"How much further do we have to walk?" Riley groaned, her feet dragging across the undergrowth of the forest floor. She despised being outdoors. It wasn't the disgusting smelling trees that made her head ache, or the constant sickening feeling she had within her stomach at the image of spiders, centipedes and snakes that they had already stumbled upon.
No, it was rather the vast openness of the area that she was in, without any idea of where she was, that had her feeling insecure and unsafe.
Unsafe was probably the wrong choice of word though. Shayla knew these woods more than any person that Riley had ever met. It was the land that she had grown up on with her mother and father; there was nowhere else on this planet where her friend felt more comfortable, and they both knew it.
The cause of Riley's fear was rather founded in her unease. She liked feeling sheltered and secure. Straying far from the blocks surrounding work and the apartment that Shayla and herself lived was not something that she enjoyed. Hell, she had never even left the city before this weekend.
Now, she was gallivanting through the damn wilderness in an attempt to clear her mind.
Right, she thought sarcastically.
Shayla had said that it was important that both girls took a break from reality. It had seemed like a fantastic idea at the time; Riley was expecting to go away to the coast, to stay at a four-star resort where they could drink martinis and let their eyes stray towards the bronzed-up men that flooded the beaches and resorts. It was the middle of Spring after all, and everyone was taking full advantage of the beautiful weather by the beach.
Everyone except for Shayla and Riley.
They had trekked for the entire day through a forest that offered no relief from the ever-warming spring time breeze. The chirping of birds was unrelenting, and the thickness of pollen that drifted through the air almost a nightmare for Riley. She was not enjoying the combination of her allergies and the anxiety she felt in being in such an unknown place.
"You are such a sook!" Shayla exclaimed lightly, her pace slightly faster than Riley's. She was walking through the trees several steps ahead of Riley, her head constantly lifting to observe the rooftop canopies above them both.
Shayla was the complete opposite of Riley. She loved to be outside, feeling more content with life amongst the trees than anywhere else. When she was little, her parents would take her out of school frequently to go on camping trips to the nature reserve when the weather was nice.
The reserve that she had basically grown up on was beautiful; it was full of incredible life and trees older than her grandparents. When she was a teenager, Shayla would explore waterfalls and rivers by herself, finding a strong sense of independence. She was a mostly shy girl, though when she finally became comfortable with her surroundings, there was nothing that could stop her.
Shayla and Riley were less of girls and more of young women now, however. The former was twenty-four years old, the latter being twenty-five years of age. Riley thought about her slightly younger friend, her eyes watching Shayla as she inspected trees and random rocks that littered the ground.
"Seriously Shayla; how much further is this damn place? I need to sit down and rest!" Riley complained, not hiding her frustration and annoyance. Shayla had promised to take her to a camping spot close to a waterfall, though Riley was beginning to doubt they knew where they were going. The younger woman just seemed happy in bouncing around everywhere and exploring each inch of the forest, naming each species of damn bug she saw.
Riley appreciated and respected Shayla's love for the environment, though it was incredibly annoying. There was nothing more than Riley wanted to do than to go straight home and jump into the high-pressure shower in the apartment that the girls shared.
Beads of sweat begun to drip from Riley's forehead, and she felt her light blue tee sticking to the sheen of sweat between her shoulder blades and down her spine. Gross, she thought. This wasn't her idea of fun whatsoever.
Shayla didn't reply, and Riley let out an exasperated sigh once more. She knew exactly why her younger friend had decided a spontaneous trip back to the expansive reserve that spread nearby to her home town. The fact that Shayla missed the wilderness was only a small reason; the petite girl, who was now bending down and observing a patch of violet flowers, felt very connected to the land.
Her father was Indigenous Australian, and therefore he held a strong value for the nature that surrounded them. While her mother was not of Indigenous decent, she understood her husband's beliefs and too developed a strong sense of being entwined with the sap that coursed through the trees, and the water that flowed effortlessly through the streams.
Shayla grew up close to her parents; she loved them dearly, but it was when she turned twenty-three when she wondered what else she could see and explore. It was another spontaneous decision that led her to giving up her job as a waitress to move to the city.
There, she had found a job as an accountant. It wasn't anything too special, but it made her feel independent and responsible for once in her adult life, and she enjoyed that feeling. It was at Turners Accountants where Riley and Shayla met. Almost as if it were meant to happen, Riley had just moved into an apartment closer to her work, and needed someone to help in sharing the rent. Shayla was only living out of a small motel room, so she was grateful when an offer came from Riley to become flatmates.
Riley almost scowled to herself. If only I hadn't have given Shayla a place to live, I wouldn't be roaming around in some smelly forest, she thought to herself. As soon as the words flitted through her mind, however, she knew she didn't mean them.
After all, the reason Shayla had brought them both out here was for Riley's benefit.
"No mobile phones, no distractions, and no narcissistic men," Shayla had said while she packed backpacks full of camping gear. She understood Shayla's logic, but Riley had a sick feeling that had constantly present in her stomach for the past two days.
