Selene's New Moon

Chapter 18: Road Trip

  I awake slowly, and my awareness comes in bits and pieces.  First, I notice the vibrations- I am in a moving car again.  Next, I notice that I am warm.  When I finally notice that my head  is on someone's lap, and said person, is stroking my head, I tense and try to move.  Strong, yet gentle hands hold me down firmly.

  "Not so fast Darling.  You need to take it slow."

  Felix is right.  I squeeze my eyes shut , trying to force back the wave of dizziness that hit me, even with just that small bit of movement.  I lay still and take a big breath.

  "Good girl, " he whispers.  I can feel my face heat up.  I gather up my courage and open my eyes to look up into his face. 

  "What happened?" I ask.  

  "That's what I would like to know." Felix gives me a little smile, but it doesn't seem to reach his eyes.  I frown at him, then look around, moving my head slowly as I do.  I am lying in the back seat of Owen's car with a blanket covering me and yes, my head is resting on Felix's thigh.  His right hand is still stroking my head and his left arm is laying across the lower portion of my rib cage.  If I wasn't feeling so confused still, I would probably be freaking out about being in this position.  I notice that Owen is driving, and only the three of us are in the car.  

   "Where are the others?"  I ask, concerned.

  "They are following us in the other car Miss Selene,"  Owen answers.

  "Darling, how are you feeling?"  I look back up at Felix.  The dizziness is just about gone.

  ".... ok....," my response sounding more like a question than an answer.

  Felix's mouth dips a little in a frown. "You fainted on us.  I checked you out, but nothing seems to really be amiss.  Your energy feels a little strange, but I have not had much experience with a Chalice-  I am not sure what is normal for you really...."

  I try again to sit up, moving slowly this time and Felix helps me up.  The blanket falls, just covering my lap now, as I lower my feet to the floor and sit back against the seat.  Felix reaches over me and then buckles me in.   Then he stares at me intently.  My hands clutch at the seat belt.  He is making me nervous. 

  "Your head doesn't hurt?  How is the dizziness now that you are upright?"  Before I can respond he is taking one of my hands in his and checking my pulse.  When he is done, he keeps that hand tucked in his and then his other hand comes up to cup my chin.  He tilts my face up and looks into my eyes, like he is searching for something.   

 "I...  I  feel fine,"  I kind of stutter out.

  "hmm... you seem fine..."  he mutters.

Owen clears his throat up front.   "Miss Selene, what happened today before you passed out?"  His eyes find the rear view mirror and catch mine.  The look he gives me is short but commanding.  He wants an answer, and he wants one now. 

  I rub at the base of my spine-  I can feel a headache coming on... 

"Ah, you do have a headache.  I have some meds here... "  Felix mumbles on as he digs through a bag on the floor by his feet.  He hands me two small pills and a bottle of water.  I take the pills with the water-  using the extra time to try and gather my thoughts. 

  My voice is uncertain as I try to explain what happened.  " I am not sure what happened really.  I was trying to keep the fear and nerves under control, so I was concentrating on my breathing and on the tree I was in.  You know, how it felt, how it looked,  stuff like that.  I guess I kind of went into a trance."  I pause to collect my thoughts again.  Felix and Owen remain silent, waiting for me to continue.  Felix has turned his body slightly to face towards me, his eyes watching.  I try to ignore it.