“I’m sorry, kid, but I can’t let you anywhere into this airport without a ticket. Obviously.” the front desk worker explained. 

“Yeah, but I have my passport,” I grumbled, peaking back at the long line of people behind me. “Can’t I buy a ticket here?” 

The woman sighed once more, “Alright, kid, over there. You can buy tickets there, then come back. Please stop blocking the line.” I sighed and grabbed my passport off the counter, rushing off to one of the airline desks. “Hi,” I said.

“Hello there, how can I help you?” 

“I need to buy a ticket.” 

She stared at my single backpack and shabby outfit. “Okay, a ticket to where ma’am.” 

“Michigan.” 

“Wow, ways away. Anywhere specific?” 

“I don’t know. The main city.” I shrugged, looking around at the other people. 

The woman typed away at her keyboard while laughing, “Right, the main city is Detroit, by the way. Today, we have one empty seat, you’re very lucky. Can take you straight there. It’s not cheap though.”

“That’s fine, I’ll pay with card.” 

“Okay, tap here, it’s 2,500. That okay?”

“Yes.” I tapped my parent's card and waited for the payment to go through. I was lucky that it did because if it hadn't, I would've had to go back home. Thought for sure that my parents would shut down the card as soon as they realized I disappeared two days ago. 

I also couldn’t totally figure out why neither of them even messaged. Unless they were tracking my phone? That seemed like a stretch so I just ignored it. He gave the ticket to me with a small smile that calmed me slightly. Might be why he was at the front. 

As I sat on the plane, finally making it through security, and questions from strangers, it was then that I got a message from my parents. Apparently, they’d noticed before that I was gone but had assumed I went to Laura's. Normally, I would go to her house, but not this time. Not for this thing. 

Mom: Honey, where are you? We’re very worried, and you won’t pick up the phone. Just let us know you’re okay.

Me: I’m fine. Talk later, gotta head out. 

Switched my phone to airplane mode and tried my best not to give another thought to them. They didn’t lie, they wouldn’t. Never, but I couldn’t do this with them. They’d be too… hovering, hang onto me. As if trying to keep me tied to them. I knew that. I had to do it alone. 

I stared out the window as the clouds flew by. So pretty. I love the look of clouds. Suddenly someone appeared on the wing, or I certainly thought I saw someone. Hair a lighter color than my own but still brown with eyes that seemed to glow. Glowing and shifting between a deep black and a sharp red. I wanted to sink into it, swim in the depths of them. 

Her head tipped to the side, almost as if she was surprised that I noticed her. As if she wasn’t standing on the wing of a plane. Something appeared in her hand, slowly from middle out to each end. A staff? I wasn’t totally sure but a smile spread across her face, seemingly showing it off as she pushed it forward. 

I wasn’t sure totally what to do so I simply offered her a small smile to which she beamed at. Taking a step on the wing just a bit closer. She mouthed something and it felt like a whisper across my skin. Crawling up my back, wrapping around my throat and slithering into my ear. “Concord,” a nearly ghostly voice said. I shuddered and my smile dropped, that was just creepy. Not intriguing. Or maybe intriguing considering I hadn’t felt anything like it in my life. 

She gave me a short wave while pointing down. I squinted in confusion, why would she do that? I pressed closer to the airplane window, peeking down. As I did, a body flew by, it was her. She jumped off the wing of an airplane?! I couldn’t see her body anymore until she was suddenly floating next to me. I wasn’t sure how, but she was. 

Blonde hair was nearly slicked back from the wind, shaved on one side. Or the side that I saw at least. She waved once more, before I could respond, I felt a jolt from the plane. Turbulence, nothing more. That was until my eyes flew open, my hands death gripping the arm rests of my seat. 

When I looked out the window again, there was no beautiful girl, no dreary night, nothing. Not even the wing of the plan, as it turns out I wasn’t in the right place to see that. No wing next to me. 

“We’ll be making our descent now, ladies and gentleman, so please put your seats upright and put your tables up.” I heard the captain say over the intercom. My head swirled around, everyone else on the plane seemed normal. 

I found it odd, not odd that I had dreamed something, just that it was so specific. That it had someone I’d never once seen in my life. Or… that I was pretty sure I’d never seen her. 

Before I could even contemplate that, the plane was on the ground and I was standing in the middle of Detroit Airport. What was I thinking? As I stood there, my determination slowly spiraled. 

I swung my bag around and tore it open. Inside was a letter that arrived at my door a month ago. A letter that I never… that I never expected to receive. Yet there it was, on my desk. A few months after my 18th birthday. My parents, they weren’t helpful, apparently it had come earlier and they had hid it. 

Inside was a cryptic paragraph about nothing at all. About how whoever sent it loved me very much, that they cared for me and that I was safe where I was. But… that if I wanted to know more, I’d have to find it. 

The mailing address was a PO box in michigan. Very helpful, I was hoping that if I went there, maybe they’d be able to tell me who it belonged to. I needed more information. 

After all, the final message on the letter read, mom and dad. 

Very cryptic. 

So, there I was in Michigan, hoping to find a PO box that might not even exist anymore. A person that might not even exist anymore. I sat down outside the airport, slightly regretting my choices in terms of flying cross-continental after all. 

My phone rang from one of my siblings, the oldest, obviously. I had a lot of siblings, six plus my mom was pregnant at the time. My oldest brother was ringing my phone, probably since I disappeared from the whole continent of the UK. 

