The Lost Lycan Princes: A Journey Home

The Journey Begins

Jameson POV

  "You guys are sure you have everything you need?" Mom asked worriedly. "Have you checked your oil and water? Do you have extra oil and water in the back? Do you have enough snacks? Do you - ?"

  "Mom," I cut her off, placing my hands on her shoulders. "We've got it. We're going to be ok."

  It was early Tuesday morning, and Jonathan and I were finishing up loading my car up before we hit the road. It was only 5 a.m. - so not even light outside - but we were hoping to miss rush hour traffic in LA, which was about a 35 minute drive from us.      

  "Are you sure?" she asked, wringing her hands. "I mean, you two have never travelled without us before. Maybe I should - "           

  This time it was Jonathan who stopped her. He accomplished that with a hug. "We've got this, Mom," he reassured her. "We know how to pack for a trip. After all, we learned that from the best- you."

  She sighed. "I'm sorry, boys. I know, you're not babies anymore, but I worry. I'm a mom. I can't help it."

  I nudged Jonathan out of the way so I could hug her too. "That's what makes you such an amazing mom," I told her, hugging her while Jonathan did the same to Dad. "You always worry more about us than you do about yourself. But I promise, Mom, we've got this."

  She nodded as I stepped back, dabbing at her eyes with the Kleenex she'd pulled out of her pocket. "I know, you boys will be fine," she told us. "But I still want you to check in with us as much as you can, OK? Just to let us know that you're ok."

  "You got it, Mom," Jonathan said as I nodded. 

  Then I turned around and threw my arms around Dad,  who'd been fairly quiet up to that point. He wrapped me up in a big bear hug.

  "Make sure to keep an eye on your oil and water, OK, boys?" he told us. "I would hate to have to come try to find you in the middle of the desert or something crazy like that."

  I smiled at him. "Again, we learned from the best." I pointed to the oil, gallons of water, and flashlight that were all shoved together in the backseat, near the spare tire. "You taught us well, Dad."

  He smiled, looking at least a little relieved. 

  Sarah had an early class that morning, so we'd said our goodbyes the previous night. 

  I slid into the driver's seat as Jonathan climbed into the passenger seat beside me. Both of us rolled down our windows. Mom was on my side, and she reached through the window and clasped one of my hands in both of hers. As she did, I felt her place something in my hand.

  "Mom - " I started. She cut me off with a shake of her head, as if telling me she didn't want Dad knowing.  I sighed, knowing it was a losing battle. I just smiled at her. "We'll let you know when we get to a stopping place tonight, ok?"  

  "Make sure you do," she told me, patting my hand. Then she withdrew her hands from the car, leaving whatever it was in my hand. 

  On the other side, I saw Dad shaking Jonathan's hand. He patted Jonathan's hand as Mom had done mine before withdrawing his hands from the car. 

  He and Mom both stepped back and Mom joined Dad on the passenger's side of the car. We waved as we backed out of the driveway. Normally I would've tried to be quiet at this time of morning to avoid the neighbors, but I figured this might be the last time we saw our parents for awhile so I gave a few quick honks and we both yelled, "We love you!" out the windows. 

  "We love you too!" they called back. They both waved, and we both watched as they slowly disappeared in the rear view mirror. 

  I glanced to see what I held in my hand and had to laugh. There was Mom's "for emergencies only" credit card, with a Post It note stuck on it with her PIN number written on it. 

  "What's so funny?" Jonathan asked. I showed him the credit card, and he laughed too. "They've been married too long," he remarked. 

  I shot a questioning look at him. 

  He held up his hand to show me Dad's "for emergencies only" card, complete with Post It note with PIN number. We both had a good laugh over that. 

  Within a few minutes, we were on the freeway. Traffic was light this time of day, so we were able to zip along without any traffic hindering us. 

  Since I was driving,  Jonathan was in charge of the radio. So we spent the first four hours of our trip jamming out to Bruce Springsteen, The Beach Boys, The Beatles, and a few others. Jonathan and I may not see eye to eye on everything, but one thing we did agree on is that we both loved classic rock. I really expected Jonathan to take a nap, but he didn't. 

  By then, we were at the Nevada border and we both needed a stretch, a bathroom, and some breakfast. We'd been nibbling on the snacks we'd brought along, but they just weren't doing the trick anymore. We stopped at the first McDonald's we saw. Both of us went straight to bathroom first - two large cups of coffee each probably wasn't the brightest idea. After that, we both put in our orders at the front of the restaurant, then sat down to wait on our food. 

