AEGIS ↠ EMBRY CALL [R.U]

1| HOMECOMING

     It was with the mist of rain and tiny pellets of hail that Reed had driven along the, seemingly, never-ending road through Forks, Washington, towards the small Quileute Indian Reservation. The soft murmur of the radio settled Reed and Callas into a comfortable silence as the sun began to set just beyond the tops of the moss-covered trees. Callas sat with her head down, reading one of her old books, occasionally looking up to see how much distance had passed since the last time she looked up.

     The dark, old, weathered Jeep Wrangler tore through the empty highway road, surrounded by the heavily dense forest, and splashed through the large puddles forming on the road. Reed kept his eyes focused on the darkening road ahead of him, the fourteen miles from Forks was beginning to feel like forty, even at the speed his Jeep was going at, especially since he had been driving almost nonstop for around-about fifteen hours. All he wanted to do was settle into a nice warm and comfortable bed and sleep for about a week or so.

     Callas glanced up from her book, the sun had almost completely settled, the moon was beginning to peak up from the other side of the trees. She smiled to herself, finally glad to be back to the place where she grew up for the first six years of her life. Granted she didn't remember that much, apart from the horrific accident of losing one of her stuffed teddies to the ocean that one dreadful day. She still cursed the waters that took her favourite green rabbit with the left eye button missing.

     She bookmarked her page, putting the book on the dashboard as she rubbed her eyes, yawning. The only thing she truly hated about moving was being cramped in a small space for hours at a time, losing the feeling in her butt as she was confined to the badly stuffed seats. She stretched her body as best as she could with a small groan leaving her lips, with Reed chuckling at her when the belt prevented her from going very far when it locked with a click.

     "It's not funny, Reed." Callas rolled her eyes as she settled back down on her seat, resting her left arm on the arm rest separating the two of them.

     "It is a bit." He laughed. "You haven't done much apart from read that book and eat my leftover pretzels."

     "What do you expect me to do? Plan an entire musical to perform for your own amusement?"

     "I wouldn't have objected to having the sound of a thousand blended cats keeping me awake the entire trip compared to having the terrible music Dad left for us in this Jeep." Reed grinned, tilting his head, his eyes never leaving the road.

     "I do not sound like a thousand blended cats!" Callas's jaw dropped in feigned shock. "If anything, I sound like a pack of dying seals!"

     "I'm not arguing with you on that, Cal." He shook his head lightly with a half-smile, his dark messy curls swishing slightly from the movement.

     Callas stayed silent, a smile ghosting over her own lips, watching the road disappear under the bonnet of the Jeep. She let out a quiet sigh, turning her head to look out of the window. "This is going to sound stereotypical," she started, "but, are we there yet?"

     Reed snorted a small laugh. Callas smiled shyly at her older brother's laugh. He gave her a faint nod when she turned her head back around to face him. Her hand pushed her hair out of her face as she puffed out some air.

     "I can't wait to get this place mapped out."

     "You want to start up running again?" Reed asked in slight surprise. "You haven't done that in a while, a couple of months or so since..." He paused, not really wanting to finish that sentence, not only for Callas's sake but for his own.