I didn’t react. Not because I didn’t want to, but because I realized we were in the middle of the forest. I looked around with my hands on my hips and started to think. I remembered the stump that Devon used to find Nate and went east of that way. Back on track. I passed the hemlock tree that Devon and I carved our initials into when we were little, so I knew I was going the right way.
“How old are you, anyway?” I asked, continuing to walk, filling the silence that lingered since his last attempt.
“Nineteen,” he answered calmly. Devon’s age, I thought.
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“Should I be scared of being alone in a dark forest with you?” I asked, trying to make a joke.
I heard him really laugh for the first time; a sweet, refined, laugh. “Don’t be, I’m more fun than fright.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You’ll find out eventually.” From what I could tell already, Nate and Marrow seemed to be the complete opposite of each other. Nate was nicer, calmer and didn’t have a malicious intent in his body. I didn’t know Marrow, but something about him was, interesting.
“This is it,” I said retreating into my sector. I noticed that the firewood was still where we left it when I walked through the vines, Marrow at my side. I stepped beside it and shot a small spec of fire to the wood, illuminating the place. I guess I could still light a fire despite the ice inside my veins. Still had something.
“Hot,” Marrow laughed.
“It is a fire,” I shot back.
“I’m not talking about the fire.”
I rolled my eyes, thinking about the quirkiest thing I could say. “You’re named after a vegetable you know.” I walked over to the trees, where blankets and clothes were resting. I picked up a basket and placed the contents neatly inside.
“Well, I’m delicious.”
I laughed sarcastically as I continued to fold the blankets. “You’re extremely cocky, you know that?”
His fingers skimmed the roots of the walls, as he made his way to our little pond. “I’m allowed to be.” I watched as he bent down and ran his fingers through the water. “Fake,” he rubbed his hands on his pants.
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“Yeah, Nate already explained. You harness pure water, so pretty much every pond you touch won’t feel real.”
“All I heard was you. Pure. Pretty. Touch.”
I ignored him and tossed two pots, a few fresh vegetables and fruits inside the basket. I blew out ash and sprinkled it on the fire to extinguish it, ready to go.
“Unless you have it hot for my brother, I won’t argue,” Marrow added, noticing I didn’t reply to his last comment.
There it was again, that stupid feeling I potentially felt for Nate. I didn’t like him, I couldn’t. Yet, every time this topic rose in conversation, I couldn’t help but wonder why I could see him and no one else.
“You don’t know anything.” I walked to the passageway and secured my knife belt. “I’m done here, let’s go.”
I accidently looked at Marrow and noticed him again. His tan, his dark blue eyes and his chiselled jawline. I blinked once as he walked ahead of me, unfazed at my stare. His hair turned to the dark grey my father had, and my face fell downward once again as I followed behind. I am actually going crazy.
We walked for maybe ten minutes in silence before he cleared his throat loudly. “I want to show you something.” He said.
“Don’t you want to sleep?” I questioned moving closer to him.
He shook his head. “Not when I’m happily occupied.”
I had to blush, he was so quick with his words it annoyed yet fascinated me all at once. He led the way and
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turned west of the path we were supposed to take. Kaylin what are you doing? He could kill you right now and no one would know. As mysterious as Marrow was, I felt safe around him. He wasn’t, dangerous. We finally stopped in front of a mossy willow tree surrounded by dead grass. He moved the hanging branches aside and crept in.
“What is this?” I asked, stumbling over exposed roots.
“Just trust me.” It was only then that I realized that was the first time someone outside of my family had ever said that to me. It felt unnatural, yet soothing in a sense. He pulled a heavy branch to the opposite side, lifting it for me to walk in front of him. What I saw was truly breath-taking. So breath-taking, I was unprepared for the true perfection that was before me.
There I saw a large crystal pond. The moonlight shone down on it perfectly, revealing the inner contents of the water; blue roses. I only once ever saw a blue rose, and that was when my father picked it for me when I was young girl on our first hunt. I refused to look at another flower since. But this, this was beautiful. Magical.
“This water is not fake.” He let go of the branch and moved beside me. “Nate and I use to come here when we were kids.” I could hear the softness in his voice as he reminisced to that time. It really was a good memory of his; I understood the feeling.
“Where did you find this place? I would have never noticed it.” I asked, genuinely curious.
“I always went exploring. My parents couldn’t really keep me in the sector for more than a few hours.” Remind you of anyone? I watched as Marrow sat down beside the pond. He lifted both his hands and moved them
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to two opposite sides of each other. There I watched as the water started to separate and in the center of the now dry earth, was a single blue rose. Marrow plucked it from the ground and the water moved back together. He handed it to me, and looked down. It smelled phenomenal; nothing like I ever thought a flower would smell like. I sat down next to him and smiled, the moonlight beaming across my leg. Don’t feel Kaylin, you can’t afford to feel. I needed to remind myself that my family was all I needed to protect, everyone else had their own concern. I couldn’t be distracted, but I could enjoy an escape like this ever so often.
“Do you really think we can find a way out?” I asked, my hair falling over my eyes.
