Chapter 2: The Ride

I looked out the huge pane of window at the plane before I went into the terminal. It was huge. Meant to carry 500 passengers, at least. We were wasting space with all these sad excuses for humans. I sighed and walked through the tunnel thing to get to the plane.
"Velcome! 'ave a nice treep!" said an over enthusiastic stewardess with obnoxiously blonde hair, huge red lips, and an annoying gutteral Swedish accent when we reached the plane entrance. Right. This trip will be the death of me.
I walked past her and looked for my seat. It was toward the middle of our section of the cabin, on the right side. There was a middle row of four seats across and a left row of two seats across. The seats were gray, and, thank God, not of that velvety itchy fabric. I couldn't stand that stuff. A girl was already sitting in her seat next to the window wrapped in a blue crocheted blanket, listening to headphones. I didn't blame her about the blanket, it was freezing in here.
She looked up at me and fear clouded her eyes as she realized who I was. I wanted to laugh as she nervously made room for me to sit down. Why did she look so scared? She must be a freshman, and some of the stupid sophomores, no doubt Trent being one of them, told her what a monster I was. Feeling sorry for her, I sat down, smiled, and asked for her name, placing my bag on the ground.
"Marla Grant." She smiled tentatively, not meeting my eyes.
"Dusty Kilmore. What grade are you in?"
"Freshman. No, I mean, 9th." Marla responded quickly. She was cute, I decided. Very small for her age, mousy brown hair and glasses, which magnified her pretty green eyes.
I heard laughing behind me.
"Careful! She'll suck your blood and you'll be more shriveled up than you are now!" It was a high, screeching laugh that made me wince. Hollie Kelly, Caroline's best friend. Three... two... one...
"Yeah! Do you have garlic with you?! Or maybe a stake?!" Caroline chimed in. More screeching. Wow, that was um... hilarious. Nice one. Two points for dirty hoe #1, oh no, wait, none, because you're stupid.
"Screw off, Caroline," I said warningly without turning around. Sifting through my bag, I looked for my headphones. They were tangled with other things I made a mental point to organize. Somehow, they must have gotten jostled when going through the detector thing. I hate airports.
I took my knife out of my pocket and into my bag, amused when Marla's eyes widened at the sight of it. The blade was about four inches long and hooked at the tip. It was extremely sharp and shiny. The handle was a rich wood, and had symbols carved into it by the native Indonesians he'd gotten it from. What else was in here? A change of clothes for tomorrow- a green tank top, khaki drawstring pants made from this canvas-like material, underwear and strapless bra. I also had a book, my headphones, matches, a pencil, hair bands, and CDs. No makeup, I don't wear it. My face is always clear, I don't need it. I don't wear jewelry either, except for a leather band around my neck that has a shark's tooth on it, from when I went fishing with my dad and caught a baby shark in the ocean. Also, about $100 in cash, for spending money in Australia.
"Please fasten your seatbelts, and get ready for take-off..."
We were finally leaving. Everyone was seated. Oh man, who was across the isle from me but Trent David. Next to him was Caroline. They weren't dating, but out of the 18 hours, I bet myself they'd make out for 17. I almost wanted to warn him to have her checked for STD's first, but then decided he deserved them. Next to Caroline was Hollie, then some poor geek who got stuck seated next to her.
I closed my eyes as we took off, and my ears popped. Did I ever mention I'm extremely afraid of heights? Thank you, Marla, for taking the window seat. I never sit next to the window, that way I can't see how far off the ground we are. I love flying, but hate heights. Shut up, it makes sense to me.
It was about 9:00 AM when we took off. Most of the time they played movies that no one paid attention to. Snacks were passed around. I don't eat airplane food. I don't get nautious, I just can't stand supposedly edible pieces of sterilized, preserved, at-one-time frozen roadkill that needs labels in order for it to be recognized.
Caroline, apparently, does get nautious. Sickening. At least I wouldn't have to see Trent making out with her after that, I think it scarred him for life. Marla was sweet, she was quiet and didn't bother me. She was probably scared into silence, which was a shame.
Because if she was that scared then, it's a wonder she didn't die of fright 17 hours later...
It was about 2:00 in the morning. Most everyone was asleep. No calculator beeping, no random bursts of laughter. Everything had died down.
I was asleep, but I'm an incredibly light sleeper due to my extremely acute hearing, keeping me half awake and subconsciously alert. Which is why my eyes flew wide open when I thought I heard whispers in another language, one that I couldn't place. That's strange because no one here is smart enough to know another language fluently besides me. And not because I'm smart, I've just lived in foreign countries.
It took about a second for my eyes to get used to the darkness (I have extraordinary eyesight as well). Not moving, I shifted my eyes around. I could see dark forms slumped over in seats: sleeping teenagers. Nothing unusual. After a minute or so I assumed I'd overestimated my hearing abilities and was about to go back to sleep, when I heard it again, very faintly. Two men were speaking in barely audible whispers. I didn't recognize the language, but their accent sounded like it was from the South Pacific. Big deal, Dusty, we're on our way to Australia, of course there'll be accents like this. And they're whispering because we're on a plane with everyone trying to sleep.
I strained to hear. There was one word they kept saying over and over again: Kailai. Was that a person? Or just a word? My skin prickled and my heart raced, despite my thoughts trying to tell me it was no big deal, and to be logical.
I felt for Marla's wrist and looked at her watch. 2:03 AM, September 26, it said, the neon green letters glowing like a searchlight in the pitch- black cabin.
She opened her eyes and whispered, "Dusty? What's wrong?" I wanted desperately to assure her it was nothing, but the words wouldn't come out of my mouth. Instead, I put my finger to my lips and she nodded, wide-eyed as usual. I turned my body around halfway and peered between the two seats to the back of the cabin.
Something metal glinted in the only ray of light coming from the curtains leading to the cockpit, and I heard a click even fainter than the voices. A gun. Oh shit. I slowly faced the front and sank down in my seat, heart beating so hard it was about to explode. I looked around desperately to see if anyone else had heard it- no avail.
Panicking, I turned and whispered to Marla, "Did you hear that?"
"Hear what?"
I froze, feeling the sudden pressure of something cold and metal digging into the side of my head.