The Wanderers Beginning: The Wanderers, Reborn, & Unforgiven (73 page)

             
Literally, I got lost in the maze.

             
I was so absent in my own thoughts I hadn’t realized when I entered the maze let alone how far I had walked until I got turned around. I found a bench around one of the corners and took a seat. I knew I couldn’t stay out here too long, but I had to clear my head so I could hopefully find my way back. I was still so mad at what happened at dinner that I had a hard time trying to relax long enough to think straight. Not to mention it was getting dark and the temperature was dropping. Great, so I really was going to freeze to death out here all because Roman felt the need to try out his comedic act on me.

             
I jumped at the feeling of my phone vibrating in my pocket. I took it out to answer it. “Ella, where are you and why weren’t you at dinner?”

             
It was Dean.

             
“I wasn’t very hungry,” I said, not caring to explain. “And I’m uh…in the maze.”

             
“What the hell are you doing in there?” He yelled so loud I had to hold the phone away.

             
“Exploring?”

             
“You need to get out of there before it gets too dark. Do you know how to find your way back out?”

             
“I think so,” I said unsure.

             
Dean let out an exasperated sigh. “Just stay where you are. I’m going to send someone out there to find you.” I said okay as I disconnected the phone call. I was hoping he would send someone who knew their way around or they’d find two frozen bodies out here.

             
I sat there for about twenty minutes, wondering what was taking so long. It was getting colder by the minute and the light was decreasing. I pulled my jacket tighter around me trying to fight off the increasing chill. I was about to give up and try to find my way out on my own when I heard a twig snap. I looked up to see a large wolf standing not five feet from me. Not knowing what to do, I just sat there, frozen.

             
The wolf took a few steps closer to me and I tried to stay still so I wouldn’t frighten him. My cell phone buzzed in my pocket again and I carefully reached in to retrieve it. “Ella, follow him,” Dean said.

             
“Who, the wolf?”

             
“Yes the wolf. God Ella, sometimes I swear you can be –”

             
“Watch it,” I warned.

             
“Just follow him. I’ll be waiting for you at the entrance,” he said, hanging up the phone.

I put the phone back in my pocket and stood up. “So, I guess I’m supposed to follow you?”

The wolf swung his head to the side signaling for me to follow. I kept a few feet behind him still not sure about this whole wolf thing. I knew he was part human, but you still never knew, he was also part wild beast. He could turn on me at any moment and snap my pretty little head off. As if he could sense what I was thinking, he turned around and I swear he was smiling at me. I stopped and stood there for a moment, until he started to walk again. I thought I even heard him laughing at me.

“Stupid dog,” I muttered. He turned around and growled. “Just kidding… good dog…nice dog.” He smiled again and continued walking.

It took longer to get out than expected. I didn’t realize how far I had gotten. I just kept walking until I needed a break. After a few more twists and turns we were finally out of this god forsaken maze. I looked at the wolf and asked, “Is this the part where I give you a treat for being a good dog?” He growled at me, again, before taking off.

I found Dean over by the wall hanging with Blake and Reagan. I knew I was going to get a lecture from Dean. “Hey guys, I’ll catch up with you later. I need to talk to my sister real quick,” Dean said, narrowing his eyes at me.

Before they took off Blake turned to me and said, “Hey Ella, I’ll still give you that tour if you’re interested?”

“Dude!” Dean yelled.

“Thanks, I’m good,” I replied. They left without another word. I turned to Dean, “Look before you start your lecture –”

“I’m not going to lecture you or tell you how stupid it was to go in there by yourself.” I rolled my eyes. “Ella, I’m serious, you could have gotten hurt and no one would have known. You could have gotten lost in there for days –”

“Okay, I get it.”

“Do you? Because I don’t think you do. You haven’t even been here a month and already you’re causing trouble. You’re getting into fights, wandering off.”

“What fight?” I asked. I didn’t recall getting into any fights and if he was referring to that stunt with Roman, so not my fault.

“Ella, I can’t keep bailing you out.”

“Sorry that I’m such an inconvenience for you.”

“I didn’t say that,” he growled, frustrated.

“Whatever, you don’t have to. It’s written all over your face.”

“Ella, I’m just trying to help you out, keep you safe.”

“Well don’t do me any favors!”

“Fine, from now on you’re on your own. Good luck with that,” he said, stomping off.

Great, now Dean was pissed off at me. The one person here who I thought I could count on I officially pushed away. I seemed to be getting good at having people hate me. Not to mention Riley was probably mad at me for leaving her there on her own. I was just doing a bang up job.

Chapter twelve

“Hey, Mom.”

             
“Ella, honey, how are you? It’s so good to hear from you. How is everything?”

             
My mom wasn’t exactly the person I wanted to talk to right now, but at the moment I was running out of options. “Everything’s good,” I told her. No reason to make her worry. It was easier to lie to my mom over the phone than in person with her being an empath and all.