He looked to the water and lifted his knees. “I believe it. You know Nate never told us he was going to look for another clan.”
I thought his whole family was on board? I shook my head in surprise. “But, I thought you were all tracking an escape?”
“We were, but he never told my family about finding outside sources. We were all kind of surprised, but we had barely any time to discuss it. You came along, with your arm burning and all. Nate was so worried about you. My mother had no choice but to fix you up.”
“How did she know what to do?” And this is when I took the chance. I looked up at him and saw his face, his actual face again. It would come on and off, without the use of a shield. Somehow, I knew I would see him, but this was more puzzling than Nate. Although despite the bewilderment, I couldn’t help but feel calm. His golden brown hair curled over his ears, messy like Nate’s. His dark
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blue eyes were reflected in parallels with the light of the water, his red lips glowing.
“She didn’t,” he smiled. His teeth were pearl white and straight. I was so amazed I didn’t know how to react. Not because I was enamoured by Marrow’s features, but shocked at the fact I saw him so clearly.
“I see you,” I stuttered out. I couldn’t help it. Secrets weren’t my thing.
He turned to face me, and my eyes grew wide. He was my father again. I quickly turned away and shook my head several times. “I’m sorry, for a second I thought I saw your actual face.”
He looked away again, sucking in his cheeks. “Describe me.”
I didn’t hesitate; I wanted to talk about this with him. “You have super dark blue eyes, tan skin, golden hair and really red lips.”
I could feel the energy radiate from his body, like an electric wave just spiked the earth between us. “You pay close attention to my lips I see.”
I pushed his arm and felt the crease of his biceps, hard and smooth against my skin.
I couldn’t sit here any longer with
so many unanswered questions. I knew if I stayed in this moment, I would never move forward.
“We should get back.”
He nodded and assisted me, lifting the branches again and stepping through. The whole walk to the Coperton sector was silent yet peaceful. We didn’t need to say anything for the empty space of the air to be filled. Before we entered, I stopped him; I had to know this one thing that taunted my mind.
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“If you don’t know how I look like, why did you show me that place?” It just sparked my curiosity. Why spend so much time with an Enchanted if you see your worst fear. I understand I did the same, but it wasn’t voluntary. I just wanted an answer to one of the most pressing questions in my thoughts.
“Who says I don’t know what you look like?”
I swallowed hard. “I’m just assuming-,”
He interrupted. “I’m not shallow,” he said.
I laughed, leaning back against the wall, “Okay, but seriously.” It was uncomfortable to talk without looking, but it didn’t feel all that troubling given all the recent events.
I didn’t have to look to feel his eyes cut me open with a gaze. I felt him suck in before he kicked his heel forward to move inside the sector.
“Maybe I see you,” he breathed out.
I glanced up at him in a trance, unable to comprehend what he just said. And yet again, I saw his face as he turned to walk into the passageway, his features fading with every step he took.
Chapter 5
As I stepped through the passageway, I scanned the sector. The glowing blue lines were still shining in the soil, bodies were buried underneath blankets, and transparent bubbles were floating. My family was probably resting, but I couldn’t tell. All the cloths were dark, and covered most of their movements. I dropped the basket of items I was holding and glanced at Nate’s family who looked to be asleep. Liz and Lore were cuddled up against each other, facing one another. They looked so peaceful I almost forgot about Nate. I looked around for blonde hair and tan skin, but there was no one there. Just an empty blanket stuffed with something. Where was he?
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“Are you tired?” Marrow asked.
I shook my head, “Not really, but you are.” I glanced at him, his face still my father's. This really was a puzzle I needed to solve. I just wanted answers, complete answers, not half ass answers that I could live with to get myself by.
He squeezed my hand before starting to walk away. “Need my beauty rest, of course. Goodnight.” He made his way over to the stack of blankets folded against the wall, and pulled out a large grey one.
“Marrow, wait.”
He released that blanket and returned back to my side. “Can’t get enough of me, can you?”
I bit my lip and looked around, trying to find Nate. “Nate’s not here.”
He coughed loudly. “What are you talking about? He’s over there.” He pointed to the empty blanket that was clearly stuffed with something inhuman.
“That’s not him, check.” Marrow moved towards the blanket and knelt down. He opened the covers and pulled out long, thick vines. No Nate. Oh, no. What if something bad happened to Nate already? What if he went out looking for us and The Enchantress captured him? I felt my pulse burst with energy of fear.
“Where are you hiding now Nate?” He whispered under his breath.
I could sense the worry and confusion in his tone as well. “Do you think he could have followed?” I asked.
“Probably, Nate seems to be fond of you.”
There was no delight or tease in his voice. He seemed just as concerned with Nate’s disappearance as I was. As he patrolled around the sector, he made his way
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to where my family was sleeping. Stopping right in front of it, he pulled the cloth aside and tilted his head downwards.
“Unless he had a thing for your mother, sisters or Devon, I don’t think he’s in there.”
I could tell he wasn’t joking, but wanted to lighten the mood. He took out a knife from his belt and walked out the passageway, turning the corner. I stood staring at my family, not wanting to turn around. I didn’t want to do anything just in case I saw something I wasn’t prepared to see.
