Sudden Downpour

Levi kept quiet for a while now.

The girls at the back were having so much fun with Bash as their entertainer. I could see them by the rear-view mirror and they were definitely enjoying the ride. They were talking about their least favorite teachers back at school and everyone seemed to have one to put a pin on.

Suzy was particularly sitting right next to Bash and his face kept on coming too close to hers. It looked like they were having a private conversation and they kept on talking into each other's ears.

Even with the slower speed Levi drove the truck, we were still fairly on the edge of the speed limit.

I could only presume Suzy and Bash couldn't hear each other well with the wind coming at them, and so they had to settle with what they could do. She laughed and made exaggerated movements as she slapped on to Bash's arms.

Suzy's hair whipped in the wind and this time when Bash went close to say something to her, the truck had hit a small rock and jumped lightly. Their heads bumped and she giggled as they rubbed into their sore foreheads. Their faces were too close a kiss could have been so easy.

"Aherm."

I heard Levi clear his throat and I whipped my eyes somewhere else as if to pretend I didn't watch for too long. I don't think he noticed. Or did he?

I quickly glanced at him and his attention was fully on the road and weren't on me. I released a silent sigh of relief. I don't want him thinking I was actually bothered or anything with regards to Bash.

No way.

"You really don't want to talk about it, huh." Levi noted, this time his tone wasn't that much suspicious and when I looked at his face, he actually had a grin painted on his handsome face. He had slowed down as we approached what looked like a toll booth.

"Oh shoot, toll booth. Hey Bash! Could you pay for this one? I don't have enough bills here in my pocket." He called out at the back.

"Yeah sure, no problem Vi." Bash said as he peered into the front through the clear glass.

"That would be two and a quarter dollars sir." A middle-aged guy said as he chewed on a gum. He blew and popped it without much passion as he opened his hand for Levi's payment.

"Oh, I'm paying. Here you go, keep the change champ." Bash handed bills over for the toll boy to collect as Levi moved the truck a bit forward to make it easier for him.

Bash's eyes did not even take a look at us as he passed the bills over and went straight back to his conversation with Suzy. It was a weird feeling, but my heart just suddenly felt heavy and I had to stare at the front to distract myself from thinking of Bash.

After we had paid the toll, Levi sped through more buildings instead of the usual vast openness we had traveled through. There were more things to see and I craned my neck as we passed by. Colorful signages and lots of vehicles sped past us.

Levi got bored and decided to hum a song. The song he sung sounded like the same one Zeke had sung last night when they had camped. His voice was a deep baritone, slowly rising and picking up in volume.

As he got to the chorus, we arrived at a traffic jam and he abruptly stopped and cursed. "Ah shit… we are already so behind schedule and now this." He mumbled. We were almost at a fork road up ahead and I strained my eyes to read the signage.

Tulsa Memphis to the left and Kansas City, Walnut St to the right.

"Hey Lizzie." Levi called my attention. I turned to look at him and he had his pretty green eyes fixated at something afar.

"Yeah, what is it Levi?" I answered him. I hope he doesn't bring up the topic of Bash again. The weather had started to take a gloomy turn on the distance. I think anytime now the small sliver of sunlight we have in this stop would be eaten by the gloom.

"What do you think of Bash?" he asked. Thunder rolled in front of us and I jumped on my seat at the same time Levi asked his question. I rolled my eyes in frustration.

He is not yet done with Bash?

"Why do you ask Levi? Does my opinion really matter?" I told him as I clutched my chest from the fright I had. I had started to get annoyed by his questions and I felt electric pulses course through my body.

I furrowed my brows and dug my nails into my seat. I was truly scared of Levi and his huge built but right now with the way he probed, I couldn't stand it anymore. Doesn't he understand from my tone and body language that I don't want to talk about Bash?

I didn't want anybody else involved with the things I felt about the bastard. My hatred is directed towards Bash alone as William's reincarnation. I stared at Levi and his eyes bore into me like he wanted to know what was inside my mind.

"Levi, could you please drop this conversation?" I asked him with clenched teeth. I held back my anger. I didn't want what happened with the cans of beer last night to happen today.

The big guy probably felt the annoyance in my voice and he struggled to find words to say. He opened his mouth to speak yet closed it before he could say anything. Wise move Levi, very wise move.

The thunder crackled closer and closer, and somehow the traffic moved and we turned left to speed towards the dark clouds that formed in the skies. The weather will turn bad, I can feel it. There was something in the air that told me so.

I was still confused. I don't understand if it was me or something else, but I felt the tingling sensation last night before it happened. And that same sensation is what I feel right now under my skin too.

I was never a witch back in Shalem, that I swear is the truth. But after I found myself here in the new world, it seems something was really amiss. Something is ominous is brewing and the dream I had was yet to be answered.

Levi had not said a word after I had asked him to drop the topic about his best friend.

I was so deep in my thoughts that somehow, I wasn't able to realize the rain had started to pour down slowly. The girls at the back shrieked and started to scramble for anything they could use to protect themselves from getting wet.

"Fuck!" I heard Bash curse at the back. "Levi, pull up the lever for the convertible roof. It's somewhere in there. Red stick." He instructed through the clear window at the back.