Ninety Six
Ash
After landing in London, we stayed aboard the plane waiting for them to refuel. I sensed that something had happened between Reese and Ayden by the way they had been whispering back and forth. Ava must have noticed the same thing as she kept watching them. I hoped for his sake he’d left Reese left alone, as Ava wasn’t someone you wanted to anger.
Before takeoff, Ava had gathered us for one last briefing.
Amber twirled her long hair nervously as we all sat in the general area of the plane.
“Since Reese is the only one here who really knows me, let me fill you all in on how I do business.” Ava stood up and paced.
Melanie and Margaret, the flight attendants, sat behind us pretending they weren’t listening when they were actually hanging on every word.
“I am a no-nonsense woman in every sense of the word. I don’t have time for bullshit nor will I deal with it. If you can’t handle the dangers of this assignment, best bail out now. I don’t have time to baby you once we get to Cairo. Are we all in?” She stared at each one of us.
We all agreed.
“Good. This is the most important mission I’ve ever been on. If you knew more of my history, you’d understand how remarkable that statement is. These spiders hold the key to unraveling some of humankind’s greatest mysteries. Curing cancer is just the tip of the iceberg. I know that these ancient spiders will be critical for mankind’s survival in the new millennium.” Ava held her breath looking at all of us.
I stared at her. I still just couldn’t believe all of this was happening. My sister, this trip, these crazy spiders….it was so unreal. I kept pinching myself to prove I was indeed awake.
This was no dream. This was really happening.
“The area we are going to is fraught with danger. The Egyptian government is obviously not going to let us waltz in there and start randomly digging. This will take some finesse. That’s where you two come in.” She stared at Ayden and me.
“Whatever you need, Ava, I’m in.” Ayden nodded. He was so anxious to prove himself worthy. He was still looking for his redemption.
I hoped he would find it this time.
“Good. I will need you two to assist in distracting the guards that regularly patrol the pyramid grounds.” She gestured towards Reese and Amber.
They looked uncertain, but they nodded in agreement.
I felt wary about that one. I wasn’t going to let Ava put Amber in harm’s way. “What do you mean, distract? I won’t have Amber put into any type of danger.”
Rolling her eyes then glaring at me, Ava spoke in her deadly calm tone, “Of course not. She’ll be fine.”
Amber gripped my hand tightly.
“But just remember getting past the security checkpoint at the airport will be critical. I have everyone’s papers including the ones I had made for you, Ayden.”
Everyone looked at her uncomfortably. The tension on the plane was so thick you could cut it with a knife.
“Make no mistake. This trip is dangerous. You don’t want to get thrown into a foreign prison.”
Ava’s words hung in the air as we all contemplated what she’d said.
The captain’s voice filled the plane, “We have completed refueling and will be taking off momentarily. The flight to Cairo is expected to be approximately five hours. The weather in Cairo today is expected to be sunny and 36 degrees Celsius. Enjoy your flight.”
Melanie and Margaret walked through the cabin making sure everything was secured. “Everyone, please fasten your seatbelts.”
Ava snapped her seatbelt as she stared daggers at Ayden as he helped Reese with her seatbelt.
I jabbed Amber to buckle hers.
“Shit, do you think Ayden is messing with Reese?” she whispered to me noting Ava’s evil stare.
“For his sake, I hope not. God only knows what Ava will do to him if he does.”
“It looks pretty stormy out there I hope we don’t run into any turbulence.” Amber peered out through the window.
“It will be fine.” I patted her on the thigh. “Soon, we’ll be setting down in a huge desert! Sounds fun, doesn’t it?” I smirked sarcastically.
As the plane took off, I leaned back in my seat bracing for the dreadful feeling I usually got during takeoff like I was being pulled back through my seat.
Just then, there was a loud explosion like a car backfiring. Amber and I jumped in our seats.
“What the hell was that?” Ayden yelled holding onto the arms of his seat.
