Arabella yawned and she looked out of the window, closing her eyes for a moment. She had slept so badly the night before and she was exhausted. It was taking all of her will power to not lay down on the seat, put her head on Hunter's leg and fall asleep. All she wanted was to curl up next to him and fall alseep. But everytime she thought of doing something like that, the image of Hunter kissing Tiffany slid back into her mind and she had to bite back a sob. to keep herself busy, Arabella reached behind her and grabbed a small bag that she had and opened it. From inside, she pulled out a pair of knitting needles and a ball of pink yarn. She looked over at Hunter and he was giving her a slightly confused look. Arabella smiled a little bit and she held up the needles. "I'm learning how to knit!" She said, trying to sound excited, like nothing was bothering her. She didn't want him to feel guilty because even if he should be feeling guilty, it would make this trip feel a lot longer.
"Have fun, then" Hunter said in what sounded like an attempt at a chuckle. Arabella knew how hard it was to laugh for her and she could tell that it was probably hard for Hunter to laugh too. Arabella didn't want to laugh. She didn't feel like laughing.
"I'll try to not poke out my eye but...I make no promises" Arabella muttered as she focused on getting the yarn tied around the needle so that she could start knitting. After a few tries, Arabella started knitting at a decent rate and she was smiling a litte bit, her tongue poking out in concentration. It was relaxing to knit. It felt good to knit. It felt natural to be making something like this. She looked down at what she was making and realzied with a start that the only pattern she had learned was for a baby sweater. Arabella was making a sweater for the daughter that she would never have with Hunter. It took everything she had not to break down in tears right there. Arabella had lost everything the moment that Hunter's lips touched Tiffany's. She lost her home and her life and her plans. She lost the family that her heart ached for. Trying as hard as she could not to cry, Arabella tossed the needles down and she turned on the radio, hoping for a song that would distract her. However, she had no such luck. Un-Break My Heart started to play through the speakers and Arabella looked over at Hunter for a moment before turning off the radio. With a small sigh, Arabella pulled out ehr teddy bear and her blanket before turning over in her seat and closing her eyes. Maybe she would be able to sleep if Hunter was beside her like that.
It felt like she had been only asleep for 10 minutes but when she looked at the time, she saw that she had been asleep for 2 hours. Arabella yawned and she stretched out her arms a little bit. She looked over at Hunter with groggy eyes and she saw that he was focused on the road. Arabella didn't say anything, not at first. She just looked at him. It shocked her and hurt her more than anything to know what Hunter had done. She always thought that she wasn't good enough for him but he had fooled her into thinking that she was all he wanted. Maybe he wanted more. Maybe he wanted to see other girls. Arabella cleared her throat and she looked away from him, out the window. "Sorry that I fell asleep on you like that" Arabella said softly and it took a moment for Hunter to repsond but she didn't look at him. She couldn't look at him.
"It's okay" Hunter eventually said in the quiet tone that broke her heart everytime that she heard it. Arabella took a breath and she ran her fingers through her hair, twisting a curl around her finger. She wanted something to talk about. Something lighthearted. Something to laugh about.
"Have you ever played the radio game?" Arabella asked and she looked over at Hunter who furrowed his brow. He looked genuinely surprised at the question that she had asked. Like he wasn't expecting her to ask him something like that.
"Uhm, no..I haven't" Hunter said and he looked over at her briefly. "What is it?"
"You ask a question. Send it out into the universe and turn on the radio to a random station and the song that's playing is your answer. Like...I'll say..." Arabella said and she chewed on her lip as she thought of a question. "What should I do tonight?" She asked then turned on the radio.
Just dance/Gonna be okay/Da-doo-doo-doo/Just dance/Spin that record babe/Da-doo-doo-doo...
Arabella giggled when she heard Lady Gaga playing from the radio and she turned it off. "Now you" She said and she smiled a little bit over at Hunter. She tried to not think of the bad stuff and she tried to jsut enjoy the rest of the trip with him. Hunter seemed to think about it for a moment before he finally shrugged.
"Uhm...Where are we going to stay tonight?" Hunter asked.
