Forbidden Choices Read online

  Chapter 2

  I open my eyes and clutch tightly to the side of the outdated bus seat. The bus slams forward with an earth-shattering speed. I stare straight ahead and trace the diamond pattern with my long, lean fingers. We barrel through more of the same Midwestern scenery: Old barns, corn as far as the eye can see in faded gold and green tints of color, tractors and every so often a cow speckled here and there on a slope. The simplicity of it all makes it appealing in an outlandish way.

  “Jacksonville, IL”

  I wonder what it’s like to make a living off shouting out city names and dropping people off in either the most familiar places or the most foreign destinations.

  When someone travels they either know where they’re going or they’re trying to figure out where they want to be. There really are only two kinds of travelers. One of them has always had a set, pre-destined journey and the other is on a path of mystery and adventure. I’d rather be on the path that leads me to adventure, but not everyone feels that way though.

  The bus comes to a halt in front of a sleepy southern town. I try to ignore the line of strangers attempting to get on the already over-crowded bus. I don’t do all that well with people. I’ve always been skittish in social situations like an alley cat unacquainted with the social luxuries of a house cat.

  I close my eyes once more and rest my forehead against the seat.

  I sense someone standing over me by the sudden breeze in the small cramped area. Whoever it is they move quickly.

  “Is this seat taken Ma’am?”

  I lean back and rest my head against the cool leather headrest staring at the speaker with the casual southern drawl. I look up to find (to my surprise) a tall and very handsome man in his early twenties standing above me, trying hopelessly to shove his tiny blue, over-used suitcase in one of the overhead compartments. His giant, luminous gray eyes lock with mine and he surprises me with a lopsided grin.

  As my eyes scan hesitantly downwards I notice every insignificant feature of this unusual stranger.

  He is wearing a gray T-shirt, which fits snuggly to the contour of his muscles and a pair of blue jeans tight enough to leave very little to the imagination. He looks like he jumped from the cover of the latest Rolling Stones magazine and entered reality only to be mildly disappointed by it.

  I lick my lips and scoot over to the empty seat next to the window.

  He sits down as the bus jolts forward intensely.

  His dark raven hair shines with just a little too much gel and the smell nauseates me. I try to think of the scenery outside, of anything but the extremely attractive man to my left. We ride together in silence for quite some time; it feels like an eternity.

  I can feel him looking at me with longing, sideways glances, as if we had met before this moment.

  I can’t help but look over at him with this strange sense that I have seen him once somewhere. I try to stare out at the scenery, but the endless amounts of corn and bean fields rolling by are becoming somewhat infinite.

  Finally, the stranger and I lock eyes.

  “Are you lost?”

  It’s such a strange question from such a familiar entity.

  “W-what do you mean?” I hesitate.

  “Oh. It’s nothing. It must by my intuition playing tricks on my mind. You just seem so sad, and you are way too beautiful to ever feel that way. Unless you are one of the chosen few…”

  The boy with the wistful eyes trails off, gazing off into a place that I am not invited.

  I smile feeling relieved. There for a second I thought he could read my mind because if he could he would have known that I did feel lost. That was how I was feeling about the world at that exact moment, but I felt better knowing he just assumed I looked sad and lost.

  It was still a very strange coincidence, one that I couldn’t just ignore.

  “My father just died.”

  I say letting the words linger on my tongue like a bad taste in my mouth that will not go away. It is the first time I have said the words out loud. My mouth feels like metal.

  “I’m very upset.”

  The words surprise me. I hadn’t really thought about how I was feeling.

  “Well, I’m very sorry for your loss. I’m sure good things are bound to come your way.”

  He pauses as if contemplating what he wants to say next.

  “By the way, where are you headed? I’m not sure where I’m going, but I know I have to get the hell out of Jacksonville. That place is swarming with creeps.”

  He says with a quick, nervous glance behind him.

  “Creeps, I thought they lived everywhere now.”

  I say in a joking manner.

  “Pretty and smart, you’re a keeper.”

  He winks at me, his gray eyes flash excitedly.

  The mood seems to change around us in an instant. He looks at me seriously, and I notice his eyes darken. They’re burning into me as they turn hazy. It’s almost as if he’s trying to burrow deep inside my head, but I can’t stop staring at his eyes. My head sears with unbearable pain.

  “Alison.”

  Something whispers near me, and my eyes widen in astonishment. It’s almost as if it were inside of me… that voice.