I took the call, not totally having a reason to hide seeing as there was no way they were going to get to me then. “Hey, D,” I mumbled. 

“Don’t ‘Hey, D’ me, who the fuck flies to a whole ‘nother country?” he said, so loud that my hand flinched away from my head. Much too loud. “Huh? What the fuck were you thinking?”

“D, D, stop.” I said.

“Stop? You-” I cut him off, this was completely useless. 

“The letter, it’s from my birth parents… supposedly.” I could hear him frozen on the other end. Being the only adopted kid of nearly eight children had its perks, one being that not a single person could question my motives in that specific situation. 

“Oh,” he said, “okay. I get it, you’re curious. But who in the world flies to America just to find her parents. You could’ve just asked mom and dad, you know?” 

I massaged my temple, he just didn’t get it. Of course he wouldn’t, he’s the oldest after all. “They kept the letter from me. They hid it from me… for months.” I nearly yelled, “I refuse… I can’t. This conversation is over, I’ll call you later.” I hung the phone up quickly and ordered an uber to the nearest hotel.

Once more, a perk to being the only adopted child. Special treatment, or maybe it’s just because I’m so far away from them that they’d be worried about it. 

I arrived at the hotel, heading towards the front desk. Before I could even get there, in the corner of my eye, I spotted that girl. From the plane. I swirled on my heel towards her, and there she sat. In some kind of… lobby, I mean it seemed like a lobby. 

Sofa chairs, couches, even some coffee tables. And there she was, staring me straight in the eyes. A foot crossed on her knee, relaxed in the chair. Her elbow on the arm rest and her fingertips press against the side of her face. Her staff, the same from before, leaned against the chair almost precariously. A smirk plays on her face, almost teasing in nature and her foot taps a rhythm on the floor. 

I completely twisted my trajectory, slowly making my way over to her. It was then that I had the opportunity to get a solid look at her. Blue eyes to match her blond hair, deep blue. Nearly navy, they dragged me in. I felt like they were yanking me towards her, dragging me, like I didn’t even have a choice. 

I hated that fucking feeling. 

It intrigued me all the same.

I loved it all the same. 

Wait. Loved it? I’ve never seen her before… who… is she? I had thought after that revelation. She tipped her head to the side, squinting at me. Like she was making sure of something, and the smirk spreads further on her face. Bigger, more joyful but still… scary almost. 

She sat up straight, her boot slamming on the floor. It seemed to send a shockwave through the whole room and suddenly I was back in the direction of the front desk. I swirled around but she wasn’t there anymore. “Excuse me, are you okay?” a stranger said, grabbing my shoulder. 

I shrugged them off, “yeah I’m fine,” I growled, passing by them.  At that point, I realized that if I saw that girl, then I shouldn’t trust my brain. She wasn’t actually there, and I was asleep… or at least frozen. 

Once I’d found myself a room, one of the cheapest ones they had so I could pay with what little cash I had. It wouldn’t really make sense to pay with a card and immediately give away my exact location. I stared out at the… just-okay view. I was in Detroit which is technically where the PO box was, but I wasn’t sure where exactly it was. 

My phone rang again. So annoying, why couldn’t they just let me be. I was almost 18 at the time, there was no reason why I couldn’t just continue as usual. This time though, it was somebody I was specifically trying to avoid. Actually, trying to avoid more than my parents, unusual for me. I hated her, hated everything about her, and everything she did to me. If I could, I’d just block her number. 

I threw the phone onto my bed and took out the litter again. It was more like a postcard with how short the letter was. They couldn’t have taken a few more minutes to write a longer letter. It’s not that difficult. 

What if… what if I’d come all this way for no reason. What if they weren’t here? Or… even worse, they simply didn’t want me. Why would they send me a letter when I turned 18? Why not just keep me? 

When I looked up at the window again, my insides turned from further confusion. It was like the closer I got to them, the more sick I felt. The more angry, the more upset, the more excited. Too many emotions, each more confusing than the last. Once more, I saw the girl. This time in the reflection of my window, just sitting on my bed. 

“What the fuck?!” I screamed, turning around too quickly. She looked different now, her hair was a little longer and she looked… less happy. Her hair was messy now, down to her shoulders. She had bags under her eyes, looking exhausted. Marks up her arm, spreading down under her clothing. Burn marks? I thought maybe they were but it was hard to tell. “What are you doing here?!” 

She turned slightly, angular now on the bed. She stared up, like she was looking at someone. Her hand slowly raised, almost like she was reaching for someone. Who was there? 

I felt my mouth move without my permission. “I’m sorry,” it was like… I was talking but I wasn’t. My voice overlayed with another as the strangers mouth moved at the same time. “I just want to keep you safe.” 

I stumbled back into the window, what the fuck was going on? Then my eyes flew open, I was face down in the bed now. What happened? How long was I asleep? Last time it was only a few seconds of just standing there, but I’d barely interacted with her. 

I checked my phone, seven messages from my parents, six from my brother, a few from my other siblings, and 15 texts plus 3 missed calls from that stupid girl. God I hated her. For a few seconds, I thought maybe I should go back. Maybe this was totally not worth it, London… London was home. 

The letter just had so little information on it and I wanted to know so bad who they were, why they got rid of me? Or better yet, why put me on a whole other continent. I’d figure it out. I had to.