"Maybe I should have brought my phone Shayla. What if I get an important phone call?" Shayla turned around and gazed at her with deep brown eyes, seeing straight through Riley's façade. She knew exactly why she wanted her phone.
Shayla closed the distance between them both, standing firmly in front of the taller Riley. Riley felt a twinge of guilt in her heart; her friend was just trying to help her, and she was being more than a little selfish. Shayla's expression softened only slightly as she considered the pained emotions play out in Riley's bright blue eyes.
"What, so you can text that asshole and ask what you have done wrong? I don't think so." Riley's anger flared at the smaller girl. Shayla turned on her heel and continued, her frizzy dark brown hair bouncing atop her shoulders.
Riley's anger took over quickly. Her personality was much more guarded than Shayla's, and she would often lash out if she felt vulnerable or threatened. She wasn't one of those girls who cry incessantly or see reason at the first sign of hostility. She bit back, and this had gotten her into trouble many times.
"Don't talk to me like I'm a damn child, like I'm not capable of looking after myself." Riley yelled to the back of Shayla's head. Shayla had ignored her, but had instead come to a clearing a little ahead and had stopped in her tracks.
Riley marched towards her friend with the anger still flaring at each cell within her body. She didn't want to admit it to herself, but Shayla had struck a nerve. Riley didn't want to be desperately reliant on that jerk, but she had, so much so that she felt as though she was to blame for what happened.
Braxton, the thirty-four-year-old branch manager that she had known for five years and had been seeing for the past half year, had been sleeping around with several of the girls that worked in the café next door. Two nights before, she had gone into the office to turn in several reports she had been working diligently on, to find one of the damn whores straddling his lap in his office chair.
The thought of what she saw filled her with such a contorted mix of rage and rejection that her vision begun to blur. With clenched fists and neon pink manicured nails digging into the palms of her hands, she stood alongside Shayla and finally lifted her gaze.
A gasp escaped her lips as she saw what had made Shayla stop in her tracks. She wondered how she did not notice before.
The sound of rushing water filled the air as she gazed in awe at the waterfall that fell below them, into a coursing river that rushed past the green trees that lined the waters' edge twenty meters down.
It was absolutely mesmerising, and both Riley and Shayla felt entranced by the splendour of the pristine sight. Shayla rocked slightly on the balls of her heels, feeling something magical about the place. It gave her a breath of fresh air, as though being in a place so untouched by human pollution was a much-needed therapy for her soul.
"Wow," Riley whispered. She didn't like being outdoors, but she couldn't deny the beauty of where they had just stumbled across.
"We can set up camp at the bottom of the waterfall, then wash off downstream. Sound good?" Shayla grinned at Riley, and Riley just nodded back. She was still annoyed with her friend, but at least the rage had been quenched temporarily.
She didn't want to get angry at Shayla. There had been several moments when she had lost her temper at her friend and the guilt that consumed her from her momentarily lapses in common sense was constant.
They had been living together for just over a year, though despite the sometimes-tumultuous relationship, Shayla had become the closest friend Riley had ever had. Riley was not as guarded around Shayla as she was around everyone else. The only other person she had opened up to was Brax, and that obviously hadn't turned out well.
She was only glad that she hadn't opened herself up completely. It had happened before, various times. Despite being abandoned by her parents at birth and moved from foster homes, she was taken in by a kind woman who had adopted her. Olive was a compassionate, somewhat senile woman, though she had become a mother to Riley, and the only role model she had.
That was until Riley was eleven years old. Olive had lost her job, and it had become hard to get by. Eventually, child services intervened, and Riley was shifted from foster home to foster home.
As a teenager, she had put her trust in people that hadn't cared about her. She had been an incredibly naïve child, and because of that, she had dealt with more rejection and heartache that she could list off both hands. It was with each time she got hurt, that she closed herself off and refused to let anyone in.
Even though Shayla was someone who she had shared some of her secrets with, Riley still had many things that she didn't drag above the surface. It was easier to keep it locked away than to open herself up to another person and risk being hurt.
She thought that she wasn't going to allow that to happen to her again, yet it had. Riley wondered for the hundredth time, what it was that must be so repulsive about her for the same thing to keep happening to her.
It took around an hour for the two to climb down the cliff ledge to the bottom of the waterfall, as their enormous backpacks hindered their movements. She couldn't be sure, but Shayla had a feeling Riley had packed many more things than she truly needed. Shayla continually watched Riley to make sure she was alright as they made their way down. She knew that the blonde-haired girl didn't like being outdoors, but Shayla hoped it would be remedial for her.
That ass-wipe Brax had screwed Riley around, and Shayla was fuming about it. The guy was their boss, and he seemed decent. Even Shayla didn't realise how slimy he really was, but the thought of him now made her skin crawl. How the hell were Riley and Shayla supposed to go back to work?
Shayla didn't want to go back there, and she would be damned if Riley would. She knew that Riley was beating herself up over the whole thing; she could see it in her eyes. Shayla knew that Riley was searching for a reason as to why something like that would happen to her. She also knew that Riley being left alone to her thoughts was never a good thing; Shayla had lived with her long enough to know that even though Riley didn't trust easily, she despised being alone.