  “Alison, can you hear me?”

  It was inside of my head. I squeal aloud, and put my hand over my mouth. The strange boy puts his finger to my lips and I jolt backwards banging my head against the headrest.

  “No need to be afraid. Just listen to me for a moment. It’s my job; I can get inside of people’s minds. You can talk back to me without actually speaking. All you have to do is think about what you want to say. Do not say anything out loud because we are being watched.”

  The man takes his finger from my lips and stares at me with an anxious look. A million thoughts explode through my mind and I can hear an echo in my mind, a painful reminder that tells me that this man is going to hear everything I’m thinking.

  “What is going on?”

  “How do you know my name?”

  “Who do you work for?”

  My body feels as if it’s being torn in two. My skull burns in agony. It hurts like hell, as if my insides are scorching. It also feels soothing as if a part of me has been missing until this moment.

  A million unanswered questions linger in an invisible channel that links our two minds. The stranger sighs deeply and rubs his hands together trying not to look at me. I wonder how obvious it is to the people sitting around us that we are communicating this way.

  “I can’t tell you very much yet. All you need to know is that I am a Protector sent to you from the Kingdom of Newhollow. It is a district of the Deepwood Forest. Your father sent me to retrieve you because he had a feeling that you were being followed and watched. I promise that as soon as we reach a safe destination I will explain everything to you.”

  “Where are you going?”

  The stranger looks up at me with hopeful eyes.

  “You can’t expect me to tell my destination to a stranger.”

  I smirk and chomp on my gum loudly, trying to distract myself from the situation.

  “I am Theo Veltri. I’m the King’s Advisor. You are the daughter of the King of Newhollow. The beautiful lost Princess will finally return home.”

  My mouth opens so wide that the gum I’m chewing falls to the floor, but I don’t have time to think about it. I can’t think about anything except for that last word he said: Home…

  I want to laugh, but I don’t want to seem rude. I knew when I met this peculiar stranger something was off about him. He is insane. I am going along with this charade believing that were having some deep conversation in our minds. Maybe, I’m the one who is a little crazy.

  What is wrong with me?

  This bizarre man just told me that I am a lost Princess. I think my mother’s madness has finally found its way inside of my mind.

  Well, I guess if my mother taught me anything, it was that you have to run really fast in scary situations
. If you don’t know how to handle conflict just ignore it.

  “Alison.”

  Oh no, get the voices out of me. I want to scream, but I don’t want this attractive man sitting next to me to know that I’m going mad.

  “Alison.”

  These voices are persistent. The stranger looks up from his shoes and stares at me with alarmed eyes. I ignore him and stare down at my hands and bite my lip.

  “Champaign, Illinois.”

  I leap from my seat with more agility then I knew I possessed in my petite frame. I manage to squeeze by the handsome stranger. He quickly realizes what is happening and tries to grab my hand to pull me aside, but luckily I only have to snatch my backpack from the overhead compartment.

  I run off the bus without looking behind me again. I know if the stranger is going to follow me he will only be a few seconds behind me, and I need to find a place to hide until then.

  I scan the overcrowded bus station.

  There aren’t a lot of places for me to hide out so I choose the women’s bathroom.

  I know he can’t find me inside of there.

  “Alison.”

  Strange, the voices haven’t stopped following me in here. I open up one of the stall doors and take a seat on the somewhat clean toilet. I open up my backpack and look at the time.

  It blinks wildly at me.

  12:53.

  I wonder how long I’m going to have to sit in this stall for.

  “Alison. I know you’re in the women’s bathroom.”

  “Of course, you know where I’m at. You’re the voice inside my head.”

  “I am not the voice in your head. Come outside right now.”

  “No.”

  “I will come in there, and I really want to be a gentleman about this.”

  “Well, if you come in here I guess I know I’m not crazy.”

  The bathroom door creaks open. I scoot my backpack with my foot.

  I look down to see a pair of gray converse under my stall door. There is a knock at my door and I frown knowing that it’s the eccentric man from the bus. I let out a frustrated heave as a woman screams upon entering the bathroom to find a man standing there.

  I hear nervous whispering as he tries to calm her down and she whispers that she understands. I open up the stall door.

  “He’s with me.”

  I grab his arm and lead him away from the pretty blonde girl gawking at him, as if he is some prime cut of meat and not a human being. His cheeks are a fiery red and I smirk at the hilarity of this situation.