The next week passed in what felt like the blink of an eye, but in that time, I did a lot of things.
I spent time with mom, and since I would be living alone for a while, she taught me more about cooking. I already knew the basics because I would cook when mom couldn't get home from work on time.
With Rose, I spent a lot of time at her place, but it was mostly indoors because Rose was still recovering. We visited a lot of the local restaurants and bakeries to celebrate our final days together.
With Kyle, I spent our time together mostly playing video games. The most fun we had was the night when we invited Rose over and played all the Z-box games we had.
However, this all had to come to end. On the last day, Mom and Kyle helped me pack up all my possessions, and I spent the last of my time with them. When it was around lunchtime there was finally a knock on our door.
"Hello, miss wolf." Barbara was the first to greet me, and Coyle stood behind her.
"We are here to collect you, miss Carter. Are all your affairs in order?" Coyle asked looking through the notepad he had last time.
"Yes, I have everything ready. The only thing I have to do is say goodbye to my family. Is it ok if I have a minute?" I asked a little nervous.
Coyle nodded at me, and as soon as I had permission I went and told Mom and Kyle I was leaving. Kyle burst into tears immediately, and mom kept a smile on her face, but I could tell she felt like crying as well. They both hugged me, and a few tears rolled down my own cheeks.
After nearly a minute of all of us sobbing. I realised this couldn't continue forever, so I separated from their embrace, and they helped carry my bags to the door. Once we reached the door, I turned to look at both of them and gave my final goodbye. "Bye, mom. Bye Kyle. I'll see you later." I tried not to cry as I said those words, but it was impossible.
Kyle and mom also began crying again, and they gave me a final hug.
"This is so sad. Can we wait a bit longer before we take her Coyle?" Barbara asked as she watched the scene of me and my family bawling our eyes out.
Coyle sighed and looked at his watch. "I'm afraid not. We will be travelling along the ley lines, and the transport will be here any minute now."
"Really, why couldn't you hire a teleportation mage?"
"I don't know Meadows? Maybe someone got my teleportation permit revoked?"
"Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Sorry."
I felt like Coyle was about to shout at Meadows, but before that happened a car parked on the street outside our house. There was a sign that read 'Angel's Travel' painted on the side of the car.
"Ah, that's them now." Coyle exclaimed as he saw the vehicle. "I'm sorry to end your goodbyes miss Carter, but we must be going now. Meadows take her bags and put them in the vehicle!"
"Wait why do I have to do it?" Barbara asked annoyed.
"If I remember correctly, it is quite expensive to renew a teleportation permit. How much was it again?"
"Where do you want the bags, Boss?"
Whilst the two agents argued, I departed from my family. I gave them one last hug before following the two agents.
Coyle helped me into the back of the car and then went to sit in the front next to the driver. The driver was a man with pure white hair, I couldn't see his face but I could hear him whistling to himself. After putting my bags in the car's storage Barbara sat in the back next to me.
When everyone was in the car the driver stopped whistling. "Where too, Mr agent?" He asked as he began to start the car.
Coyle answered him with indifference. "Take the ley line to Therian Island?" After receiving the destination the driver began to drive. Whilst the car began to drive away I waved at my family from the window.
I heard the term ley lines again and grew more and more curious. I decided to ask Barbara. "Barbara, what are ley lines?"
She opened her mouth but before she could answer the driver interrupted her. "Is this your first time travelling along the ley line?"
"Yes, it is."
"Well, you are in for a treat. Make sure you keep your eyes open you won't want to miss a thing."
Barbara didn't look happy to be interrupted. "Shut up you stupid angel, I was going to answer her."
"Sorry, Barbara. You know how excited I get about ley lines. The whole reason I started this ley line travelling business was to experience the reactions people have when using them. How wonderful it is…"
"Shut up, Angel. I'm not paying you to ramble about your delusions again." Coyle snapped at the driver as he was looking through his notepad.
"Sorry, Coyle. That reminds me why haven't you been using my service lately? The two of you are my favourite customers. Don't tell me you got one of those fancy teleportation mages!"
