sat in her safe house with trembling knees. Thank
goodness it was night, and they could come out from ground. Her
first recruit, Claude, was standing with Malcolm in the corner
looking out the window. The moon was full tonight and seemed to
captivate the two men. Marcus was long gone, too afraid of the Law
at this point. For all she knew, he could’ve died or took to ground
in a new town. The house they resided in was strange. It was old
and deserted. The furniture was full of dust and the curtains were
ripped. Only the magnificent library stood out among the old and
forgotten.

Earlier tonight Sarah sat in the tree line,
observing the party. The odd behavior of kids today perplexed
Sarah. Why did they feel the need to consume mass amounts of
liquor? Many of them were drinking more than their body weight! And
that funny smell from the cigarettes! What was that?! And why did
they do acrobatics from tall objects? Were things like this fun?
Sarah’s childhood consisted of playing outside on the beautiful
grounds of Lordview. And what was going on with those haircuts? Did
every boy have their hair blown to the side?? It looked
idiotic.

She went up in the tree for a better view.
The oak tree didn’t go too high but it was enough that Sarah could
see everyone at the party. Claude and Malcolm were behind her,
keeping guard while she searched for the girl called Regina. Only a
picture of the pretty blonde girl was their one clue to identify
her. All these kids looked alike and there were so many of
them!

But thru the crowd of people came a young
blonde girl with a red gash, as bright as the sun, on her forehead.
Her eyes widened and mouth dropped open. Sarah was in awe of the
girl in front of her.

It was true! Anna lived!

No one truly believed the young man who
claimed to of seen her, but it was true! The mark was still visible
after all this time! A beautiful, large red gash was right between
her eyes and very obvious from that distance. It was the friendship
mark of the Whispers! Sending those feelings of amazement to her
protectors, Claude and Malcolm soon joined her. They too, sat high
in the oak tree with Sarah and watched the young girl. Malcolm took
her hand and she began crying. Sarah put her head on his shoulder
to muffle the cries. Perhaps she should just take the girl now?

The same thought was spreading thru their
minds like an epidemic. Why don’t they just take her the moment she
is alone? Sarah and the men spoke about it extensively. Risks were
calculated, and theories came forward. In the end, Sarah knew it
wouldn’t work taking Regina now. The risks were too high. After
all, they were alone, and without their army.

It was forty eight hours since Sarah last
spoke to the Pirate. She picked up her phone and dialed the only
phone number that was important.

“Your Report?” Came his voice.

“Affirmative, sir.” Lady Lordview fought hard
to hold back her tears.

She heard the tears over the phone coming
from the unknown man’s eyes and the sorrow from his lips. For two
hundred years they have searched for this girl. Over two hundred
years the people of Whispering Woods and Delengrad have searched to
find their lost princess and the one who can free them from the
terrible curse they suffer from.

“You saw it?” His voice was a whisper, barely
heard by Sarah.

She knew what he meant. He was asking her if
she saw the mark on Regina’s forehead. She replies, “Yes sir.”

“How long do we have till they sacrifice
her?” He asked after a few minutes of silence. Sarah gained her
composure quickly. The moment of happiness passed. The moment of
planning was upon them.

“October
13
^th
.” It pained Sarah to say
that. For only less than four months remained of their Savior’s
life.

“Then we have to work fast. Begin the next
phase: start setting up ground and safe houses. We need maps of the
area, detailed maps and we must know how far the Law’s reach goes.”
The Pirate was speaking fast, his thoughts were frenzied. “We need
to move quickly to formulate a solid plan.”

“Kaylee is already in place, sir.” Sarah
said.

After promising more people to aide in her
task and confirming a couple of little details, the Pirate hung up
with Sarah. Her heart was racing in anticipation of getting their
Anna back.

Soon, she thought. Very soon.

Chapter
Fourteen

One week after we arrived in Lee we buried
Grandma Lydia. Her funeral was small and sweet. About a hundred
people attended the service and viewing. Aunt Rachel and mom went
up and said a few kind words before the tears got to them. A couple
of Grandma Lydia’s elderly friends stepped up to talk about her,
even Mekayla. She dramatically walked to the podium and gave this
long speech about how much of a saint our grandmother was. I was a
little hypnotized by her words but that didn’t last long. If our
grandmother was so good and wonderful, why did she never speak to
me or my family?