Gemma's POV
Gemma's POV
The scowling session had finally subsided and the atmosphere in the cramped, yet cozy tent began to settle. Gemma had finally calmed down enough to share her horrifying experience in woods, artfully excluding the exact reason why she was in the forest in the first place.
"But why were you in the woods anyway?"
She had failed. Gemma looked at him in preparation of constructing an elaborate, yet coherent lie and found herself, instead, mesmerized by the dark, lustrous lashes that framed those beautiful chocolate eyes which peered at her with impatient curiosity. Oh, those lashes, that face, that body…
"Gemma?"
Flustered, Gemma quickly responded. " Oh! I-uh…went to the forest because…because…I-uh-was…meeting…Felicity!"
"Felicity? What was she doing out here? How come I didn't see any of her tracks?" Kartik looked at her strangely, and seemed to be contemplating her response.
Oh bloody hell.
"Well…I guess she didn't turn up…something must've happened…" Gemma finished lamely.
"Why didn't you two just meet at the school, or at least leave together? What has gotten into you Gemma, do you know how dangerous-"
"Oh, please! We had our reasons, stop prying!" Gemma snapped back, adding a glare for the overall effect. She would never allow Kartik to grasp the true reason of her sudden departure from Spence; it all seemed too childish and immature to bring up. What a fool she acted like at times…"Anyway, let's focus on the main problem, the creature from the realms". Gemma shuddered, in spite of herself, the monster seemed to conjure up in her mind at the very instant she mentioned it, to the last minute detail.
Slight confusion took over Kartik's face at the sudden change of subject, and Gemma though it was a nice change from his usual domineering stance. A nice change, nothing personal. It's just something that one would notice on anyone, even a stranger! Gemma almost went shrilly inside her head, furiously attempting to justify her accurate observation. She was just a natural reader of people, of course…ahem. For God's sake, the boy had reduced her to arguing with herself! Silly, Stupid, Idiotic, Foolish-
"Well, perhaps Circe sent it. As a warning, maybe you shouldn't enter the realms anymore. It could all be a trap."
"My mother is in the realms and I will not end my visits as long as she remains there," Gemma replied heatedly.
"How do you know it's a trap anyway? The real question is if that creature was truly from the realms-how did it manage to come into my world?"
"Has that ever happened before? Is it possible," Kartik inquired, a new worry creasing his already furrowed brow.
"Not that I-wait, yes. Circe…and my mother…Amar…"
Gemma fell quiet for a minute and Kartik joined in the silence. It was Circe who had sent the horrendous monster after her mother, and it had succeeded in both taking her mother's life as well as Amar's. How could she have forgotten? Suddenly, all the silly, awkward thoughts about Kartik that Gemma had been so occupied with in the last hour or so vanished, replaced with an irrevocable fear. The comparison of this new shadow creature with that of Circe's hunter had abruptly added a whole new level of peril and threat, a notion that both Kartik and Gemma were now fully aware of.
Faint light was beginning to illuminate the tent and seemed that dawn was approaching. The light crept through the flap of the tent as fear crept through both of their hearts, creating another unnecessary, unwanted bond between them. Death. Fear. Why couldn't it be friendship?
"We should get you back to Spence, else someone will notice your absence." Kartik suddenly spoke.
"I can go myself, thank you…I shall speak with you more about this matter, tomorrow?"
Kartik simply nodded and Gemma exited the tent into the awakening wilderness. She had asked to speak to him more, essentially asked him for help. That was a first. Maybe it was the metallic taste of dread within her mouth that prompted this new behavior…perhaps. The leaves were bright green, a sign of vitality-something Gemma wished for more of. As she examined the vivid array of colors that decorated the woods, she though she saw the flutter of a dark cloak streak through the woods. Kartik. The sodden earth sank beneath her heels as she marched forward; it had rained sometime during the night. Rain. It had washed away some of the pebbles that had littered the stream bank; the bank was clean and uncluttered, it seemed. Gemma wished that there was a certain rain that could wash away the unsolicited pebbles of fear that littered her heart, mind, and soul…her entirety.
