by Jess Parry
Siobhan found both Sarah and Jason downstairs waiting. Jason’s luggage consisted of one suitcase while Sarah had the same count of three as she did. She started to pull them down the stairs as Jason met her halfway up taking the enormous bags the rest of the way down.
“What the hell do you two have in these things?” He called out as a small grunt escaped his lips
“Oh we have everything in here Jason – we need everything” Sarah replied back before giving Siobhan a hug.
Siobhan’s mother came out from the study wearing a smile on her face as she gave Jason a hug, then Sarah, lastly she moved over to Siobhan.
“I love you darling, I hope you have a wonderful trip” she whispered into Siobhan’s ear as she pulled her tightly into a hug.
“Love you too mom” Siobhan whispered back as she rested her head in the crook of her mother’s neck, breathing in the sweet smell of her perfume. It had been ages since she had hugged her mother that closely, Siobhan reluctantly released her mother. Smiling broadly, she kissed her mother’s cheek before turning back to her friends as the chimes of the door signaled the arrival of their driver.
Opening the door, Jason carried Siobhan’s suitcases as the driver carried Sarah’s out into the waiting limo, lifting the trunk, Jason grunted as he heaved in their luggage. Laughing, Sarah and Siobhan climbed into the spacious back as Jason soon followed. Settling into the soft leather seats Siobhan sighed closing her eyes, she made a small wish. She hoped they would have a wondrous adventure on this trip creating great memories to share between them for the rest of their lives. Opening her eyes, she exhaled a breath she had been holding blowing it out the open window.
The light breeze outside picked up her wish carrying it over to the figure standing in the shadows of the giant tree across the street. Smiling wickedly as the words whispered to him, vibrant green eyes starting glowing. Laughing quietly, he waved his hand dispersing the energy around him before vanishing.
25
Gathering Storm
4 CHAPTER FOUR
Arriving at the airport with a little more than an hour to make it through security then to their gate on time, they jumped out of the limo. Thanking the driver as they grabbed their belongings running down to the security check point.
“Damn the Chicago traffic” Sarah wheezed running to catch up to Siobhan and Jason while pulling luggage behind her.
Turning around to tell Sarah to move it, a grunt escaped as Siobhan felt something sweep past her feet tangling her up. Luggage went flying as she felt a sharp pain in her shin as it made contact with the hard floor. Looking around to see what she had tripped over, seeing only her bags splayed out in front of her. She could have sworn she felt something sweep past her before she fell.
Laughter rang its way up to her ears; she felt her face getting hotter as the blush slowly spread. She looked up at Jason and Sarah doubled over in laughter, her embarrassment quickly turned to anger.
“Thanks for the help guys” she shouted
“Oh come on Becky, that was classic…a prefect 10!” Sarah choked out between laughing
Chuckling, Jason walked over pulling Siobhan up “Anything broken?” he asked
“Other than my pride?” Siobhan replied bending down to pick up her purse
“Come on, we need to get moving” Sarah called as she pulled Siobhan’s suitcase back to her.
Standing in line with the other travelers waiting to expose their blood type to the guards that would grace them with entry Siobhan sighed heavily. Watching as couples pulling strollers filled to the brim with bags as their children stared wide eyed around them. One couple, almost through the check point wearily sighed when their son kicked the security guard in the shin. Siobhan couldn’t hear what the mother said when she leaned down to her son’s ear, but it obliviously didn’t affect the child as he promptly turned and kicked her.
“OMG, Becky did you see what that brat just did?” Sarah choked out between laughing
“Yah, if that was my kid we’d be taking a walk into the nearest bathroom” Jason muttered
“Really! So Becky this is what type of parental guidance you get to look forward to with your children with Jason!” Sarah laughingly punched Jason
Turning beat red, Siobhan looked at the guard who motioned the unruly child and his family through with a stern face.
