Chapter 32
Hope you enjoy!
Chapter Quote:
"One of you, two of them. Love's a bitch."
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Chapter 32
Elsa
I didn't leave Josilyn's side all day. I had Ember bring our dinner. It was about eleven at night when someone knocked on her door. Josilyn called out for whoever it was to come in. To be honest, I thought it was going to be Hunter coming to confess his undying love for my best friend but that didn't happen. The idiot was still ignoring her. Instead it was Dom.
"Hey, Elsa, can I talk to you?" Dom asked.
"Um..." I hesitated because I really didn't want to leave Josilyn in the state she was in.
"Go. I'll be fine. Promise," Josilyn said, nudging me. Reluctantly I listened to her and went out into the hallway with Dom. We walked down the corridor to his room where Noah, Ember, and a girl I'd never met were waiting.
"We're going to get Anna tonight. We leave in half an hour. Get dressed, get whatever you need. I can supply you with some weapons along with Tiana," Dom explained, nodding towards the girl I didn't know. I smiled at her before saying I'd go get ready right now. I dashed out of his room, coming to a sliding stop in front of Spencer's room. I prayed that he was in before I knocked. Thankfully he was. He opened the door wearing nothing but sweatpants. If I wasn't so excited to be going after Anna, I might've actually been distracted by his flawless body.
Pushing him into his room, I shut the door behind us and faced him. Spencer had raised his eyebrows, an amused look on his face. "You know Elsa, last time I had a girl shove me into my room and shut the door, it led to a heavy makeout session."
"Later. Listen, I need your help," I said.
Instantly he became serious. "With what?"
"Okay, this is going to sound completely insane and absurd but after what happened with Callie, I'm more willing to believe this." I then dove into the story about Dom and Anna, trying to explain as fast as I could so I could have time to get ready and so could Spencer. "If Anna really is out there, I don't care what the consequences are for me going to get her. I want my sister back and I would do anything to get her."
"Where are we meeting?" Spencer queried.
"Dom's room. Ember and Noah are already there along with a Weaver named Tiana. They're just waiting for us. They leave in fifteen minutes so we need to hurry. Get dressed and I'll meet you there." Giving him a kiss on the cheek, I went into my room, grabbed a leather jacket, put on a pair of boots, and threw my hair up in a ponytail. I exited my room just as Spencer left his. We went to Dom's room together where they were all waiting for us.
"Why is he coming along?" Noah asked, making a face.
"Why are you?" Spencer countered.
"Okay, let's go," I interjected before the two seconds could get into a fight. Tiana nodded and wove a portal. On the other side of it was a place filled with trees.
"Where exactly is that?" Ember asked.
"Crystal, Colorado," Dom answered. "Let's go."
We stepped through the portal, landing next to a beautiful river with small rapids. Thankfully we ended up on the side next to the house. Dom turned to face all of us and said, "We need to split into groups. Any ideas?"
I spoke up. "You and I go as a pair, then Ember and Spencer, and Noah and Tiana. There's two floors right? So you and I take the top, Ember and Spencer take the bottom, and Noah and Tiana take the outside to make sure no one leaves the place."
"Who died and made you boss?" Noah snapped. "Why can't I go with Ember?"
"Noah, I don't want to argue with you right now. It's best that there's someone in each group that Anna knows so she'll recognize at least one person. I'd put Ember with you instead of Spencer but I want to talk to Dom and if I put Spencer with Tiana instead, then that would be a group of people Anna didn't know and wouldn't trust. For all we know, she won't trust any of us because she probably doesn't remember much of us, if any at all except for maybe Dom. Please do as I say. This is my sister we're talking about." Much to my surprise, Noah mumbled an agreement, not even trying to argue with me. "Thank you, Noah."
He nodded at me but said nothing else. Dom and I entered first, carefully tip-toeing through the house and looking out for any sign of someone living there.
"So what did you want to talk to me about?" Dom whispered. We were walking back to back so we had three-sixty vision so we couldn't be blindsided by an attack.