The plane started jerking violently. A terrible burning odor filled the cabin.
“Oh, my God,” Melanie screamed rushing into the pilot’s cabin.
“It’s an engine!” Ava cried.
“Ash!” Amber looked out to see the ocean rushing up at us.
Holy shit, we were about to crash into the ocean below! This couldn’t be happening! I grabbed Amber’s hand and held it close.
“Everyone, the engines have failed! Brace for impact!” The captain’s voice sounded frantic.
My worst nightmare was coming true! We were going down over the Atlantic Ocean. I saw the water rushing up closer and closer to us. I reached forward to touch Ayden’s shoulder. “Hold on, my brother,” I called.
He was bent down in the crash position with his hands over his head.
Reese, Ava, Amber, and I did the same.
Squeezing my eyes shut, I prayed holding tight for impact. Amber cried softly next to me. I glanced over and saw the emergency door. I knew as soon as the plane hit the water I had to push it out. Immediately, someone screamed and the plane hit the water. It was like being in a car going 100 miles an hour and smashing into a brick wall. I whipped forward against the seat in front of me hard, hitting my face against it. I saw stars for a moment.
When I came to, I felt freezing water swirling around my ankles. Amber was moaning next to me. I realized we were in the water and sinking fast.
Ava’s nose was bloodied and her eyes were swollen as she quickly undid her seatbelt. “Ash, help me. We’ve got to get out of here.”
I stood up and pushed against the emergency door with all my might. It burst open allowing a rush of water to come flooding into the cabin. Amber’s right cheek was bruised terribly and her right wrist looked bent.
“Her wrist looks broken.” Ava looked at her.
Amber appeared dazed.
I grabbed a life vest and slipped it over her head. Ava had already donned hers. I put one over my own head. I pushed Amber up and out of her seat handing her the seat cushion. “Hold this. Don’t let go! Ava, take her.” I shoved them both out the door. As the cold water hit them, they screamed, “It’s okay. I have to get Ayden and Reese.”
Ava fought her way back into the plane which was filling with water. Time was running out. “I’ll help you.”
“No, stay with Amber. I’ll get them.” I heard Ayden calling my name. I raced over to him my legs going numb as the cold water rose around me.
“Ayden, are you okay?” I assessed him quickly.
His forehead was bleeding from a small cut, but other than that, he appeared unharmed. “Yes, help Reese. My buckle is jammed.”
Water continued to rise around us. I was now waist deep in the water. I heard Ava, Amber, and the flight attendants calling to us. Turning my attention to Reese, I saw she was unconscious. She had a deep gash in her forehead and her leg was cut badly. Snatching two life vests, I tossed one to Ayden who slipped it over his head and I put one on Reese.
Ayden continued pulling at his buckle until it finally came undone.
The water was now up to our necks as Ayden held Reese’s head above the water.
Taking off my life vest, I went underwater to pull her buckle loose. It wouldn’t budge. The water was so cold my fingers couldn’t move correctly. A fog began to settle in my mind. I couldn’t think straight.
Hypothermia.
Frantically, I came up for air.
“Hurry, Ash! I can’t hold her up much longer!”
As I went under again, another pair of hands slipped around the belt. I saw a flash of a knife cutting the belt freeing Reese. Whipping around, I tried to figure out what had just happened. My lungs felt as though they would burst. I began to float to the top, but something had me by the leg. My pants were snagged by a piece of metal! I kicked my leg against it as hard as I could. I could feel the cold seeping into me and I could barely maintain consciousness. I felt myself fading away.
Damn I don’t want to die! I cried out silently as the blackness of the ocean pulled me down.
Miraculously, two hands grasped me yanking me up. In an instant, I found myself above water. I took a deep breath then sputtered and coughed.
“Ash, are you okay?” Amber was next to me holding onto the seat cushion. I looked around and saw we were floating in the middle of the ocean. The waves tossed us about as I counted everyone. Ayden and Ava were helping a now conscious Reese stay afloat.
