Guardians of the Watchtower: North

Chapter 29

The party was more than fun! Ivy actually was having a blast! Her mom had made it, so it was the first backyard Barbecue with the kitchen staff manning the grill, and food for all the Covens, that was a skill her mother definitely had down pat. Ivy almost forgot the time, when John came up and let her know it was time to go. Ivy smile as she grabbed Skylar's hand and they both ran up to her room to change and get ready to head to the airport.
The maids had finished loading the rest of the luggage into the trunks of the two cars. John and Samuel were in the car with Ivy and Sylar, the rest of the details, some of the staff were in the car with Shanon, following. Leaning over John handed a small velvet bag to Ivy.
"They took a little longer to get clean than expected, but I figured you wouldn't want to leave without having them with you!"
"Thank you, John" Ivy knew her necklace was in the bag, along with the ring even before she opened it and slipped it on her finger and turned to have Sylar help her with the clasp.
"You look more and more like your father every time I look at you!" John smiled like he did when he saw her, ready for her birthday party.
"Thank you, John!"
The Covens watched as the taillights of the cars disappeared into the night, keeping them all in their thoughts and praying to the Goddess that they would be safe and find the girl quickly. Getting through to the airport was the easy part, getting through security, however, was not. The men looked like government agents and caused red flags to go off with the security agents. Half the detail was detained for questioning, going through pat downs and having their bags searched. y the time they finally made it to the terminal, it was just in the nick of time before they closed the gate for the flight. Shanon had booked the entire first-class section of the plane so they would have their privacy. So, when they began loading onto the plane, people were leaning out of their seats in second class, hoping to see who was coming onto the plane, thinking it was a celebrity. Some of them pulled out their phones and began snapping pictures, making Ivy pull her hood up over her head to keep them from getting a good picture of her. That just provoked them, more and the flight attendants had to start blocking the aisles and closed the curtains to keep people from trying to get into the first-class section for a better shot.
"Maybe investing in a plane next time might not be a bad Idea, mom!"
"Yeah, I didn't think it would be like this, but having this detail of men with us has drawn more attention than I expected."
Ivy settled into her seat, and Sylar claimed the one next to it.The first flight was longer than Ivy thought, Shanon, smiled as she leaned over Ivy, and pulled the window covering up. Ivy saw the mountains and they weren't in New York. Tears welled up in Ivy's eyes as she realized they were landing at DIA.
"I thought maybe seeing home first before we left would be a good present. The layover is only for a few hours, but I think maybe a turkey on white bread with no tomatoes is what we need before we leave for Lima!"
"You're the best mom in the world!"
The people, once she got off the plane, were worse than the ones getting on the plane, so Sylar took off his jacket and threw it over Ivy's head as the men moved her through the crowd swiftly until they were on the arrival and departure side of the airport. The cars were already waiting for them.
"I even missed that dog food smell when you're coming down the east side of I-70!"
Shanon laughed, "No one misses that smell, you dork!"
"Why are people acting like I'm a celebrity?"
"Because to them, you are! Once you took your place and inherited your father's companies, they began plastering your face all over, because you have money! American celebrities don't have to have the talent to be famous, some of them just have to get plastic surgery, butt implants, sleep around, be gold diggers, and boom, everyone wants to be them.Or treat everyone like dirt even to the point of embarrassing, because they think their opinions mean more than anyone else's does. That's the difference between people who have class and those who have to take naked selfies because they're obsolete and have nothing, in themselves,of value."
"But I'm not a celebrity. I don't act or sing or do any really amazing things real celebrities do!"
"It's okay! No one will care, just don't let it go to your head! You have class, values, morals, and don't need to show your ass. Besides them, this is the first time you've been in public since you gained control of Sabian's companies, so their dying to get a picture and just to say they were in the same airport or that they met you!"
"Well, on the way home after this I just wanna take a private plane mom, I don't want people treating like a celebrity especially because I didn't earn it."
"As you wish, Ivy."