"You never told me what my sister was like. I know she's going to be different after all these years but I want to know how different," I said.
"She's calculating, she's sarcastic but knows when not to be, she has a soft side to her to people she cares about. She picked her battles carefully. Most stuff easily rolled off of her but when she did decide to fight something, she never lost. No one could sneak around like she could."
I felt a small smile form on my face. "So I guess even being separated for so many years, we still act relatively the same."
"You do actually. Sometimes I have to remind myself that you're not Anna. Speaking of, let's go find her and bring her home."
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Noah
Tiana and I walked around the house. Multiple times I thought I saw a shadow lurking about through the woods but each time it was just an illusion created by the moonlight and the trees. There was something decidedly creepy about this place and I quickly realized it was because this place was so remote. There was no civilization anywhere near it. How did anyone who lived here get food? Or water? Or internet?
"Elsa? What are you doing out here by yourself?" Tiana asked.
I glanced back over my shoulder. Elsa was looking like she'd been caught in a clandestine act of some sort. I glanced up and down at her before questioning, "Were you wearing that the entire time?"
Elsa glanced down at her outfit. "Yeah, why?"
"I thought you were wearing a- never mind. What are you doing without Dom? Where'd he go?"
"Oh, we got separated. I'm searching for him now."
"Outside? Don't you think Tiana and I would've seen him if he had gone outside?" I pointed out.
Elsa sighed. "You don't know how stealthy he is. But you're right, you would've caught him. I'll go back inside."
I watched the youngest Laroche trudge back inside. Shaking my head at her weirdness and deciding this whole Anna search was getting to her, I shrugged it off. Besides, it smelled like Elsa so it couldn't be Anna who was talking. A few minutes passed when I heard footsteps behind me and Tiana. We turned around to see Elsa, Dom, Ember, and Spencer walking up to us.
"We couldn't find her," Ember said dejectedly.
"It doesn't make sense," Dom remarked. "I know she's here. She's supposed to be. I figured out the places she was going. She was coming here."
"There was certainly evidence left behind that someone was staying here very recently so maybe we just missed her. We'll keep searching for her, okay?" Elsa said, trying to comfort Dom. He gave a thankful smile.
"Elsa, did you change outfits?" I queried.
"No, I've been wearing this all night," she replied.
"Don't play games with me. I just saw you wearing a brown leather jacket, not a black one."
"Noah, I don't own a brown leather jacket. Why are you asking?"
"Because when you came out earlier searching for Dom, you were wearing a brown one."
Elsa blinked. "I never left Dom's side tonight."
"Yes you did. Tiana and I both saw you," I argued."
"Ember, Tiana, take the outside patrol. Make sure no one escapes past you and if you catch me leaving the house again, detain me. I'll take Dom again on the first floor. Noah, Spencer, take the second floor. Please behave yourselves."
"What's going on?" I demanded as we walked back into the house.
"The Elsa you encountered earlier wasn't me. That was Anna," Elsa explained, barely hiding the excitement in her voice. "She's here. She's actually here. We just need to find her. Now go!"
Spencer and I headed upstairs.
"Why don't we split up?" I suggested, cover more ground, that'll make it harder for her to get past us."
"I don't think splitting up is a great idea," Spencer replied. "If she fights anything like Elsa, we're in trouble alone."
"Please, we're twice her size. Pretty sure we could take them on." Shaking my head, I went into a room, whispering Anna's name so as not to startle her. I heard Spencer open another bedroom door. I peered under and around furniture in that room and found nothing. I moved onto the next. And the next. Each room yielded no sign of Anna. Giving up, I went into the last room where I saw Spencer go in. He wasn't in any of them.
"Spencer?!" I yelled. Elsa appeared at the bottom of the stairs.
"Noah, what's going on?" she asked.
"Are you really Elsa?" I countered. She glared at me with an expression that clearly she did not have time for my antics. "Yep you're definitely Elsa. Spencer disappeared. I can't find him."
"What do you mean you can't find him?"