“Is everyone here?” I noticed Melanie and Margaret looking dazed holding onto a piece of the wing. The captain was nowhere to be seen. “Where’s Captain Ross?” I called to them.
They shook their heads. “We haven’t seen him.”
Despair and panic began to set in. The water was just above freezing, but I knew it wouldn’t take long for hypothermia to set in. I shivered as I continued to tread water. “How far out do you think we are?” I asked Ayden. He was blotting Reese’s forehead trying to keep the blood from dripping into her eyes.
“We’d only been in the air for about an hour. Must be somewhere between the coast of England and France.”
“We’re miles away from anything,” Ava said ominously.
“Why the hell did the engines fail?” I asked Melanie and Margaret who were floating nearby.
“I’ve been flying twenty years and I’ve never been involved in a crash before.” Melanie sputtered water. The waves tossed us about as we floated helplessly.
The salt from the water burned my cuts. Reese was fading in and out of consciousness as Ava and Ayden fought to keep her awake. The gash in her forehead was bleeding and I was worried about the blood attracting sharks. Quickly, I tore one of the sleeves from my shirt. “Amber, help me tear the other one off. We’ve got to stop Reese from bleeding.” Amber picked up on my idea and ripped the sleeve from my shirt. We tied the sleeves together and handed them to Ava and Ayden. “Tie this around her head. We can’t have blood in the water near us.”
“Why?” Margaret called as she hung onto the wing.
“Think about it!” Ava yelled back at her over the roar of the ocean.
The two flight attendants looked at each other and grew pale.
Ayden tied the sleeves around Reese’s forehead. Her bleeding was contained. She remained dazed simply floating there.
“Ash, I’m freezing.” Amber’s teeth chattered as she held onto my arm. I knew we all had to get out of this water and fast or risk hypothermia. I was already feeling faint.
“How far to swim to shore?” Ayden asked holding Reese.
“Don’t ask. It must be several miles at least. We’re not going to make it long out here. If the sharks don’t get us, the cold will.” I hissed to him. I didn’t want the ladies to hear for fear they would panic.
Just as I was starting to wonder if we would ever make it out of the water alive, I heard a loud noise in the distance.
“What the hell is that?” Ayden wondered.
We heard it again. It sounded like a foghorn blasting.
“Look!” Margaret cried pointing at a boat heading towards us. Thank God, I thought. Rescue was here.
Minutes later, the boat was next to us. Several people on the beach near the coastal town of Brittany had seen the plane go down. They had called for water rescue.
As they pulled us out of the water, I sank down on the floor of the boat wrapped in a towel. Just in time, I thought as I saw the telltale fin of a shark cut through the water.
After they brought us back to shore, we spent the day recovering in a French hospital. None of us including the flight attendants had serious injuries. We had several cuts and bruises. Reese had a gash in her forehead that required several stitches, Amber had a sprained wrist, and Melanie had a broken foot. Unfortunately, the pilot was still missing and presumed dead.
Preparing to leave the hospital, Ava approached me as I putting on a fresh shirt. This trip was already off to a bad start. Perhaps it was an omen of things to come.
“Everything check out all right?” She studied the bandage on my forehead.
“Yeah, I’m fine. What about Reese and Ayden?”
“Ayden is good. Reese has a pretty bad cut on her head that required stitches. When we get back to the U.S., I’ll get her in with the best plastic surgeon in L.A.”
“What about Melanie and Margaret?”
“They’re boarding a plane this afternoon for New York. You’d think they’d want to stay off planes for a few days.” Ava shook her head.
“No, they’re tough. They’ve been flying for years.” I stood up and walked towards the door. “I need to get Amber.”
Ava blocked the doorway. “Ash, I need to know something.”
“What?” I tapped my foot impatiently. I wanted to get to Amber.