Ivy was almost jumping up and down in the S.U.V, as it pulled into Dan's Diner. The businesses that lined Colfax had changed so much since the last time she was home, but the Catholic church was still there which made her smile. The waitress, who saw the size of the group coming in looked like she was going to cry if she didn't get a break soon, so Ivy made them all sit in the back, around the front counter and told her to take her time. The turkey club sandwich didn't stand a chance and was gone as soon as the waitress brought it to the table.
Ivy was already on the phone calling her friends. She was so excited that most of them were coming to the diner to see her before they had to head back to the airport. Ivy got up from her seat when she saw them through the glass door entrance, and their screams made all the men jump up, thinking Ivy was under attack, but the attack was teenage girls. The next hour was full of laughter, screams, and goo-goo eyes at Sylar when Ivy introduced him to her friends.
"Happy late birthday, Ivy!"
Ivy turned and was caught off guard, "Thank you, Gabriel! I didn't know you were going to show up/" Ivy shot her friend a sideways look, they gave her innocent look in return and shrugged.
"Yeah, they said you were only here for a few hours, and leaving again, so I thought I'd bring you a present, It's not much but I didn't have much warning that you were coming back!"
"Thank you Gabriel!" Ivy took the small gift that had a silver bow on it and opened it, it was a heart necklace that had two halves, that said best friends on it. Sylar's face said clearly that he wasn't happy about the way Gabriel was looking at Ivy and cleared his throat really loudly.
"Gabriel, this is my boyfriend, Sylar!"
Sylar just nodded at him and mumbled what's up under his breath, before pulling Ivy closer, letting his arm lay over her shoulders. Shanon's laughter made Ivy look over her shoulder at her, in that clear, "mom you're embarrassing me",way.
"Nice to meet you man!"
"Yeah, likewise."
"Well thank you so much, Gabriel, for the birthday gift,it was very sweet!"
"Yeah, sweet." Sylar mumbled before looking at his watch, "Ivy we have to go, we're gonna miss our flight if we don't."
"Already?" Ivy looked to Shanon who nodded grabbed her purse and began to pay for the meal.
"I love and miss you guys, I'm sorry I have to leave now, but I'll come visit soon, I promise!" Ivy hugged all of her friends and even though Sylar wasn't happy, she hugged Gabriel, but when the hug lasted a little too long, Sylar grabbed her hand and pulled her away with him and back into the car.
Once they were back on the plane, Ivy settled back into her seat and laid her head down on Sylar's shoulder. She looked at the ticket in her hand, a twelve hour flight, so as soon as the flight attendant came to see if they needed drinks or anything she asked for a blanket and was planning on sleeping through the whole flight.
She did just that, so when Sylar woke her up, to give her time to change clothes and get ready for the plane to land, she was fighting with the small bathroom to be able to switch into her boots and shorts and a clean tank top. Taking, like fifteen minutes to fix her makeup, and put on her eyeliner was useless because the moment they landed and stepped out of the airport, the heat and the humidity bum-rushed her and smeared her makeup.
"I'm gonna look like a pasty raccoon this whole time, aren't I?"
John just laughed as he helped the men load their bags into the waiting cars. The heat was something she didn't think would be too bad, but the hours in the car, driving across the country to get to the Amazon, made her miss air conditioning more than anything. The sun was still high in the sky when they pulled into the village, and as soon as Ivy had her feet on the ground, she was stretching and had one of the staff helping her apply sunscreen and bug spray.
Trying to talk to the guide was pointless, she failed high school Spanish, and the extent of her Spanish was ordering off the Taco Bell menu. So she just followed John, once she had her pack on her back with her tent, bottle of water in hand and her camera around her neck.
