The Hirt

Chapter Fourteen

14

The five Kidellians plus Damien shuffled on board the crowded plane, Heather leading the way.  She checked her boarding pass once more for her seat number, printed neatly underneath their destination, Sacramento.  She had never been to California before, but she figured this trip wouldn’t give her much time to go sight-seeing.  Heather glanced at the faces of the innocent people sitting in their seats as she made her way down the narrow aisle.  It hit her that these were the people she was doing all of this for; if she failed, all of these people would be either dead or under the command of Lykos.  Both of these options left an uneasy feeling sitting in the bottom of her stomach.

Heather plopped down in her window seat, with Jimba settling into the middle seat next to her and Henry occupying the aisle seat.  She heard Damien, Matt, and Ivy getting comfortable in the row behind them.  Heather studied the citizens in the plane, all of whom she imagined lived relatively normal lives.   A woman soothed her baby with a bottle.  A young girl dozed off with her headphones plugged in.  A teenage boy played a game on his laptop.  A man in his late twenties heaved a huge golf bag into the overhead compartment.  Heather frowned.  Was he allowed to bring such a large bag on the plane?  She glanced at the petite flight attendant standing in the front of the plane, but she looked undisturbed.  Heather shrugged it off; she had never traveled much, so what did she know?

Jimba nudged Heather next to her and pointed out the man Heather was just looking at and snorted. “That guy is the reason why we should just let Lykos take over and get rid of idiots.  He took up, like, the entire overhead bin!” 

Heather nodded.  “I know!  I was just thinking the same thing!”  She and Jimba giggled together, and Heather realized Jimba was the only one of the Kidellians she didn’t really know.

“So, how did you get to meet Damien?” Heather asked as the laughter subdued.

“Well, it all started when I was born,” Jimba raised her hands in front of her, imitating the old monkey, Rafiki, when he held up Simba, and started singing the song from the beginning of the movie “Lion King.”  Heather stared at her at first, not sure whether to laugh or not, but then she heard Henry cracking up.  She burst into laughter, causing the people in the row in front of them to turn around and stare.  Jimba started to sing louder and even more off-key. 

“MaaaaAAAAAA! SvvvEENNAAA! MAMAMAMEEEESHOONANA!” Heather and Henry laughed harder, and the man with the huge golf bag shushed them. 

“Oh, shove it, Golf Man,” Jimba said.  Heather and Henry stopped laughing for a moment.  This was so unlike Jimba, it caught both of them off-guard for a moment.  Then, all three of them spiraled into another round of giggles.  Golf Man looked miffed, and something flashed across his eyes, but then he turned back to his magazine without another word.  Their laughter had died off as the flight attendant started going through the emergency procedures. 

Heather shifted uncomfortably in her stiff chair.  She stared out of the tiny window and tried to push back the uneasiness she felt.  As soon as she had stepped onto the plane, it was as if a tiny alarm were going off in her head.  Heather couldn’t help but think of that stupid dream that she kept having.  The dream where someone is stepping toward her, threatening her, pushing her, and suddenly she’s falling.  Heather shook her head and brushed away those thoughts.  She told herself that it was just because she was in an airplane, and that’s where she always falls from in the dream.

Heather stared out the window as the plane crept away from the boarding gate.  She let out a puff of air and closed her eyes, hoping for some much needed sleep.

Heather stood up and stretched her tired limbs.  She glanced around and saw the other passengers, including the Kidellians, follow suit.  Looking out the small window, she saw the sun shining brightly in the sky.  They had just landed in Sacramento, and Heather was itching to get off the plane.  Her nerves had never calmed; she still felt uncomfortable about being in the plane.  Why, she had no idea.  I mean, it was just a scary dream she had had a few times.  Right?