“Did Ayden fuck Reese?” she asked bluntly. Her face had sustained some bruising and she had a bandage on her shoulder.
“I have no idea.” I feigned ignorance. Actually, I had pretty good idea that he had the way he’d taken care of her during the crash. I knew something was going on between them.
“Really? I think he did.” She narrowed her eyes.
I sensed rage building within her. I had to think of something to distract her. “Are we still heading to Cairo?” As much as I wanted to go home, I thought it was the best diversion for Ava to keep her from killing Ayden.
“Of course. I’ve already chartered another plane.”
I shuddered thinking about getting on another plane, but I was ready to do anything to make this trip end faster.
“I’m serious. Ayden can’t be with Reese. She’s too vulnerable right now.”
“I understand that, Ava, but I don’t control him. He does what he wants.”
“Well, you best be sure he doesn’t want Reese. If you’ll excuse me, I have to get ready. I’m going to see an old friend.” She slammed the door behind her.
We hadn’t seen Ava for several hours. Both Amber and I had speculated as to where she could’ve gone. We were sitting in the lounge having a drink people watching as Ava stepped off the elevator.
She wore a pair of large sunglasses covering her eyes with her hair pinned atop her head in a messy bun. Her clothes were thrown haphazardly onto her body.
I waved to her. “Ava, where the hell did you go?”
She sat across from Amber and me. “I don’t think you want to know.” She laughed bending to rub her left calf as if she’d had a charley horse.
“Knock it off.” I asked lighting a cigarette. I’d been trying to cut back, but being around her always made me want to smoke.
“You really want to know? Perhaps it will enlighten you.” She raised her brows proceeding to relate her story.
Ava
Tapestries covered the walls depicting scenes from the 120 Days of Sodom. Candelabras lit the way down the stone staircase to the dungeon.
Rich velvet curtains held by golden tiebacks graced the bottom of the staircase. A stunning woman with a deep tan and dark hair greeted me.
“Miss, your room awaits you.” She handed me a key bowing before me. I took the key and smiled.
“Of course.” Walking into the room, I was awash in dim candlelight. I’d been to this club before a few years ago when I was living in the south of France. The club was legendary and the building dated back to the time of DeSade himself. In fact, it was rumored DeSade had lived within these very walls. Regardless, the place was extraordinary. In the center of the room was a large settee covered in velvet. A remote control was sitting next to the settee atop a glass table. I took the remote and pressed the button.
Immediately, the screen lifted to reveal half a dozen men in various stages of undress. I surveyed them carefully. Each one wore a number around his neck suspended by a chain. Instantly, I was taken with number 5 and 3. They were both dark haired, muscular beasts decorated in tattoos. One had a goatee and the other was clean shaven. They appeared to be in their late twenties. Now, to choose my third….
Numbers One and Two had lighter colored hair and were younger. They were thinner than I preferred my men. Number Six was darker skinned than the others. He appeared of mixed race. That wasn’t what interested me. Number Four had short reddish hair. He didn’t interest me either.
Picking up the courtesy phone, I dialed the front desk.
“Augustine. How may I help you?”
“I only have two suitable partners. Numbers Five and Three please me. I need a third. Please change the menu.” I sat the phone down as I examined my long red fingernails. A minute chip had developed in one. I adjusted the black leather bustier on my firm breasts.
“Just a moment, Miss.”
In minutes, a second screen opened behind me. There stood five other men. All were nude to the waist except one. He had long black hair bound behind his head in a long ponytail. He was wearing an impeccable Italian suit. He was handsome in the face and clean shaven. His black hair had a touch of silver at the temples. His fingers were decorated in gold rings.
He was the one. Number Four.
Making my selection, I awaited their company. The lights came on flooding the room. I clicked a button to lower them. I loathed bright light. I stripped my cloak off to reveal my leather bustier and black garters. My thigh high boots were stiletto heels making walking difficult, but not impossible. I thumbed through the selection of implements on the glass table next to the St. Andrew’s Cross.