They made it through security without any interruption’s, making it to their gate after a quick argument on which terminal they needed. Sitting in the waiting chairs at the gate, Siobhan sent a text to her parents that they were at the gate safely. Her mother instantly replied back to call as soon as they checked in at the hotel, her father replied that he was glad they were there and to have a good time. Sarah had run to the nearest little store selling books, drinks and trinkets, her main goal to buy as many gossip and fashion magazines as she could grab. Settling into the uncomfortable plastic chairs as possible Siobhan grabbed her ear buds, plugging in her music as loud as possible. Closing out the world around her, she felt the chair next to her shake as Sarah fell into it. Tossing her bag full of magazines onto the floor, Siobhan watched as Sarah dug through her purse. Turning down her music as she saw Sarah opening her mouth to speak, Siobhan smiled as Jason took her hand squeezing it.
“God are we ever going to board” Sarah groaned as she applied yet another layer of lip gloss to her already shiny lips
“We will Sarah, just chill out” replied Jason as he glanced over at Siobhan
Siobhan was looking out the window, watching the huge plane pull up to the tarmac where they would be walking through soon. A little shudder went through her thinking to herself; this is the first trip she was taking out of the country that hasn’t been a family outing.
Leaning into Siobhan Jason brushed a strand of loose hair behind her ear whispering “Everything ok?”
“Yes, just thinking about this being our first trip abroad alone…you know” Siobhan smiling at Jason as she eased her back against the chair
Tightening his grip a little more on her hand, he smiled that devilish smile that brought out his dimple along with the flutters in Siobhan.
“Well, you know we managed to get our own rooms to” he whispered in her ear before lightly nibbling it.
Feeling another wave of heat flaming her face, she turned and stared as Jason leaned in slowly, bringing his lips to hers. Sighing, as she leaned in to the kiss feeling Jason tentatively trace his tongue around her lips. Siobhan parted them slightly giving him an opening to slide his tongue through. The kiss deepened bringing a low groan from Jason’s mouth into hers.
“Ahem…get a damn room you two” Sarah spoke loudly while rattling a couple of the pages of her magazine in front of them. Laughing Jason and Siobhan parted as they looked over to watch the airline staff open the intercom barking out boarding would begin in five minutes. After all the parents with small children and those needing assistance were seated on the plane, the announcer wearily called first class.
Grabbing their bags they walked up to the slightly disheveled looking flight attendant checking passports against tickets. After looking everything over she waived them through and they walked down to the entrance of the plane. Jason and Siobhan were seated next to each other, with Sarah across from them in the middle section. Buckling in after securing their bags in the overhead, Jason reached over grabbed Siobhan’s hand, as Siobhan grabbed Sarah’s and squeezed.
“Ladies, this is going to be the best trip ever!” Jason exclaimed as Sarah gave a shrill hoot earning a stern look from the flight attendant.
The captain came over announcing they were next in line to depart as the plane lurched backwards, causing Siobhan to fall into her seat. Feeling the plane slowly backing out of the space Siobhan quickly pulled her seatbelt together. Inching over to the runway, the captain again informed the crew to buckle up as they were taking off. Once everyone was seated, Siobhan felt the force of the wheels pushing the plane as fast as possible to the end of the runway. The plane l
ifted sluggishly at first, but then shot straight up pulling her head back further into the seat.
Leveling out at 30,000 feet the captain came on to wish everyone an enjoyable flight informing the crew that the seatbelt light would go off momentarily.
Looking at Siobhan, Jason leaned over whispering “any minute now I promise”
The lighted chimed off as Jason leaned in pulling her into a deep kiss. Then trailed his lips across her chin to her ear and whispered “In just eight hours we’ll be in Ireland and then you are all mine…I love you”
“Miss…Miss” the flight attendant was lightly tapping Siobhan on the shoulder “We are about thirty minutes from land, would you like some breakfast?”
“Sure, do you have any coffee?” Siobhan asked as she lifted the complementary sleep cover off her eyes. Squinting at the bright lights from the overhead she saw Jason was doing the same involuntary squint. She looked over at Sarah who was half on the gentleman sitting in the seat next to her, with her eyes still covered and lightly snoring
“Sorry, let me wake up my friend” Siobhan apologized as she leaned over to shake Sarah. “Hey sleeping beauty, get up”
“What.. no.. ten more minutes” Sarah mumbled as snuggled closer to the guy sitting next to her.
