Chapter 31

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"Sam?! C'mon we have to go!" Mark had yelled from downstairs, clearly in a giant rush to go. I had completely forgot about tonight. I rush out of Jack's room and into mine, slamming the door behind me. Ripping off my clothes, I slip into the dusky purple dress and kept my brown leather sandals on. I ran into the bathroom, forgetting I had no makeup what-so-ever. I left my hair and traveled out of the bathroom and down the stairs, joining Mark who was standing patiently wearing a suit.

"Don't you just look dapper?" I complemented as we walked out the door to where a white Chevy truck was awaiting us. "That a rental?"

"Yeah," He answers a little embarrassed. "And I don't look nearly as good as you." He says modestly. He was wearing a suit without a tie, as well as a top hat with a red ribbon to match his equally red hair. He looked like a fancy penguin, stiffly standing by the truck waiting for me to hurry up.

"Aahhh! No Mark! I'm too modest and humble to accept compliments!" There was silence for a moment before Mark unlocked the truck and we climbed in. "So, Mark," I spoke up, trying to spark a conversation. "What's the plan for the night?"

"Um, dinner, dessert, surprise, another surprise, go home." He listed, eyes glued to the road. He was still wearing the top hat to I decided to be goofy and take it off, placing it atop my head. He looked at me in shock before smiling and refocusing on the road. "Yeah, sure go ahead. Take my hat, it looks better on you than it does me."

"On the contrary my friend, it looks way better on you. It goes with your outfit better than mine anyways." I countered, taking off the hat and fiddling with it. "So, how's Tiny Box Tim?"

"He's good. Um... Not many people have asked me that honestly." He answered honestly, and if not awkwardly.

"Heh, good. Good that he's good, not the fact not a lot of people ask you that... Oh boy." I quickly clarified, rushing my words to the point they were almost and completely gibberish. I muttered the last part under my breath, almost embarrassed at my newfound awkwardness. Good goddess, I'm turning into Dan.

"How did this get so awkward?" Mark asked, asking the question that was going through my mind.

"How did it?" I replied, then turned on the radio, "Can you believe we're all going to be separated again? It feels so weird and surreal."

"I know," Was all he said, pausing for a brief moment before speaking again. "I'm going to miss a lot of you guys. BUT!! There's going to be another PAX, and I was wondering if you wanted to be on it with me and the guys again."

I shook my head, "Sorry, I think I've had enough of PAX. Don't get me wrong, I would love to, but I can't."

"Oh," Then it was silent for the rest of the ride. I turned my head to the window and watched the seagulls and birds fly around, with no particular place to go, and I thought of how nice it must be to be free with hardly any responsibilities, no worries about rogues or wars. How peaceful everything must be for them, which only made me envious of them.

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"That was a lot of fun," I complimented, walking out of the restaurant with Mark.

"But wait, there's more!" He announced, sounding like a guy from an infomercial. "We have more in store! So let's get to it!" We laughed and climbed back into the truck, driving to the next mystery location. I was hoping it wasn't too fancy and required a lot of money, the restaurant we ate at was pretty fancy, and Mark refused to let me see the bill.

After driving for half an hour, we arrived at a horse ranch near the ocean. As we pulled up Ito the driveway, I studied the scene. It was all very rustic but at the same time had a tropical feel to it, like we ha traveled to another world. That's probably why it was called New World Horse Ranch. "We're going horseback riding?" I asked, my voice raising in surprise. I hadn't gone riding since I was three, when my uncle had invited me over to his ranch in Manatoulin Island. He loved it so much, but he had to give it up to serve his King and became a guard and right hand man. They were best friends, well they are best friends and he became Third in Command in the King's pack. We were all so proud of him when he told us, and we celebrated by going out and running under the protection of the moon and stars in the night. It was wonderful, howling at the moon and running as far as our legs could take us. It was a sense of freedom, something that my few remaining family members had long forgotten.

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"That was so much fun," I stated as we climbed back into the truck. The sun had sunk almost fully to the west and stars were starting to come out into the night, and the clouds lazily sliding across the sky.Mark closed the door and pulled out his keys, starting the truck. He nodded in agreement and drove off down the driveway to our last location, "Where are we going this time?" I asked, leaning on my elbow on the compartment between us.

He glanced at me and smiled, "Now why would I tell you?"

"Oh, I don't know.... maybe because–" I stopped mid sentence, my nose catching the scent of something. It was familiar yet so alien to me as well. My eyes dance around from one location to the next, going from bush to trees and back again. Something was here and it was bothering me, and by the way Capricorn was whining and pacing, she didn't like it either, her distress oh so clear."Stop the car."

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