Chapter 277

“Did you come here with your parents?” River, the eldest Simmons asked, I shook my head, “No, our sister brought us here, with our Aunt and Uncle.” “Wait – your sister?” “Yeah, she’s the Luna?” I answered not sure how to describe Chelsea to them; did everyone here know who she was? Or was it only the parents? The older ones? I didn’t know. But when understanding crossed River and Justine’s face I knew that it didn’t matter what I called her, “You’re sister is the Chosen One?” one of the Simmons girls asked. I nodded, but as the breeze picked up, the mouthwatering bouquet teased me once again, sidetracking me. After some more small talk, the older kids went back to playing, only Tera and Kiley stayed. Sighing they sat in front of me, Indian style their backs facing the game that continued without them, I saw Kiley eyeing the ipad I placed on the towel next to my thigh, “Want to see it? I’m not sure all of what’s on here, Chelsea got it for me,” I pushed it towards her, but she looked at it puzzled, “What is it?” my face went blank. “It’s an ipad, it can play music, it has games, but there are a lot of books on here, I guess Chelsea researched what I’d like so yeah, I guess she thought it’d keep me entertained,” I shrugged, but I was happy. I loved music but I enjoyed reading and if there were one thing I would miss it, would be all my books. But at a short glance I was able to see that she had placed many that would hold my interest. Kiley nodded, “We don’t have those here, we do more physical things for entertainment, playing, hiking, swimming, or we take the boat out, we can even go kayaking here on the island. Or there’s a lake, sometimes the older kids go camping up there,” she answered, her brown eyes excited as she named possible activities. “How long have you been here?” I asked her, and she smiled, “Well I was born here, all seven of us, Justine is the oldest, then Anthony, me, Farrah and Sage are ten, and Dayton and Bradley have just turned nine.” I smiled at her enthusiasm about her family and then turned to Tera, “I was born in Montana,” she rolled her eyes, “but I’m the youngest, I have three older brothers, Connor, Dominic and Kieran,” she said the last name sadly with a tight smile. “Oh, how long have you been here?” “Nine months,” she said neither happy nor sad, “The Elders and the military wanted my brother Kieran,” I listened intently. “He was kidnapped and was at one of the facilities, was there since he was six years old, but when he was thirteen, him and a few others escaped and one of the escapees he was 18 when Kieran was first brought in, could remember the facts that he talked about before they took his memories away. When they escaped, they all came to us, they didn’t know where else to go, or who to trust, and the six of them, Kieran was the only one who had family left. All the others, their families were killed when they were taken, so they came in the middle of the night,” Tera looks past me a haunted look in her eyes, “When they told mom and dad what had happened, that they escaped, and weren’t let go, Dad knew we’d have to run so we did, all of us.” I gave her a sad smile, wondering for a moment if the way Ben and I left would keep dad and the rest of my family safe or if we had left them to die. “But you know what?” she said with a bit more perk, “I don’t remember when Kieran was taken, but it really hurt my parents, especially all those years not know. The not knowing was killing them, they didn’t just shut down you know, but each year that went by it was horrible. And since we were shifters he couldn’t be claimed as missing, but when he came back, even though we were sorta on the run, and looking over our shoulders, our family still felt complete,” her lip shook. Tera rested her chin onto her knees cradled against her chest, “When we came here, and learned of what was going on,” her eyes flicked over to the thick brush, “I want your sister to make the people pay for what they did to my family and my brother.” “Did they – I mean, was he hurt physically?” I asked awkwardly, Tera nodded and Kiley placed a hand on her arm in support, “but it’s worse, he’s never spoken. And then, after two months he shifted, and hasn’t shifted back since.” “My dad – Marlon – he says that it’s because Kieran feels safe in his wolf form,” Kiley offered. And so they continued sharing – while the island breeze gave me teasing shots of the fragrance –  with me until abruptly I stood, startling them, “Sorry, uh... Chelsea is calling me,” I tapped my head lying, entering the bush I began tracking the scent.