"I mean he's pulled a D.B. Cooper and vanished. I know he didn't go down the stairs either."
"Are there any secret passages up there?"
"Not that I found. I checked all the rooms he was in and no such luck."
"Listen, you go search downstairs with Dom. I'll search up here by myself."
"Is that at all safe?"
"If what Dom told me is true, I'm the only one who stands a chance beating her in a fight. Mostly because if it is her, I'm pretty sure she'll stop fighting against the person who looks exactly like her. I'm the best one to be alone. Go. I'll be fine."
"I know we haven't been getting along recently, but promise me you'll be okay."
"I'll be fine Noah. Go tell Dom what's happened." We switched places, her going upstairs and I headed downstairs. After explaining the situation to Dom, we split up searching the first floor. There were less rooms and hiding spots so I was sure that if Anna was hiding down here, we'd find her.
At that moment, I heard a groan from the room across the hall. Running into it, I saw Spencer lying on his back on the floor in front of the fireplace, rubbing his head.
"Dude, what happened to you?" I demanded, kneeling next to him.
"Yeah, splitting up. Great idea dude," he replied, giving me an 'I-told-you-this-was-a-bad-idea-and-you-didn't-listen-to-me' look.
"That doesn't explain what happened."
"I don't know. All I remember is being yanked into the fireplace, it was pitch black, a creepy voice asked me who I was and me being a smartass, I said the person trying to get away from the creepy person who I can't see. Next thing I know I wound up here and woke up to your voice. At least your voice isn't disembodied. It was freaking creepy as hell."
"Yeah, well, we still have to find Anna so let's-" Spencer's gaze shifted from me to something behind me. I felt the hair on my neck stand up. "Something's behind me, isn't it?"
"No. Sudden. Movements," Spencer said quietly.
"Oh that's very reassuring. Thank you," I growled. I slowly turned around and felt my heart speed up. A black wolf stood in the shadows, its teeth bared and hackles raised. Clearly if I didn't pacify them soon, I was a dead man. Or wolf... wolf-man?
"Hey there," I said, raising up my hands. "My name is Noah McKay. This is Spencer Barnes. We're not here to cause trouble. Can you change into a human so we can talk normally? Like civil human beings?"
I stood up completely and that was the wrong move to do. I barely dodged out of the way before the black wolf leapt at me.
"You suck at appeasing angry Guardians, Noah!" Spencer shouted, rolling away from the pissed off wolf.
"Shut up!" I yelled. The wolf charged at me again. Unfortunately I'd backed myself into a corner so I had no placed to run. Halfway through the leap, a white wolf knocked the black one out of the air. They rolled on the ground. Dom pulled me to the doorway. Spencer sidled along the wall, watching the wolves fight as he made his way towards us. Elsa was on top of the black wolf but it kicked her off high into the air. Elsa shifted midway and landed on her feet like a ninja. The black wolf leapt up, immediately getting into attack position. But when they saw Elsa, they stopped baring their teeth. They lowered their hackles. They stood up straight, cocking their head. Elsa never broke eye contact with them, ever so slowly standing up. The wolf transformed and I saw double.
Anna walked cautiously up to Elsa as if she couldn't believe that what she was seeing was her twin. Elsa stood stock still, letting her twin come up to her. Anna placed her hands on Elsa's cheeks, staring at her intently.
"Elsa?" she whispered, her voice catching a little.
At the sound of her name, Elsa let out a relieved laugh. "Anna?"
Both of them began crying tears of happiness as they pulled each other into a bone-crushing hug. They whispered a lot to each other, but the only sentences I heard were "I can't believe it's you" and "I thought I'd never see you again" and "oh my god."
I felt Dom tug at my sleeve. He jerked his head slightly to the door. We silently walked outside, leaving the two girls to have some alone time together.
"Hey, what's going on?" Ember asked. "Where's Elsa? And Spencer, what happened to your head?"
"Anna hit me in the head I think."
"You saw Anna?" Ember asked, instantly standing up straighter.
"Why don't you go see her for yourself?" Dom said. "First door on the left."