The girls begun to set up their two-person tent several meters from the base of the waterfall, where the water started to flow downstream. Intense greens of the tree canopies overhead seemed to dominate both of their visions. The fading sunlight streamed through the rooftop of leaves as they bristled in the soft, warm breeze.
Shayla left to collect handfuls of branches and sticks for the fire, while Riley cleaned herself off in the water. She felt uncomfortable in getting in completely naked, so she instead washed her face, arms and legs.
The water was cool against her fair skin which prickled with the sensation, and the noises of owls and other animals seemed to amplify in the faltering evening light. The frown didn't leave her face, but seemed to be a constant feature.
"Shayla, if you could hurry up, that would be great." Riley sighed, lifting her legs out of the rushing water and wiping them dry on her bright pink towel. She didn't care that she was twenty-five; she still loved her bright colours. They reminded her of the coloured polka-dot pyjamas Olive would dress her in when she was little.
She quickly put her socks and old, worn sneakers back on her feet as she saw Shayla come through the clearing with a handful of branches. A pressure Riley didn't know had been building in her chest instantly lifted as soon as her friend came into view. Why did it feel like she had been holding her breath?
Riley watched as Shayla made quick work of creating a small fire; the warmth was a welcome relief in the chilly night. Shayla plopped down on an accumulation of pillows and blankets that Riley had set up. She would let Shayla drag her out into the wilderness, but there was no way in hell she would go without some form of comfort.
The girls sat listening to the crackling of the fire, and the hoots of owls in the trees above them. Shayla felt at home, for the first time in a long while. She did like the city and the opportunities it provided her, yet she much preferred being out in the midst of Mother Nature. This world, this land, was beautiful and invigorating. She belonged to the earth under her feet and the rivers that coursed above the roots of the trees that towered overhead.
Riley, while not understanding the appeal of being out in the middle of a forest in the darkness of night, she appreciated Shayla's love for it. It was beautiful, though not her idea of a good time.
"We can't go back to work for Brax." Shayla said after a long time of content silence. Riley looked at her with an expression mixed between agony and defeat, before her face became hard and emotionless. Shayla had seen the sudden change in demeanour often; Riley would let her hurt show momentarily, before she forced a mask to guard her true feelings.
"What else are we supposed to do? How are we supposed to pay for rent? We have an electricity bill that will be overdue on Monday, and a phone bill coming in next Friday." Riley replied quietly, though her voice was hard and strained.
"We will figure out a way. I know a few bars that are hiring, and we can work there until we find something more permanent. We aren't going back to work for that slime-ball." Riley almost smiled at Shayla's attempt at an insult, despite the situation. Instead, she fiddled with her hands, her gaze not leaving the sneakers that she wore. She didn't need to look up to feel Shayla's intense eyes watching her.
Riley was torn. She knew that she should listen to Shayla. All her life, she had turned away from those who had hurt her. It had become easy; she didn't even have to think about it anymore. This time though, it had become different. For the first time since Olive, there was someone in her life that hadn't left her after a short amount of time. She had worked with Brax for over five years, and before Shayla, he was the closest thing to a friend she had. Despite keeping herself locked behind a wall of her own creation, she had begun to open up to him. Brick by brick, he had found a way into her heart. She hated how weak he had made her, and she hated herself more than anything.
"I think I might just go to sleep. It's been a long day." Riley deadpanned, standing up quickly and moving to the tent. Shayla sighed deeply. The fear she held for her friend ran deep, and she truly did not know what to do. Her attempts at forcing her away from civilisation and the situation at hand didn't seem to be working as well as she had liked, but there was always time. Shayla held out hope that a few days away from Brax and the shit storm that he had created, would be enough to help Riley move on.
She didn't know what exactly had happened in Riley's life for her to be so distrusting and guarded, but she didn't want to let some prick screw up her friend's chance at happiness.
Shayla rocked onto her back, lying down on the pillows that Riley had insisted on bringing along. They were bright colours; yellows, pinks and oranges, all fluffy and soft. The girl wondered exactly how Riley had managed to fit just so many into her spare hiking backpack.
Instead of dwelling on what bothered her, Shayla cleared her mind and looked up to the sky. The stars shone bright through the leaves above her head, and she smiled slightly at the immense beauty of where she was.
After a period of time that Shayla did not consider as being quantifiable, she finally arose and entered the tent to fall asleep herself.
The light sounds of Riley snoring accompanied the chirping of insects from outside, sending Shayla into a blissful sense of unconsciousness.
Hello there! Welcome, and if you have made it this far, thank you! This is my second story, a sequel to "Not All Monsters Breathe Fire." I am still testing the waters with this one, though I have already hammered out a plot, so I'm not walking blindly into this one (not completely anyway!)
I needed this chapter to be one to establish some background info and personalities of my new OC's, Riley and Shayla.
This story will follow my own plot, and it will leave some questions unanswered along the way for some time until I choose the right time to reveal the information- therefore, it will be a little bit suspenseful (well I hope anyway)!
Anyway, thanks for reading and please let me know what you think. Constructive criticism? Positives? I am all ears! :))