The door opened to the room and the three men walked in.
“Gentlemen, welcome. I’m your mistress for the evening. You may address me only as Mistress. May I have your names, ages, and occupations?”
Number Four boldly stepped forward still wearing his suit.
“Mistress, if it pleases you, call me Damon. I am 46 years old and I work in finance.”
“Very good.” I picked up a flogger and slapped him lightly across the ass.
“Mistress, if it pleases you, call me Jaxson. I am 27 years old and I work in construction.”
“Very good.”
“Mistress, if it pleases you, call me Baz. I am 23 years old and I work in construction.”
“Very good.” I slapped them all with the flogger. Picking up a riding crop, I walked in front of them slapping my thigh with it. “Here are the rules of the evening, gentlemen. I am interested in pleasure…mine, not yours. You are to do whatever I say without question. I will not require you to interact with each other as some do. Your focus is on me. Do I make myself clear?”
“Yes, mistress,” they answered in unison.
“Are there any hard limits I should be aware of?” I asked them as a courtesy to the club not that I cared personally. I would do whatever I wished.
“No, mistress,” they replied.
“Commence.”
They all looked at me for a moment admiring my figure in the leather outfit. Damon immediately yanked his tie off and unbuttoned his shirt tossing it aside. He was muscular beneath it with a few tattoos covering his biceps.
I admired his body clad in nothing but his dress pants his cock bulging through the material.
Baz and Jaxson stood behind me already nude to the waist.
I ran my hands over their firm young muscles relishing the thought of how good they would feel inside me. My pussy clenched tightly as I felt my thighs dampening. “Baz, you take me from behind,” I ordered as he bent me down over the velvet settee. He slipped my panties to the side as he dropped his shorts. His cock was long and hard. He fisted it then dragged it across my wet opening. I took a deep breath as he sank deep inside me.
“You’re not to come until I say,” I ordered them.
Damon came around to my front and knelt before me.
I smiled and stroked his long silky hair as I brought his face to my breasts.
He took one nipple into his mouth sucking it hard. He rolled it between his teeth nipping ever so gently.
My head fell back as he sucked harder. Baz continued fucking me from behind pumping his girth into me making me feel every stroke. My pussy throbbed from my impending orgasm. Jaxson took my other nipple into his mouth as the two of them sucked my breasts. I could no longer feel anything. A dizzying fear overtook me as the three of them used my body. I felt Baz jerking slightly inside me. Immediately, I spun around picking up the flogger. “No! Not yet.” I lashed him with the flogger causing his skin to redden dramatically.
Damon took my hand and pressed it to his lips. “Allow me to worship you, mistress. Please,” he begged.
I nodded my consent as he led me to the leather strapped swing in the corner of the room. I sat down in it hooking my heels inside the foot straps so that my legs were raised up towards my chest. Baz stood behind the swing straddling my face so that his cock was near my mouth. I ran my tongue up and down his length delighting in my own taste on him. I sucked his head which was nearly purple he was so hard. Damon stood in front of me stroking his cock up and down my soaking wetness. My clit was swollen and I longed for him to take me into his mouth.
“Lick me,” I commanded him.
Instantly, he fell to his knees and lapped at my swelling bud. He took me into his mouth sucking my clit his tongue darting into my sex filling me.
My head lolled back as I took Baz’s firm cock into my mouth tasting his salty sweetness.
Jaxson milked my nipples as the other two filled me. I felt light headed as I soared higher and higher towards my orgasm.
“Whip me,” I whispered to Jaxson.
He took the flogger into his hand and lashed it across my breasts.
The fiery pain electrified me causing every nerve fiber to stand on end bringing me closer to the edge.
Damon’s fingers were at my opening slipping inside me. He pumped his fingers in and out of me as I continued to suck Baz’s cock. The sweetness of his pre-cum tortured me as I longed for all of them to drench me with their cum.