Walking into the Amazon was exciting and scary at the same time, but employing some of the locals would help them and their families tremendously, and they knew the forest more than she did. The view was breathtaking, to say the least, and the smell of earth, hit her like a ton of bricks, and she instantly felt more at home. Walking a little slower, she let her hand trace the lines on the trees that towered, bigger than buildings, around her and felt their heartbeat under her palm. They had seen centuries of life and death and the world change around them. The tree shivered, dropping leaves down on her like feathers, soft and cool as they played across her skin making her smile as she turned to catch up with the group.
"Juan said not to stray too far from the group! People go missing in here on a daily basis. They get turned around and can't find their way back, and end up being a meal for the wildlife." John made a face like a cat hissing with a hand up like a claw that made Ivy laugh.
After a few hours of walking through this lush living world, they stopped at a stream to take a break and wet their rags to cool down, but as soon as Ivy went to get close to the water, it moved, and it wasn't the waves of its flow.
"Back up very slowly!"
Ivy was stiff, as a board, and pulled her leg back, trying to do just that, but it was too late. The anaconda had already tasted the sweat from her rag, running through the water, shooting out of the water, teeth bared to snatch her. Ivy instinctively called her power, and the plants around her swarmed the snake, trapping it in vines so the only thing it latched on to, was a mouth full of leaves and vines. Ivy took off running in the opposite direction.
"IVY!!!!"
But she didn't stop until she came to a clearing about a mile into the forest. Gasping and heaving hard,feeling her lungs burn she tried to breathe through the humidity. Ivy stood back up from where she had leaned down with her hands on her knees and looked around and found herself completely alone. Not knowing from which direction to go and not being able to see anyone within sight, fear spiked and Ivy did the only thing she could think of and called her circle of protection putting a barrier between herself and the forest until someone found her. Scared and alone, Ivy laid down in her circle and waited for anyone to find her, but the forest had other plans for her.
The forest was alive, more so than anyone can see because they chose not to. Ivy looked up from the forest floor,she saw their eyes, looking down at her, and she was captivated in awe of their many colors. She sat up as she watched them chirp and make beautiful songs to each other, she had never seen so many parrots in so many colors fluttering in one place. It was truly magikal seeing them play in the trees around her, making this place not so scary. Ivy stood up and lifted her hand as she whistled. A beautiful little bird flew down, and fluttered around her for a minute, before landing in her hand. She smiled and gently pet it's head before it fluttered back out of her hand, the sound of crunching leaves and shouting coming from behind her, scared it.
"THERE YOU ARE!!!" Shanon's voice was riddled with worry as she ran to Ivy wrapping her arms around her.
"You took off like someone set your tail on fire!" John was stepping over a mini wall of vines before he looked up seeing the parrots too.
"I see you have made some friends!" John's comment made Ivy smile.
"Yeah, just a few."
"Well, this place looks pretty good for a campsite for the night. Juan said there was a little waterfall just a bit that way that feeds into a wading pool and it's clear and safe for us to freshen up in. He said the animals don't go near it because a local tribe puts flowers in it, they don't like, so if you want to go swimming, while we set everything up and get some food going, you can!"
"I'd rather not go alone, being lost even if it was for only a little while, was scary enough for me for one day, thank you!"
"Well, you can always go late.r"
"I'll keep that in mind."
The men began setting the equipment down, unpacking the cases and setting up a perimeter, so there would be a warning in case any more wildlife wanted to try the all you can eat buffet. One of the men set up a table and grab some drinks from the cooler and set them out for Ivy to take a minute and chill while they got everything up and running smoothly. Much to Ivy's surprise the entire camp was up, lit and running within a few hours, just in time for the sun to begin dipping below the trees. She thought the forest was alive during the day, but it had nothing on the soundtrack that filled the night air, as the sun disappeared. The calls from monkey's plagued the night's orchestra, the insects on strings and the frogs on winds and the swaying sound of the light rain hitting the leaves as the percussion section.
"I can hear the rain, but I can't feel it?"
"Here in the rainforest, the trees are so tall and dense that most of the time the rain doesn't reach all the way down to us here, at least that's what Juan says." John just shrugged as he also ordered the staff to begin making dinner.