For the next few minutes, the driver complained about how his business was "going belly up" from the increase in mages. He talked about the good old days when everyone was travelling by the ley lines. I wasn't really paying attention instead, I was more curious about what kind of place I was going to rather than how we would get there.
"Hey Barbara what kind of place are we going to and what is the school I'm going to like?" I asked quietly not to disturb the driver's rambling.
Barbara took a moment to think before answering me. "Well, I have never been to the hybrid school all I know is it is called Wylde academy. However, I have been to Therian Island before, my cousin got married to a hybrid last year, and their wedding was there. It's filled with all kinds of friendly people and they are all very unique. Avia was nice because the sky is filled with birds and the building are really tall, but I have to say my favourite place was Bearton. They had all sorts of great food there, it's making me salivate just thinking about it."
Coyle overheard our conversation and handed me a piece of paper. "If you want to know more about Therian Island that map will be helpful. It's quite outdated because modern maps aren't allowed to leave the island, but all the landmarks should be the same. The place you will be staying is Wylde Village."
(Hopefully, there should be a picture of the map in the comments)
I looked over the map, excited to explore a new place. I had rarely left the small town I lived in. The longest time I had ever been gone was a two-day school trip, and it was only a couple of miles away. This was my first real taste of a new place, and although I did miss my family it didn't hinder the feeling of adventure.
The driver interrupted my thoughts. "Look there miss that's the gate to the ley line."
I looked up from the map to see a white light in the centre of the road. It looked like a swirling ball of yarn with different glowing strings coming out from it.
"How has no one ever reported this? I mean there is a glowing ball in the middle of the road!" I asked as I gazed upon the mystical sight.
The driver chuckled before answering me. "Ley lines are just magic in its purest form. People without a trace of magic could never see ley lines."
The driver started to speed up the car heading straight for the centre of the light. "I hope you are ready miss. I'm so excited, I get to see a hybrid's first time using a ley line."
Coyle and Barbara both clutched onto their chairs like they were about to fly out of the car, but the driver took his eyes off the road and looked directly at me.
It was my first time seeing the driver's face, and he had beautiful golden eyes, but that was a sharp contrast to his terrifying smile.
When the car entered the light, it almost felt as if we had been tossed in the air and were speeding towards the ground. Every part of my body was screaming at me that I was going to die, so I clutched onto the seat of the car.
I looked outside, but outside the car was nothing but a flash of different coloured lights. I thought I could make out some details, but everything was moving too fast for me to be able to tell.
I could feel my body transform, and my scared screams became yelps, and my claws now dug deep into the chair as I attempted to cling on.
Just as I thought this was going to last forever, the driver braked and stopped the car. Everything came to an immediate stop, and if I wasn't wearing a seat belt I would have probably flown through the window.
As soon as the car was no longer in motion I jumped out the window and started throwing up. Because I had transformed my clothes were left behind in the car.
"Wow, what a reaction! To think she would transform from the stress. It's things like this that make me love this job."
I wanted to give the driver a piece of my mind for not warning me properly, but my mouth was preoccupied with emptying the contents of my stomach.
Barbara grabbed my clothes and then got out of the car herself. She began rubbing my back slowly as she gently hummed a tune. I started feeling better after she did that.
Coyle paid the driver and then also got out of the car.
"I dropped you off just outside Wylde village, please apologise to the young lady for me when she wakes up." The driver said that and then drove back into the gate.
I'd managed to stop throwing up now, and my body was returning to being human. I looked up to try to observe my surroundings.
What I saw was a bustling town that seemed to be one with nature. There were no tarmacked roads or cars, and all the houses seemed to work with nature instead of against it. There were some built into the trees and some in the ground, and nearly everyone one of them had a garden filled with different plants and animals. The architecture of the town seemed to be hundreds of years behind, but all the houses had lights and some of the people were using smartphones.
I couldn't help but be amazed until I realised I wasn't wearing any clothes.