“Sarah, you’re snuggling up to a stranger who probably wants to get up and go to the bathroom”
“Oh my god” Sitting bolt up and ripping the blind off, Sarah took in her surroundings. She pulled herself off the gentleman and leaned over towards Siobhan.
“He was hot, god I hope I wasn’t drooling”
Sarah then grabbed Siobhan’s coffee and started drinking. Groaning in defeat, Siobhan got up pulled her little overnight bag down and went into the bathroom to freshen up. Brushing her hair in the mirror, she took a moment to really look at herself.
Her grandmother always called her little fairy, at first it was because she was such a tiny child, but when she hit 14, she hit a growth spurt shooting up to almost 5’8”, she was still shorter than Sarah, but wasn’t complaining. Her hair was shoulder length with waves that could be unruly and all over the place, but today looked to be behaving quite well. Her eyes were a deep moss green surrounded by dark lashes. Her mouth wasn’t pouty, but it was a little wider than she thought it should be. Her chin came to a slight point with a little dent – that came from her dad. She still couldn’t see what the fuss was about when people said she was beautiful, cute maybe, but stop dead in your tracks with your mouth open responses were for Sarah not her.
Putting her makeup back into her bag, she opened the door and made her way to her seat. Sarah grabbed her make up bag, explaining she had packed hers in the suitcase like an idiot and headed to the bathroom. Emerging a few minutes later looking as breathtaking as ever, Siobhan looked over at Jason and noticed he was watching Sarah make her way back to them.
Clearing her throat, Jason blinked and then looked at Siobhan smiling he squeezed her hand.
“When the hell are we going to land” Sarah called as she plopped back down into her seat “I’m so over the airplane, I want to be on the ground”
As if on cue, by Sarah’s ranting, the captain came on stating they were beginning the decent. Tightening her seatbelt, Siobhan grabbed Jason’s hand as this part of the flight always gave Siobhan shivers. As the plane would begin descending, she always felt like she was falling into the unknown and a crippling fear would close around her. Darkness would begin to close around her and she would feel a tightening in her chest.
As a child, she would unbuckle her seatbelt and climb into her father’s lap whenever they flew and began their descent. The first time she had done it, the flight attendant had gotten up to see what was wrong. Her father had started to put her back into her seat, but noticed how pale she was and the wild look in her eyes. He’d shaken his head at the attendant and pulled Siobhan into his lap, he had wrapped his arms around her tightly. He had kissed the top of her head and whispered to her everything was fine and if she counted down from 10 by the time she hit 1, she would feel the wheels touch ground.
Closing her eyes and squeezing Jason’s hand, she felt Sarah reach over grabbing her other hand.
“10”…”9”…”8” they began counting together, Siobhan felt a little of that pressure start to dissipate from her as her friends support gave her strength.
“Siobhan, open your eyes, we’re here” Jason whispered into her ear as he undid her seatbelt.
Opening her eyes she looked out the window to see the glass walls of the airport and several other planes pulling in to dock. Standing, they made their way out of the plane and through customs.
At the luggage pick up there was a gentleman holding a sign with their names on it.
“Wow, your dad got us a car here” Sarah exclaimed
Feeling the blush heat her face, Siobhan looked over at the driver and smiled.
“God, I love it when you blush” Jason whispered in her ear as he kissed her heated cheek
“Hi, um…we’re the group you’re looking for” Siobhan said to the driver
“Aye, welcome to Ireland” the driver responded in a lilting voice taking one of Siobhan’s bags and one of Sarah’s bags. They followed him out to the line of cars waiting to pick up passengers traveling home or visiting. Storing their luggage, they climbed inside as the driver pulled out into the busy traffic. The car headed away from the bustling cabs waiting to squeeze into the spot the car left.
Looking out the window, Siobhan stared at the gray sky overheard groaning; hoping the entire trip it wouldn’t be this overcast out. They hit a small pocket of traffic on their way into the city, but they listened intently as the driver informed them of some of the sights they passed. Pulling up to the hotel, they climbed out of the back, thanking the driver before heading into the hotel as the bellman grabbed their luggage.