"I swear, if the song that starts playing is that Holiday Inn song, I'm going to laugh my ass off" Arabella said and she turned on the radio.
And if you have a minute why don't we go/Talk about it somewhere only we know?/This could be the end of everything/So why don't we go/somewhere only we know..
Arabella closed her eyes when that song started playing. That song. Their song. She remembered when she had danced with Hunter on the roof as he sang to her. The memory nearly made her cry. She cleared her throat and he turned off the radio.
"How is the rest of the trip going to be?" Arabella asked in a small voice and she turned on the radio.
I'm on a highway to hell...
Arabella got a slightly worried look on her face and she looked over at Hunter and he raised an eyebrow at her. That was not the song that she wanted to hear in answer to her question. "Okay, game over" She said and turned off the radio. She sat back in her seat and she closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. Why did everything have to be so difficult? Things were starting to move along a bit easier for them. She was starting to get used to talking to him like a friend and not the man that she was in love with. But then their song had to play and everything went downhill from there.
"We're almost at the zoo" Hunter finally said in a soft voice and Arabella nodded, rubbing her eyes. She sat up and started getting her things together so that she could just step out of the car when they parked. Arabella pulled her hair up into a bun and she fixed her makeup in her compact mirror, thowing it into her purse. It wasn't long before Hunter was parking the car and Arabella was climbing out of her side. When she stood up, she stretched her legs and yawned a little bit. Once Hunter had locked the car, she walked into the gates with him and she paid for herself. She felt wrong taking Hunter's money or having him pay for her. Arabella had more than enough money for herself and she didn't want Hunter to pay for things for her. It made it too personal. Too much like a date.
Together, they walked into the zoo and looked around at everything. It was a beautiful zoo, really. Arabella liked looking around but she was just happy to walk around. It was nice to walk in silence with Hunter, pointing out certain animals here and there and just enjoying the day. It was peaceful to walk through the zoo. That was when she heard it. A voice. It was saying her name, over and over again.
"Arabella"
Arabella looked around, sure that she knew that voice. It wasn't Hunter because it was a female voice. It was a female voice that she knew very well. Aphrodite. Her mother. The person that Arabella wanted to see the most. Her mother would know what to do about this whole situation with Hunter. Her mother would hug her and tell her that she loves her and that everything is going to be alright.
"Arabella, come here! I want to see you!" Her mother sounded happy and her voice was full of love. Without looking at Hunter, without wondering if there was anything fishy about it, Arabella followed the voice. She walked towards it, desperate to see her mother and hug her mother. Arabella walked through the zoo, following the voice. Hunter was by her side but he wasn't complaining or asking her why she was following the voice. Because of that, she figured that it must be real. He must hear it too. Arabella followed the voice until they got to a maze. It looked like it was part of the exibit and made out of hedges of some kind. she paused for a moment, looking at the maze. Maybe it was a bad idea to go in. But then she heard Aphrodite's voice again, calling for her and Arabella lost all of her doubts. She walked into the maze, following her mother's voice easily. Like it was a map through the maze.
As they walked, they seemed to be getting further and further away from the hustle and bustle of the zoo. They were the only people. It was just Hunter, Arabella and Aphrodite's voice. They walked until they turned around a corner and Arabella caught her breath, her heart stopping. It wasn't her mother. It was a monster. It looked like a hyena of some kind and he was looking at Hunter and Arabella with an evil glint in it's eye. This couldn't be happening now. It just..couldn't. How was this fair? How could they go through their life for so long and hardly see any monsters together but now..they saw this thing.
Arabella froze. She didn't know what to do and she didn't know how to respond. She was terrified. She could feel her heart racing out of fear. The monster took a step towards them and Arabella did the only thing that seemed right. She turned and started to run but the monster leaped and Arabella fell to the ground, hitting her head. Her eyes closed and the last thing she heard was Hunter yelling something that sounded like her name before everything went black.
------
She was in the car, she could feel it. The seat under her back and her head rested on Hunter's leg. Arabella tried to remember what happened but she couldn't remember anything after she fell down. It was all just black and now she was in the car and she could feel it moving along the road at a steady pace. With a moan, Arabella pushed herself up into a sitting position and she looked over at Hunter with tired eyes. Hunter turned to look at her, his eyes filled with worry but slowly starting to calm down a little bit.
