Free IM03 - Pandora's Box by Katie Salidas

pointed to the screen on her laptop. “It says here they have a subway system. And it connects to the airport. It’s just for a few hours. Why not hang out there until dusk?”
    I lifted my head and gave Fallon my best you-have-got-to-be-kidding-me stare. “You want us to hang out in a subway station?”
    She cocked her head sideways and matched my sarcastic look. “You have any better ideas?”
    I exhaled loudly and flopped backwards again. “No.”
    “Then suck it up and hang out,” she said.
    “It would seem we have no other choice,” Lysander said solemnly.

CHAPTER 8
     
     
    The flight that Fallon had said was non-stop did, in fact, stop twice, once in Denver and again in Chicago. However, we weren’t allowed to get off and stretch our legs at either layover. Departing passengers were shuffled off and new arrivals were herded on in record time, making our plane feel more like a flying mass transit system rather than a cross-country airliner. After nearly seven hours of being packed in like sardines with the sweet smell of humans and blood in the air, I felt like a ravenous monster. Thankfully, Lysander offered to share his blood with me, to help hold me over until we arrived.
    It didn’t get any better when we arrived in Boston’s Logan Airport. We still had to locate a safe spot to camp out for the day. Little did we know that the Boston subway system was not completely underground, as we had previously thought. Only parts of each line were protected from the elements. Luckily, Lysander had the foresight to make us all, except Fallon of course, wear appropriate coverings to protect us from the sun.
    Thanks to recent terrorist attacks, our head-to-toe coverings attracted a lot of attention from TSA agents, but I was certainly glad to be protected in some small way when the subway train in Boston hit daylight.  
    After waiting out most of the day in the Government Center T station, we took the Green line train to our less-than-fabulous motel in Allston Brighton.
    “Remind me never to let you plan our trip ever again,” I grumbled to Fallon as I collapsed on a sagging queen-sized bed in our motel. I was ready to pass out, and at the same point, I was desperately in need of blood.
     “Hey,” Fallon huffed at me. “I was going to set us up with something nice, but your boyfriend over here snapped at me. You piss off your travel agent, you get a crappy hotel.”
    I shot Lysander a dirty look that he ignored.
    The hotel room was shabby, but it kind of reminded me of my old apartment with its yellowing walls and extremely well-used furniture. I half expected to see a roach scurry across the matted carpet, or hear the neighbors blasting hip hop music. I’d grown accustomed to the nice home I shared with Lysander and had almost forgotten what it was like to rough it. We could stick it out here for a night or so. It wasn’t like we were planning to stay very long.
    “My old home should only be a short walk from here,” Lysander said with a hint of uncertainty. He unfolded a map across a wobbly table near the window. “We will go in, pick up my things, and bring them back. No hanging around. Understood?”
    “Then let’s get a move on,” Nicholas said, already waiting by the door. He’d been the worst kind of company during the day, grumpy and short with both Fallon and me, but his “get-the-fuck-away” vibe had kept most people from giving us any trouble while we loitered all day long in the subway.
    “I’m staying here,” Fallon said as she stifled a yawn. “You guys go on, and I’ll check in with Crystal and Drew and then catch some sleep.”
    I hopped up from the bed and headed for the door too. “Suit yourself. I’m anxious to stretch my legs.”
    “Remember,” Lysander said sternly. “We are not hanging around. I want to get in and out quickly.”
    “I got it, honey,” I smiled innocently and batted my eyelashes. “But can’t we stop for a bite to eat on the way?”
    Lysander was