Jaxson brought the flogger down onto my needy flesh again. I’d never let a man whip me before, but this….this was sending me into ecstasy. My legs were shaking in the stirrups as Damon’s fingers thrusted deep inside me. Sweat soaked my hair and wet my skin as I rode harder towards my climax.
“Fuck me,” I ordered Damon.
His face glistened with my juices as he rubbed himself against me.
I felt his huge cock part my lips as I gripped the leather straps suspending me in the air. I felt completely weightless as Damon’s cock hammered into me. I continued to suck Baz’s cock his tight balls resting on my face as I took him all the way down my throat.
Swack! Jaxson whipped me causing the flogger to bite into my flesh painfully. I jumped from the pain relishing every stroke as he continued whipping my breasts. My nipples first throbbed in agony then with pleasure. So many feelings flooded my senses I could barely keep up.
As Damon pumped me hard, his balls slapped against my ass. I arched my back stretching my body almost flat.
“Stop,” I cried to Jaxson. He dropped the flogger. His rough, calloused hands caressed my sore flesh. They were heaven to me.
Clutching the leather straps in my hands, I allowed myself to succumb to the building fury inside me. My pussy clenched on Damon’s cock as I came hard. Closing my eyes, I saw stars as I dissolved into delicious climatic spasms.
“Now,” I whispered to them.
They all began fisting their cocks immediately drenching me with their cum. Thick ropes of white liquid drained from them splashing onto my breasts and abdomen. I ran my hands over my body reveling in my come soaked flesh.
“Mistress, if it pleases you, may I get you a towel?” Baz asked droplets of come still dripping from him.
I nodded my approval as he handed me a towel. Quickly, I wiped myself and slipped into a soft fluffy white robe. “Gentlemen, it has been a pleasure. I shall call upon you again.”
“No, Miss, it was our pleasure to serve you.” The men couldn’t help grinning.
Ash
That wasn’t the story I was expecting. When she said she’d gone to meet a friend I assumed that meant they had coffee or maybe drinks. Not a wild, sordid journey through a French sex club. Still, looking at Ava’s Cheshire cat grin, I figured it’d been worth it for her, anyway.
“Wasn’t that in poor taste?” Amber asked the same question I’d been mulling around in my own head.
Ava chuckled as dabbed a bit of makeup onto the bruise on her forehead. “Not in the least! They all tasted delicious.” She winked at me.
I felt ill. After the events of the past two days, I really didn’t need to know my sister had such deviant desires.
Amber pressed her lips together.
Standing up, I paced beside our table. A swift breeze from the Mediterranean blew into the lounge from the open window blowing the white filmy curtains back. “So, I’ve spoken to our new pilot. The plane will be ready for takeoff tomorrow morning at 5 AM. Flight time to Cairo is about 4 hours. We should be there early enough to get settled then go exploring.”
“That will be cutting it close. The blood moon is in 3 days. We need time to get settled in and figure out a game plan with some local guys.” Ava surveyed her face in the mirror.
“That’s the fastest I could book a pilot.” I shrugged turning back to Amber.
Her face had gone pale.
“What’s wrong, Amber?”
“I don’t know if I can fly again so soon after the crash. I keep reliving the moment the plane hit the water.” She trembled as I slid my arm around her shoulders.
“Baby, we have to fly. How else are we going to get home?”
“On a ship.”
Ava shook her head. “Out of the question. It will take too fucking long. As soon as we get the spiders, we have to get back to the U.S. as fast as we can. The venom might lose its’ potency.”
“I don’t want to fly again either so soon, but we don’t have a choice,” I whispered to Amber so that Ava couldn’t hear.
“I just keep thinking about the poor pilot.” Her eyes misted with unshed tears.
