Excluded [On Hold]

Excluded (Chapter Nine)

Chapter Nine

~Jayden~

I looked at everyone in turn.  Evey was mending a cut on Shane's cheek, Justine and Adam were helping Addison's parents out of the water, and Addison was getting off the floor of the boat.  Many questions started forming in my head, but I could think of only one that needed answering.

"Where's Leon?" I asked.

"Anthony came and took Leon, as well as Quinn and Andy," Shane explained to us.

Addison fell to her knees, tears threatening to fall.  I wanted to think of something to say to comfort her, but my mind was blank.  Leon had been one of her best friends, and now he was gone.  Also, he might end up like Amber.  My heart started to beat faster at the thought of another person dying like that.  I was nervous now, but what could I do?  None of us had any idea where Anthony was right now.

I walked over to the back of the boat.  Addison's parents had gone inside and I felt the boat move forward once again.  There wasn't anything to see in the water, so I was about to turn away when something caught my eye.  It was bright, and I had to squint and really focus to figure out what it was.

It was a woman.

She hadn't been there a second ago, but was there now.  She had long white hair traveling down to her waist, and it was beautiful.  She wore a long white dress with pale blue diamonds lined up around her waist, shoulders, at the end of her sleeves and at the hem of her dress.  The sleeves fell all the way to her wrists, the back of it falling a foot farther.  Her eyes were closed, and she was near enough for me to tell that her skin was pale and flawless.  Then again, her skin might just look pale because of the glow.  She really was beautiful.

She opened her eyes, looking straight at me.  I turned toward the others, but no one else seemed to notice her presence.  I reverted my attention back to the woman, who was standing on the water.  It was strange that no one else had noticed her, especially with such a bright glow she was emitting.  Yet, for some reason I didn't point her out to any of them.

As the boat moved away from her, I leaned forward over the edge.  I didn't want her to go, even though I didn't have a clue who she was.

"Jay, what are you looking at?" I heard Aqua ask me.  I turned around to see nearly everyone looking at me.  Addison was looking at the ground.

I turned back to the woman, but she was gone.  Even though I would normally have told them, I decided to keep it a secret.

"Nothing," I lied, walking away from the edge to rejoin the group.

"Well, you looked like you were going to fall off of the boat," Justine mentioned.

"Oh, sorry I was just thinking."

"About?" Shane made a gesture for me to tell them what I had been thinking.  I quickly thought something up.

"Well, Leon said that he used to live in Willow, right?" No one answered, some just nodded.  "So, maybe Anthony still lives there."

Addison raised her head to look at me.  "Yeah, but he didn't say where in Willow.  It's a big place."  Addison was right.

"Well, it's a start," I said sheepishly.  I still couldn't get the image of that strange woman out of my head.  Who was she?

"I guess we'll find out when we get there," Justine said, relaxing againt the wall.

"Um," I began, remembering something.  "None of you guys even told your parents or siblings that you were leaving, except for Addison."  I didn't either, but I didn't say that.