Checking in went smoothly, getting off the elevator checking the signs posted to the posh walls to locate their rooms they all agreed to meet at Siobhan’s room after a shower. Once inside her room Siobhan went straight to the window throwing open the curtains. Looking out at the bustling city below her, getting lost in her thoughts on what they were going to do first. She was unaware of the dark figure leaning against the street lamp across the street looking up at her, green eyes flashing with delight.
Twenty minutes later, Jason and Sarah knocked on her door loudly bring her out of her thoughts, she quickly ran to the door letting them in. Standing in the little hallway leading into her room they all looked at each other grinning.
“Hell yes!! We are in Dublin, no parents, a credit card with no limit, the possibilities are endless” Sarah hooted
“What do you want to do first Siobhan?” Jason asked as he walked over pulling her into his arms
“Everything” She replied breathlessly
“Well come on, let’s get the hell out of the hotel room” Sarah chuckled running to the door, she threw it open jumping into the hallway laughing.
They hadn’t walked very far when they hit the Liffey River proceeding to walk over one of the many bridges; Siobhan looked down into the murky water as a shiver ran through her. Jason pulled her a little closer thinking she was cold whispering to her they would stop at one of the pubs on the other side and get some food.
Walking into a pub that looked like it had seen better days, but was crowded they decided the food must be good. Ordering a couple of drinks and the special on the menu, they silently glanced around at the patrons. Most were laughing and sharing stories. A few were shoveling in food while watching the game that was on the tv over the pub’s bar.
The waitress brought their food and drinks a few minutes later; she winked at Jason swishing her hips as she walked away. Jason ignored the flirting as he tore into his food with abandon. Sarah lightly kicked Siobhan’s knee pulling her angry gaze from the retreating waitress. Shaking her head, she pointed to Jason who was eating silently next to Siobhan. Giggling at her actions, Siobhan nodded silently at S
arah letting the twinge of jealousy go.
“Oh god I can’t eat anymore” Sarah said as she stretched her legs out in front of her. Siobhan caught a few of the patrons turning to watch her friend’s languid movements. Smiling at a young man who blushed brightly when he caught Siobhan watching him intently, Siobhan nodded at Sarah to follow her gaze. A devilish smile ghosting Sarah’s lips as she blew an air kiss to the now crimson faced boy.
“I don’t know what exactly that was that we ate, but god it was delicious!” Siobhan said as she stretched her arms into the air, hoping to get some of her full belly to go away.
“I think it was something we wouldn’t have eaten if we knew, so best to just enjoy it” Jason said laughing at both girls yawning sleepily at him
“Ok, we so need to get up or I’m going to go over to that boy staring at me and climb into his lap for a nap” Sarah said sneakily
The city was compact with its buildings set together closely, but unlike home the people walking around them were not bustling to get anywhere. Siobhan watched as older gentleman stopped to help a couple staring at a map in confusion.
She noticed more bicycles darting through the cars in the roadway. Most were in regular street clothes, but some were in tailored suits with briefcases strapped to the back. As they made their way to the Guinness Storehouse, they saw several open –top buses drive people with cameras snapping pictures.
The Guinness building reminded Siobhan of some of the buildings at home with its steel beams and architecture. Walking inside they were met with a giant pint glass that ended on the top floor bar. They wandered the floors watching the exhibits that showed the process for making the famous stout. As they learned the water really didn’t come from the Liffey River as rumored, Siobhan felt a cool caress to her cheek.
Shivering as desire was quickly running through her as she turned to see who had touched her, gazing at the empty space near her. Jason and Sarah had wandered ahead while she had stopped to read one of the displays detail. Most of the tourists that had been in the tour with them had also moved on leaving Siobhan alone in an empty room. Picking up her pace to catch up to her friends, she darted to the stairs leading to the next level. Stopping abruptly when she saw her breath appear before her in a wispy mist, clutching the rail tightly as fear engulfed her.