             
“Good sweetheart, I’m glad. So, want to tell me about your new school?” she asked, hopeful.

             
“Actually, I was hoping to talk to Danni. Is she there?” I asked, avoiding her question about school.

             
“No sweetie. She’s out running errands. Anything you want to talk to me about?” I could tell she was a little hurt about me wanting to talk to Danni instead of her, but with Danni it was easier. She never passed judgment and well, she wasn’t my mother. There were just some things I couldn’t talk to my mom about.

             
“Um, no, I just had a question to ask her, but it can wait,” I said, slightly disappointed.

             
“Okay honey, I’ll let her know you called…Anything else?”

             
“No. Tell everyone I said hi and give them my love.”

             
“Sure thing sweetie, I will. I love you.”

             
“I love you too mom,” I said and hung up the phone. I knew it was hard for my mom to just end the conversation. I knew she was dying to ask me a million questions, but another part of the compromise we made was that she couldn’t smother me. She had to allow me my freedom. So that’s what she did even though I knew it was killing her.

             
Disappointed that I couldn’t talk to Danni, I found myself at a loss. What could I do and where could I go to be alone? I thought about the library again, but that wasn’t private enough. I decided I was going to my room and I was going to be alone. I was going to force Mackenzie out. If she could have alone time than I could do it too.

             
When I reached my room I was fortunate enough to not have to send Mackenzie out with force. She was already gone. With a sigh of relief I put on my pajamas, then my headphones, and climbed into bed wondering how many people I could alienate and piss off tomorrow.

             
I woke up early the next day so I decided to kill time by working on my history report. I grabbed a quick bite on the way and sat in the back of the library in my usual spot. I was only a half hour into my work and I wasn’t getting very far. I even dozed off a little from all the boring reading I was doing. To get my brain working again, I got up, and searched for more books that would hopefully have some better resources.

             
I wandered through the stacks looking for just the right book when I heard someone giggle. But not just anyone, Josie. I stopped. I thought I was losing it. It wasn’t possible. I shook my head and continued to look for a book when I heard it again. Her voice echoed in the stacks.              

             
No way.

             
I let the craziness of the situation take over me and followed the sound of her laugh. It led me to the back of the library. It was so close I could almost touch it. I heard her behind me and I quickly turned around. I caught sight of her pale blond hair out of the corner of my eye. I ran after her, but every time I got in reaching distance she was gone.

             
“Josie?”

             
She kept taunting me with her laugh. Tired of spinning in circles I stopped, closed my eyes, and waited for her to come to me. I felt a presence behind me. I spun around and pinned her to the bookshelf. “What the hell freak! Have you lost your fucking mind?” Mackenzie squealed.

             
“Mackenzie, what are you doing? Why were you following me?”

             
“As if! I was here to check out a book, because you know, that’s what people do in libraries,” she said, clarifying as if I didn’t understand the whole purpose. “Then you go all schizo on me,” she spat. I stepped back and let her go, feeling embarrassed. She straightened out her shirt before taking off in a huff but not before slamming her shoulder into mine.

             
Oh what a perfect start to the morning. Just what I needed, another reason for Mackenzie to think I’m a freak. I sighed, running my fingers through my hair and checked my watch. I barely had enough time to make it back to my room and shower before my first class. I collected my things giving the aisles one last look before I left. Did I really hear Josie or was I just imagining things? For now I went with the latter. I didn’t have the time to deliberate if I was crazy or not and still make it to class on time. I left it go and decided to figure it out later.

             
I took the quickest shower possible, changed, and left with my hair soaking wet. I didn’t have time to dry it and didn’t know what the penalty was for being late so I didn’t risk it. I jogged all the way across campus, making it inside the class room just before Mr. Grant and saving myself from a lecture on tardiness. I slipped into my seat and pulled out my notes. “How embarrassing, I can’t believe she actually walked outside looking like that,” I heard Mackenzie say.

             
I turned to glare at her. “Stop staring at me freak,” she said, glaring back. But the oddest thing when she said it was that her lips never moved. “Seriously, I will cut all of your hair off in your sleep if you don’t stop staring at me.” I quickly turned around in my seat. How the hell did she do that? Could she project thoughts like Dean? Yes, that was it. That was the most logical explanation.

             
“I really hope this rash clears up. My balls are on fire,” said an unfamiliar male voice.

             
“Gross,” I said out loud.

             
“Care to comment Miss McCallister?” asked Mr. Grant.

             
Crap.

             
“No, sorry,” I said as he went back to his lecture.

             
Again I thought I heard Mackenzie talking, but I ignored it until I heard Roman’s voice next. “For a crazy bitch, she’s still pretty hot. I like a girl with curves unlike Kenzie’s rail thin body. There’s something different about this one and I intend to find out.” I looked over my shoulder at him, narrowing my eyes. He shifted in his seat. Mackenzie saw us exchange looks and gave Roman the look of death. He sat back throwing his arm over her chair while she leaned into him and gave me a smug smile.