I ran my hand over her back. “Plane crashes are very rare. We just happened to have had one. I’m sure that will never happen again.” I was feeling nervous about flying again myself. I remembered how cold that water had been and how close we’d all come to dying. I wasn’t anxious to face that possibility again anytime soon; however, Ava was right. If we were planning on going through with all this then we had to deliver the venom ASAP.
“Well, kiddies, I’m heading to bed. Be ready to go in the morning. No bullshit whining.” She eyed Amber who glared back at her.
Standing at the door, Ava turned back to us. “We all have to die sometime.”
The next morning we were back on a private plane. It wasn’t quite as luxurious as the one that had crashed, but it would do.
Amber sat closely to me trembling as we took off. “Ash, do you think we did the right thing coming along on this trip? It seems a bit…”
“Radical?” I offered. “Yes, it is, but Ayden was coming whether or not we did. I couldn’t let him do this without me.”
She nodded.
“No matter what happens you and I are together. I will protect you always.” I squeezed her hand tightly. I leaned over to Ava. “Ava, are you sure about this? I mean, Egypt has a lot of pyramids! How do we know where to dig?”
Ava shrugged. “And your point is what?”
I threw my hands up in the air. “So, are we supposed to just dig around all these pyramids hoping to find the right spot? That’s like looking for a needle in a haystack!”
Reese giggled.
Ayden was sitting awfully close to her.
I knew without a doubt they’d fucked. She was definitely his type-curvy and sexy.
Ava sighed studying the spider tattoo on her hand. She looked up at us with a glassy stare. Her blue eyes darkened to nearly black. “I’ll know where to dig when we get there.” Her voice was low and ominous.
We all froze for a moment. Her eerie words hung in the air.
“How?” Ayden whispered.
“I just will. It’s written on this.” She pulled out the medallion.
We all peered at the tiny picture writing.
When the halflings reach the pyramid in the shadow of the U,
The queen shall know where to go.
Beneath the killing moon,
The U shall call to her,
Beckoning them to release her from her tomb.
Before and after chaos rules.
“You can read that?” Reese looked quizzically at her.
Ava nodded. “I don’t know how I know. I just do,” she confessed.
“Who are the halflings?” Amber asked.
The plane started to hit turbulence again and we bounced up and down. I felt my stomach flip. Damn, I wished I hadn’t eaten all that foie gras last night. I could still taste it.
“Us.” She motioned at me, Ayden, and herself.
“What?”
“Half siblings,” I mumbled in a monotone. It was all becoming quite clear to me now as well and that was even more disturbing. I wasn’t one to believe in strange prophecies and ancient mythology, yet here I was.
“The Killing Moon. That’s the blood moon.” Reese looked down at her phone.
“Yes.” Ava nodded.
Suddenly, the plane was tossed wildly to one side. The oxygen masks fell down in front of us.
“The captain wants us to all put on our masks as we may experience a dramatic loss of altitude.” The flight attendant demonstrated by slipping hers over her face.
Immediately, I secured Amber’s mask first before putting mine on. The look on Amber’s face told me I should be frightened. She clutched my hand as the plane rocked back and forth.
“Oh God, not again!” Reese cried out as the plane was tossed about. Ayden was holding her close as Ava sat calmly staring out the window into the blackness.
Closely my eyes tightly, I began to pray. I didn’t think I could deal with another plane crash. Just then, as if the plane had been twisted into a pretzel it was straightened out again. We began flying smoothly and I took a deep breath.
The flight attendant instructed us to remove our masks.
“Hello everyone, this is your Captain speaking. Sorry about that. We just ran through a bit of a thunderstorm. Should be smooth flying for the rest of your flight. We should be arriving in Cairo in less than an hour.”
Glancing over at Ava, I saw she’d already removed her seatbelt and had lit a cigarette.
“No smoking on the plane, miss,” the flight attendant reminded her.
“Who the fuck is going to stop me?” She flicked her ash on the floor glaring at the flight attendant who wisely backed away.
What had we gotten ourselves into?