Chapter 3 - Lost Kitty ~ Part 1

Nessa

When Nessa eventually awoke she was surprised to see both that the bus was still driving and that there was daylight outside the windows. She carefully rose up to a sitting position to look out of the window, her body ached from the cramped position she had made herself sleep in; to fit across the two seats.

Outside there was nothing but dried ground and very little sign of anything living. No trees, very little green and definitely no wolf packs within miles of this barren stretch of land. The only notable thing at all was the large stretch of road the bus was currently driving on, carrying her further and further away. The sky above was covered in thick grey clouds, most likely bracing for heavy rain. From the look of the dry desert ground, it needed a good rain fall.

Nessa sighed after staring out the window, unable to get any trace or idea of where she was heading. She contemplated asking the kind, old bus driver but found herself at a loss for words. Afraid to speak in case she were to get thrown off the bus for asking something as simple as where they were heading or where the buses final stop was. She was hesitant; apparently all it took was her presence to piss off an Alpha, what if all it took was a few words to get her thrown off of a bus in the middle of nowhere?

She shook the thoughts from her head and decided to continue staring out the window. She was the only other person on the bus, but she would do her best to appear invisible. And maybe a sign would pop up with some indication of where they were going.

It never did. They drove for hours in silence. Every now and then the bus driver would begin humming an incoherent tune to himself and would stop with a little smile. But other than this there was no conversation between the two of them.

Nessa did her best to concentrate on the dead lands outside of the bus, but it was difficult when every rock and every tumbleweed looked the exact same as the last. She found her mind unconsciously drifting back to Orion Valley, back to Fidelia and Alpha Noah and Luna Selima. And, unfortunately, back to the new Alpha, Axel. She could feel tears pricking her eyes when she racked her brain trying to figure out how she had offended him so much. But she knew it was nothing she had actually done, he had said it himself, she was a human and thus unworthy of him. Unworthy of being Fidelia’s friend. Unworthy of Orion Valley.

She shuddered to think what would have happened if she had stayed in the cells, moping and hoping to be released. She would most likely have been interrogated by Alpha Axel himself, and she did not like the thought of that one bit. She’d heard tale of how packs would interrogate rogues and did not like her odds of being treated any better. No, running was her best option. He was probably thrilled to find her gone, he wouldn’t have to deal with her and his problem had just taken care of itself.

Of course, she did imagine he’d send them out to the pack borders to ‘search for her,’ with no real intent or hope of finding her. No, he’d send trackers only to uphold his authority as the new Alpha and seem like her running off was a crime, he’d send them so he could keep his stupid alpha pride!

Again, she angrily shook these thoughts from her head and concentrated all her brain power on staring out of the bus window. She wouldn’t think of that big oaf ever again! She had to keep moving forward and never look back! This had kept her alive so far and she’d be damned if she was going to let some stupid Alpha with a huge ego problem stop her from surviving! She would survive! She would live!

Finally, the bus drove into a town at the end of the road. It was a small and simple looking place, smack dab in the middle of the dead desert. It looked like something from a 1950’s film. The building were old and covered in dust and grime swept into it from the dessert, the cars were as rundown looking as the bus, the people seemed nice and cheerful enough. As they drove deeper in she noticed a few diners, a pharmacy attached to what appeared to be a doctors surgery, a small, dinky looking supermarket and an electronics store. The place didn’t seem too busy and that was for the best, Nessa thought.

Eventually the bus stopped, not at a station, just beside the pavement where there was a damaged bus stop sign. She wasn’t sure whether the damage was the wind or maybe a car, but it was definitely not standing straight.

“Last stop I’m afraid.” The kind old bus driver announced, smiling sadly at her through his rear view mirror.

‘Only stop…’ Nessa thought weirdly, as she cautiously rose from her seat and made her way to the front. She made sure to utter a quiet thank you to the driver before stepping through the open doors.

Her bare feet hit the pavement and her first thought was how humid it was, despite the threatening grey clouds still hovering above. She slowly started walking down the pavement, her hands protectively wrapped around herself as she carefully took in her surroundings. She still had absolutely no idea where she was and she had to think of a game plan fast. She knew that even though it was humid and warm now, when night fell the temperature would drop dramatically and she would freeze from her lack of warm clothing and footwear. She needed shelter, somewhere safe and warm and, preferably, free.

She had barely made it a few metres when she felt a hand suddenly tap her shoulder. She yelped and leapt back, spinning to see her assailant. She relaxed a little when she realised it was the bus driver, but was still on guard. She had learned never to be too trusting.

The bus driver realised instantly that he had startled her, he rose his hands in surrender in an attempt to show her he meant no harm. She watched him carefully as he spoke to her, in his kind and calming voice.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you!”

“It’s ok.” She muttered, her hands still wrapped around her protectively.

“You just seem a little…lost.” He went on, a hint of pity in his voice.

“I am.” She gulped nervously. “I’m not sure where we are and…I have no where…” She muttered, hanging her head a little in shame.

“I can help.” The bus driver told her, not even questioning why she got on his bus without knowing where it was heading or why she had no destination in mind. “You’re in Rustington, it’s small and not overly impressive but the people here get by.” He shrugged.

She nodded back at him, she’d never heard of Rustington before during her time here, but it was a start at least.

“My sister owns a little diner, just over there.” He pointed behind her, and she cautiously followed where he was pointing. There was a small and dinky looking diner just across the road, on the corner. It had a lot of windows with stuff printed on them and above the door was chipped sign that read, Crossroads.

“If you’ve nowhere to go, I’m sure Agnes wouldn’t mind taking you in.” He smiled at her again as she looked back at him. “She’s got a big heart and she loves to help folk. Especially those who are…umm, how do I put this…on the run or trying to escape difficult situations.” He kept on smiling kindly at her.

She gazed back at the diner and then back at the bus driver. It was too good to be true! Never had anyone offered her aid so quickly and without anything in return, she found the people here to be very selfish and even when you did find a good one, they always wanted something in return. She couldn’t comprehend this strangers kindness, it was confusing. She felt tears pricking the corners of her eyes as she looked back at the kind man, his aura never wavering.

“Why?” She asked, trying her best to not sob. “Why are you helping me? I can’t…I can’t give you anything in return and…I just…” She couldn’t help it, her throat tightened and her tears overflowed.

He just continued to smile down at her and she could see that it was genuine, it reached his old and kind eyes and every word he spoke was spoken from his heart.

“Sometimes folk need help. They get into trouble and they do their best to get out of it, but it’s hard.” He shrugged. “It would be easy to walk away, pretend you don’t notice and live an easy life. But, if you offer even the smallest gesture of help, that seems like nothing on your part, well it could mean the world to that person in need. You could be saving them just by extending your hand and helping them get right back up on their feet. I would rather help than turn my back on those in need.” He smiled and Nessa could see his eyes watering as well.

She was speechless, she had never heard anyone speak so compassionately and selflessly before and it made her feel a strange emotion she had never felt before in her life. She nodded at the bus driver, to let him know she would go.