             
I faced forward again having enough of them and their mind games. “Look at her sitting there. Her hair dripping wet. I bet she did that on purpose so I would envision her naked in the shower, lathering up her soaking wet body. I would definitely like to –”

             
“What did you just say?” I asked Roman. He looked at me like I was nuts.

             
“Miss McCallister, I will not tolerate being disrupted again. Are we clear?” Mr. Grant shouted, making me shrink down in my seat.

             
“Yes Mr. Grant,” I said, embarrassed and confused. Why was I the only one getting yelled at when I wasn’t the only one talking?

             
“I’m so tired of these kids not knowing what respect is,” Mr. Grant said. I looked around the room but no one else seemed to notice he said something or they just didn’t care.

             
I sat up straight in my chair, grabbed my pencil, and prepared to take notes. Then the voices started again.
“I’m so going to fail this test tomorrow,” “I wish she would ask me out,” “I hate my hair I wish it was smoother,” “I wish boys would notice me,” “I wish I was popular like Mackenzie.”

             
What the hell was going on? I kept hearing voices and no one’s lips were moving and I seemed to be the only one who noticed. My ears started to ring and the voices got louder and more jumbled together. I couldn’t stop it. I couldn’t block them out. My head was pounding and the voices were screaming at me now. The pressure was so over whelming I couldn’t take it anymore. “Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!” I screamed, covering my ears.

             
Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to look at me causing the chatter to grow louder than before.

             
I stood up, eyes panicked. I’m sure I looked like a deer caught in headlights. My head started to spin and my vision went blurry.

             
All eyes were on me and I couldn’t breathe.

             
I tried to steady myself but was unsuccessful. Before I knew it I was falling and falling fast.

             
When I opened my eyes I was staring up at the ceiling and lying down on a…bed? My vision and hearing was still a bit hazy and the bright fluorescent light hurt my eyes. I sat up and groaned from the pain the pressure in my head was causing. “Ella, you shouldn’t get up.”

             
“Dean, what’s going on…what happened?”  I asked confused.

             
“You fainted in class,” he said, worry written all over his face.

             
“How’d I get here?”

             
“Roman,” he said. “After you hit your head, he picked you up and carried you here. That’s what the nurse told me. Do you remember what happened?” I was afraid to tell him that I was hearing voices. Last time I checked they committed people for that. “Ella, you can tell me, whatever it is?” He said with kindness.

             
I might as well tell him. Maybe if they committed me, I would actually get some peace and quiet; it might not be that bad. I spied around the room for intruding ears. When I felt it was safe I lowered my voice and said, “I heard voices.”

             
He sat back and looked at me funny.
“She really has truly lost it,”
he thought.

             
“I’m not crazy,” I said annoyed.

             
“I didn’t say that,” he said.

             
“No? Sorry, how about this, ‘
she really has truly lost it’
,” I mocked.

             
The look of surprise on his face told me I was right. “Wait, you heard what I was thinking?” 

             
“That’s what I’m trying to say. I was hearing what everyone was thinking. I just didn’t know it at first. I thought everyone was talking out loud until I realized I was the only one who could hear them. Then all of it started to get jumbled together and my ears were ringing. It was so loud I couldn’t take it anymore. I guess that’s when I passed out,” I said, sitting back in the bed. I could only imagine how crazy I sounded.

             
“So what does this mean? Is this…is this a new power or something?” Dean looked me over rubbing his chin, concentrating. “I know what you’re thinking,” I said. “And I’m not going to use this new power, if that’s what it is, to your benefit.”

             
He frowned and sat back as the nurse walked in. “How is the patient feeling?” she asked, bending over to check my pulse.

             
“Dean! Gross!” I cringed.

             
“Stay out of my head,” he said, narrowing his eyes at me.

             
“I would if I could, trust me. Your head is the last place I want to be.” I shuddered at the memory of his last thought toward the nurse. I hope all guys didn’t think that way. Who am I kidding, of course they did.

             
“How’s your head feeling?” the nurse asked, ignoring our banter.

             
“I have a headache, but the pressure’s not as bad as before.”

             
“Well, you do have a small bump on your head so I’m going to give you some pills to help with the swelling and the headaches.”

             
I reached up and felt the small bandage that was placed above my left eyebrow. You know for being a powerful healer you’d think I’d be able to heal myself, but no, it doesn’t work that way.

             
The nurse wanted me to rest for the next couple of hours and told me I should skip the rest of my classes. I was more than happy to get a free pass, but I had to argue to be able to rest in my room. She wanted me to stay in the infirmary, afraid there might be too many distractions at the dorms. After a little convincing of why it would be better for me to rest in my own room she finally agreed on one condition. “As long as you let Dean walk you back to make sure you get there okay,” she said. I agreed and he helped me off the bed and out of the infirmary.