Awakened

XXVI

I looked across the bank once more, catching her staring at me.

"Who is she?" Tom asked.

"I'll be back."

I jumped up, releasing my wings as I flew over to her speedily. I landed roughly on the bank beside her, retracting my wings as I neared her slowly. I looked her up and down, taking in every inch of her as she did the same to me.

"What are you doing here?" I decided to start with, not knowing what else to ask her.

"And here I thought you were here to thank me for saving your friends," she said innocently.

"Does Edward know you're here?"

"No. I haven't been able to find him."

"What are you doing here?" I asked again, confused as to why she was here.

"My best friend is a witch. She got a vision saying you were here and you needed me," she replied.

"You don't even know me. You expect me to believe you'd drop everything to save a stranger?"

"Believe what you want," she said, shrugging as she began to walk away from me.

"Thanks for saving my friends but it isn't safe for you here. You should leave," I called out after her.

In an instant, everything stopped. The water stopped moving, the grass stopped swaying in the light breeze. Even my friends were frozen, mouths agape from their halted conversations. I looked at her in wonder, speechless as to what to say. Edward told me she could manipulate time but seeing it face to face was something else, seeing everything frozen like this.

"As you can see, I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself," she snapped, walking away as everything proceeded in motion as if nothing had ever happened.

Everything alright?

I looked over to see Crexus watching me with concern written all over his face.

Yeah.

"Since you're here, you might as well meet the rest of my friends," I said, deciding that after saving my friends she deserved my kindness at least, even if I didn't trust her one bit.

She stopped in her path, looking back at me with a grin on her face before nodding excitedly. Something about her was warm, it reminded me of Star.

"I can take you if you want," I offered, realizing the massive distance from us and my friends.

Seeing the look of suspicion in her eyes, I decided to grab her hand and take her anyway. I didn't have the patience to sit here and argue with her. After all, our friends were still missing.

"Oh shit, you're cooler than I thought you'd be," she said excitedly, looking around like she couldn't believe she made it across the bank in a matter of seconds.

"Tom, Crexus, this is Esat," I said, keeping it vague for Edward's benefit. Which was completely pointless since Esat clearly wasn't on the same page as me on that matter.

"Hey, I'm her sister," she said, offering her hand to Tom happily, causing everyone's heads to whip around and stare at me.

"Edward made me stay quiet about it. It wasn't my choice," I said, raising up my hands in surrender.

"Wait so, you're just like her?" Joel asked.

"Same dad. Different moms," I explained.

"You're human," Crexus commented, his interest piqued.