  Once we'd had our fill of hotcakes, sausage biscuits, eggs, and hash browns, plus more coffee - I suppose we were both gluttons for punishment - we headed to the gas station across the street to top off. Jonathan went inside to grab some candy - we'd noticed that we'd packed chips, Little Debbies, and some Slim Jims, but had totally forgotten to pack any sweets. When he came back out, he'd grabbed some brochures and maps, saying that if we lost cell signal at some point, we'd be grateful to have the maps. I figured they were just something else to clutter the car, but figured it wasn't worth the argument. 

  A few minutes later, we were zipping along the freeway again. This time, Jonathan was behind the wheel and I found myself trying to make heads or tails out of the maps. 

  "I haven't looked at a map since we learned how to read them in fifth grade," I remarked. "And honestly, I don't remember a thing about them."

  Jonathan laughed. "Me neither. But I figured we can figure it out if we need to."

  I gave up on the maps and set them aside. I adjusted my seat to the reclining position and closed my eyes. It had been a long few days, and I was exhausted. 

  I hadn't slept long when Jonathan poked me. I opened one eye and glared at him. "What was that for?"

  He smirked at me. "Thought you might want to see Vegas, since we're passing through it."

  I sat up a little. Even though it wasn't that far from El Segundo to Las Vegas - not quite 290 miles - we'd never actually been here. After watching the buildings of downtown zip by me, I closed my eyes again, determined to get a longer nap than just a few minutes this time. And I did. This time Jonathan let me sleep for a couple of hours before elbowing me awake again. 

  "Look, we're going through the Dixie National Forest," he told me. He knew that I loved the forest and would enjoy taking a good look around. 

  "Do you think we can stop and look around? I could use a stretch," I told him.

  "I could too," he replied. "And I'm ready to hear someone else's voice but Damien's. He's a chatterbox."

  I laughed. "Donovan hasn't said much today," I said. "I think he's as tired as I am."

  I heard a responding grunt in my head, but nothing else. 

  When we stepped out of the car, we both first headed to the nearest tree. Thankfully, there wasn't anyone around, so we could do that without any problems. After that, we walked around for a few minutes, enjoying the feeling of being out of the car and out in nature for a few minutes. 

  'It's because you're a Lycan," Donovan said. 

  'What is?' I asked. 

  'You loving nature,' he replied. 'Lycans and werewolves are all connected to nature. We're most at peace when we're out around the trees and plants and such.'

  'Really?' I said, surprised. 'I didn't know that.' I thought for a minute. 'I guess that does make sense though.'

  'Loving nature is part of who we are,' he told me.

  I looked over at Jonathan, and from the look on his face, he was probably having a similar conversation with Damien.

  After about thirty minutes, we decided we should get back on the road. I offered to drive again, but Jonathan said that he was good for a couple more hours. 

  So we got back on the road, deciding to keep going until we got to Green River, UT, before stopping for the night. That way, the next day, we would only have about six and a half to seven hours to get to Pikes Peak. 

  We found a Budget Inn in Green River and, luckily, they had rooms available. After we got checked in, we grabbed the overnight bags we'd packed ahead of time and trudged over to our room. I claimed the bed closest to the door, and Jonathan took the one closest to the bathroom. I let him take a shower first while I headed to the ice machine at the end of the walkway and filled up the little bucket they provided. I grabbed the cooler from the car and took it into the room. The Cokes in the cooler were now lukewarm since the ice had melted, so I put ice in two of the cups the motel provided and poured both of us a drink. 

  Jonathan walked out of the bathroom a few minutes later, and I wordlessly handed him his Coke. He gratefully took it and took a long drink. 

  "Thanks," he said gratefully. "I was about to go and get the ice and drinks myself if you hadn't."

  I smiled. "Great minds think alike, or maybe it's just a twin thing," I joked. 

  I grabbed my clean clothes and a towel from the stack the motel provided and headed to the shower myself. It felt great to wash off the "travel dust" as Mom called it.

  When I got done, I came out to see Jonathan kicked back on his bed, munching on a bag of chips and scrolling on his phone. He looked up as I walked in.

  "I rented us a movie," he told me. "Hope you don't mind. I'm in the mood for a horror movie. How does It sound? Oh, and I texted Mom and Dad, so they know we stopped for the night."

  I nodded. "Good. And, as long as it's the original and not the new one. Nothing against the new one, but nobody can play Pennywise like Tim Curry."

  He nodded in agreement. "Bill Skarsgard is pretty awesome too, but Tim is definitely my favorite," he agreed, then tossed me a paper menu for a nearby Chinese restaurant. We ordered dinner to be delivered to the motel, then sat back to watch the movie while we ate. Chinese, my favorite horror movie, and getting to hang out with my brother who was my best friend. I'd say this journey was off to a pretty good start.