Ember darted away. Spencer, Dom, Tiana, and I stayed outside. It seemed like forever before the girls came back out. I'd never really seen Ember cry except for when Anna died and when Caleb ran away. I'd certainly never seen her cry tears of joy. Anna walked in the middle of the two girls, holding their hands. Even being separated for ten years, the twins were identical. The only reason I knew who was who was because I remembered who'd been wearing which jacket.
"Okay, introductions," Elsa began, her voice wavering. I could tell she was trying not to cry. "Anna, this is Noah McKay, mom's second's son."
"Noah... I- I sort of remember you. You jumped out of a closet at me because you were trying to scare Ember but you ended up scaring me," Anna said with a small smile.
"Yeah. You punched me in the gut and broke my ear drums with your scream," I remarked.
"Sorry..."
"This is Spencer Barnes, he's in an allied wolf pack. You'll meet his packmates later," Elsa introduced.
"Hi Spencer, nice to meet you," Anna said, shaking his hand.
"Nice to meet you too," he told her kindly.
"This is Tiana. She's the one who wove a portal for us to get here. That's her job as a Searcher, a Weaver," Elsa explained. Pleasantries were exchanged between the two of them. "And then you know Dom so I don't think introductions are required there."
Anna's eyes became murderous. She growled, "What are you doing here?" Turning to Elsa, she demanded, "What is he doing here?"
Elsa looked bewildered. "He works for the Searchers. He's the one that told us about you. He's the one that found you. Why?"
"Why would you trust a Hunter?!"
"What?!" I exclaimed.
Dom sighed before correcting, "Ex-Hunter. I didn't know what they were actually planning on doing. They lied to me and being in the position I was in, I needed the money."
"What exactly did the Hunters tell you?" I snarled.
"They told me that there were packs of wolves out there that were serious nuisances. They were smart, cunning, and deadly. They never told me you were half human. I never would've helped them if I'd known that."
"What was your job? Did you ever kill a Guardian?"
"No. Because of my size and build, they deemed me more of an intimidator. They sent me after people who weren't paying their dues. Both me and Anna. Once I figured out what was really going on, I got out as soon as I could. I've been watching out for your pack ever since, not just to help you but also to spite the Hunters. I'm sorry I never told you. I thought you wouldn't believe me about Anna if you knew beforehand."
"I saw we lock him up," I said.
"I second that," Anna agreed.
"No. Dom is telling the truth. He's in the presence of four Guardians and a Searcher. He knows we'd know if he was lying. I can tell you he's not," Elsa defended. "You also kept your promise about finding my sister. For that, I'm willing to ignore the fact that you used to work for the Hunters and believe you've changed. I do suggest telling Babatunde everything though. He's a good judge of character. He'll make the right call with your situation."
"When we get back, I'll ask to speak with Babatunde," Dom promised.
"Speaking of getting back, we've been here a few hours. Someone's bound to have noticed that you're all gone," Tiana pointed out. Everyone agreed to go back. Anna shifted into wolf form. Elsa did too. None of the rest of us did because we knew they wanted a private chat between each other.
Once Tiana wove the portal, we jumped through. The twins went first, followed by Ember, then me, then Spencer, then Dom, and finally Tiana. She closed the portal and bade us goodnight.
"Um, before I see anyone, can I shower? I haven't in days and I feel gross," Anna admitted, glancing down at herself.
"Of course. I have some clothes you can wear. Let's go to my room," Elsa said. The twins started walking away, chattering already and catching up. The four of us watched them leave. Ember intertwined her hand with mine and whispered, "I can't believe she's back."
"It's unreal," I responded.
"I'm going to bed. I'll see you all in the morning," Dom informed. He walked away. Spencer was soon to follow. Ember led me to her room where she curled up in my arms, resting her head on my chest.
"I just hope when I wake up that this wasn't all a dream," she confessed.
I kissed her on the head. "Don't worry. It won't be."
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Anna is back! Hope you enjoyed the chapter- I know I enjoyed writing it :) Review please!
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