“Found him.” I heard Marrow say in an instant, annoyed.
I crossed the ground and moved beside Marrow, holding the vines that blocked the path. He was in the shadows behind the passageway walls. I could see Nate’s eyelashes moving, but he was asleep. He was slouched against the wall with his legs extended and hands on his thighs.
“What is he doing here?” I stepped to the other side of Marrow, staring at Nate.
“Who knows.” He slid the knife back into his belt and kicked Nate’s boot, causing him to wake up. His eyes opened wide and his head shook, alerted.
“Rise and shine brother.” Said Marrow, stern.
He looked at Marrow, then back to me.
“You guys are back,” he stuttered. “I didn’t hear you come in.”
“Well obviously not, you were drooling in do-do land.” He bent down beside Nate and picked up a silver blade shoved into the dirt. “Never take my knives.” He waved it in front of Nate and stood up beside me.
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“What were you doing here?” I asked confused.
“Waiting, just in case something happened-,”
Marrow interrupted. “I think that’s my cue to leave you two alone. It’s been nice dear,” he turned to look at me and then looked down. “But you two kids have fun.” Marrow exited the passageway and disappeared around the corner.
“Is it morning?” Nate rose up and glanced around.
“No, still night.” I leaned on my heel. “Now give me the real reason why you’re out here.”
“I did.” His eyes were filled with dishonesty. I rubbed my nose and crossed my arms. He sighed and cleared his throat. “I hate him sometimes.” He referred to Marrow, dusting his jeans. “He acts like he’s some type of king.”
“Well, he’s something.”
Nate eyed me, curious. “Did you get everything you needed?”
I nodded. “Yeah. I don’t see why Marrow had to come honestly. I get he’s a tad arrogant but he wasn’t bad company.”
“A tad?” He laughed jokily.
“I guess.” I smiled. “Go back to bed.”
In some ways, looking at Nate reminded me of Marrow, the actual Marrow. They had some similarities, sometimes in the way they talked, but mostly in their skin shade and bone structure. “I’m going to check on my family, maybe catch up on some sleep too. Thanks for waiting though.”
He nodded and led me out of the passageway. Gathering the things I collected from my sector, I looked back at Nate. He was tugging the bottom of his shirt
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upwards before he stepped in his blanket. I swallowed looking away and crawled into the resting area I first slept in when I arrived. Devon was in layers of blankets, lying beside the lantern. Mable and my mother were asleep, snuggled together. I heard a cough and my eyes led me to a figure sitting against the wall. “Kaylin, you’re back.” Annabelle said with bright eyes.
Why was she awake? “Was I seriously gone that long?” I smiled moving beside her.
“Not really. I can’t sleep.”
“Why?”
She blinked a few times and slid her knees up to her chin. “I don’t know. I’m just worried that there’s no escape.”
Sometimes my mind went to that place; if this was all for nothing. But I didn’t want to think like that, not with all the progress we’ve made so far and the more to come. I crumbled up dirt and let it fall through my fingers. “Don’t think like that Ann.” I breathed out.“Get some rest. We’ll make it out together, I promise. All of us.”
As she leaned her tiny head against my shoulder, I felt the bristles of her hair brush against my neck.
“I love you Kaylin.” She said.
It’s like a wave of tiredness hit me faster than anything I have ever felt. I didn’t want to lose
this girl, these people, and my family. I would do anything to protect them and the road ahead of us would be dangerous but doable.
“I love you too.” I kissed her forehead and closed my eyes, waiting for morning.
***
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I woke up to no one around me; my family must have been awake already. Was I the only one still asleep? I scooped up the grey shirt and black pants beside me and threw the clothes on, tying my hair. I stepped out to find that all of the Coperton clan and my family were standing around the glowing blue lights with pots in their hands. They were all dressed in dark shades and black boots with their belts prepared, exposing multiple blades. I snuck to the little pond beside our sleeping area and cupped a handful of water, splashing it to my face. This was really the day. The day we were going to meet the clans and find the escape. The day that I have always waited for.
I walked over to join everyone. The heads of my family and the Coperton’s glanced in my direction, and then continued their business. Only Nate kept his gaze on me, but Marrow quickly pulled him in conversation.
“Kaylin, here.” My mother handed me my brown leather belt equipped, when I noticed her arms. One was tattooed with our clan name, and the other was unusual. It was marked with perfect squares and connected lines all the way to her palms. It looked like some type of maze.
“What is that?” I asked putting the belt around my waist.
“This?” She pointed to her arm, “It’s the path to the middle. Liz marked everyone with it this morning, including your sisters and Devon. Apparently when we enter the Crescent, it’ll start carving a blue light into the parts we’ve already made it through.”
I didn’t know what to say because I had too much to say. None of what she said made sense at all, so I started by asking the one question that stood out the most to me in that entire sentence. “What’s the Crescent?”
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“It’s the door we have to go through to lead us to the portal.”
Enchanted: The Labyrinth Page 8