"Are you okay?" His voice sounded worried and very, very tired. Arabella assumed that he hadn't gotten much sleep when they were in Kansas and then they got attacked and now he was having to drive again. Arabella let out a small sigh and she rubbed her head.
"Yeah, yeah..I'm fine" Arabella told him softly, looking around. She wanted to ask him how she had gotten back to the car but she knew in her heart that he had carried her. He had looked after her and made sure that she was okay before he started driving. She knew that he had taken care of that monster and saved her life. The thought made her stomach clench and regret everything. Why couldn't she be like other demigods? Why couldn't she pull out her knife and defend herself? Why did she always need a man to take care of her? It made her feel like an idiot. Arabella let out a sigh and she furrowed her brow. She wasn't happy. Not at all. She looked over at Hunter, her gaze turning into a bit of a glare. She wanted to know who he heard when they were in the maze. Arabella needed to know. She was also angry at him for putting her head on his leg while she was out. She didn't know why, but she was. Arabella was angry and all she wanted to do was scream and yell and cry.
"Do you need me to get you anything? A drink?" Hunter asked and he looked at her briefly but looked a little bit startled when he saw the look on Arabella's face.
"No, I don't need anything" She snapped and she folded her arms across her chest. "And I certainly don't need you to take care of me. I can take care of myself" Arabella added in a sudden angry tone.
"I..I was just-" Hunter stammered, looking totally shocked by the sudden outburst of anger. Arabella was angry at herself and she was letting it out on Hunter. He had given her a reason to be angry at him, this much was true but deep down, she knew that he didn't deserve this outburst.
"I don't want to hear it, Hunter. Besides, you were probably only helping me because you would have felt guilty if anything happened to me and that might make it a bit difficult to go back to your girlfriend, Tiffany" Arabella snapped and she let out a huff. She looked over at Hunter and he was looking at her with a shocked look on her face. He looked like he had been thrown off and he truly didn't know how he was supposed to respond to her. "I'm guessing that you heard her voice when we were in that damn maze. I mean, why wouldn't you think of her? I'm sure that she hasn't been off of your mind since you saw her in the pool!" Arabella didn't know where any of this was coming from but it felt good to let it all out.
"That's not true, Arabella. Not true at all" Hunter said softly. He was being too nice to her. Like he understood why she was angry or he was just going to let her yell herself hoarse. He wasn't fighting back with her and it was making Arabella furious.
"Dammit, Hunter! Fight back! Why are you being so damn nice?!" Arabella said, her voice raising a little bit and she shoved him. Hunter winced as she pushed him and he let out a little noise that sounded like a gasp of pain. Why did he do that? Was he hurt? Seeing him wince like that threw her off her game. She didn't like to see him like that and it made her wonder what had happened. He seemed distracted too. It was starting to snow and it was dark outside. Luckily, there weren't too many people on the road but he still looked distracted. His mind was on other things and Arabella was furious. Neither of them noticed that something was wrong until the car started to slow down and sputter.
"Hunter, what's going on?" Arabella said, looking over at him with big eyes. He looked down at the gauge and he cursed under his breath.
"Out of gas" Hunter muttered and he slowly pulled the car over to the side in a little look out area on the side of the highway. He was able to get the car to a safe place just as it came to a complete stop. The silence in the car was heavy and Arabella started to have difficulty breathing.
"What do you mean, we're out of gas?" Arabella asked him in a worried tone. This couldn't be happening. She couldn't cope with this. She needed to be in a hotel room and curled up on a bed. Not on the side of the highway in the snow. Arabella covered her mouth and she looked around anxiously. Everything was starting to feel so cramped and her heart was racing. Without realizing it, Arabella had started to cry. "Oh...Hunter..what are we going to do?" She squeaked and before he could respond, she opened the door and got out of the car. There had to be something they could do. Anything. Her hands were shaking, she couldn't breathe and her heart was racing. She was having a panic attack and she didn't know how to stop it.