The Time Turner Society { Undergoing Edits! }

Chapter 16:

I burst through the dry stalks, my eyes landing immediately on her.

Evaline stares down at the bloody Dominion raider. His eyes are glazed over, and jutting from his neck is the double-bladed knife Oren had given her. I slowly approach her.

"Evaline?" I reach for her hand, and she jumps away from me. "Come on, Evaline. It's just me," her eyes meet mine, and she nods. I grab her arm and guide her in the right direction of the port. After she goes a few steps into the corn, I retrieve the blade and wipe it off on the edge of the man's shirt. It isn't the first dead body I've seen. I slip the blade quickly into my bag and then start after my sister.

We make it to the edge of the corn, and from there we can see the port clearly. It's tiny; a simple waiting area with a front desk and no more than ten chairs; a runway attached to a hangar only big enough to hold two small propeller planes. Eros and Quentin are waiting on the grassy slope between us and the runway. Evaline hasn't said a word, but I understand why. She isn't crying, which is a good sign, but her face still has the hard resolve of someone who's hiding, not like someone who's okay with what happened.

"'Bought time," Quentin says. He's starting to get as snippy as Eros.

"She alright?" the short Italian asks, his eyes flickering over Evaline. She nods.

"Let's go," I start down the hill, and the others waste no time catching up. There's no one behind the desk inside the building; the entire place looks deserted. Eros heads over to do routine checks on the plane and Quentin starts to snoop around for fuel.

"You protected yourself," I say quietly. Evaline looks up at me. "That's what you had to do. To get to Blayke, to figure... all this out. You had to do it, Evaline."

"I know," she sighs, stuffing her hands into the pocket of her sweatshirt. "I just... it makes me sick. I know I had to - he would have killed me if I hadn't - I just can't believe I did it. And... I don't feel bad. More just like... surprised." she shakes her head, then looks back at me and smiles.

"But I know I had to. And I'll be okay. Once I get to Blayke... I'll be fine." I nod. I haven't known her long enough to meddle too deeply in her life. I know she's not a hundred percent okay; I wouldn't expect her to be. But I leave it be, for now. Blayke could probably help her more than I can.

It takes about an hour before everything is ready, but the rest is well-needed and neither of us complain. Evaline hasn't ridden in a plane before, not even a hovercraft, so she's unsteady on her feet at first. She figures out the buckle by herself, and she keeps her bag securely on her lap.

"Might as well make yourselves comfortable, folks. We got a seven hour flight, followed by an hour break to refuel and another five hours before we make it across the Eastern Seas." Eros announces over the intercom system. Evaline unbuckles and pushes her chair as far back as it will go. The plane's only a twelve-seater, and Quentin's all the way in the back of her row, so she doesn't have anyone else's comfort to worry about. She pulls a small blanket over herself and curls against something, facing towards the small and grimy window. It's dark outside, and from what I can see of the corn stalks the wind hasn't died down. I pull two of my stones out of my bag and run my fingers over the names etched into them. Eros swings us out of the hangar and we gain speed as the plane lurches down the runway.

As we lift into the air, I see flames rising above the corn stalks out in the distance.

Around the same area that Knapsack occupies.