Chapter Twenty Three
"The sun is nearly set. How about Raina and I run up ahead to try and beat it before we
go down."
I grumbled. "You're making me run and you haven't even told me what I'm supposed to
do yet." This was not putting me in a better mood about all of this. I could barely manage myself on two feet altogether, much less running through the woods to some unknown territory.
Gabe laughed. "Raina, I know you think this isn't very important. It's a lot of take in for you, but can you please just come?" He smirked as I scowled and walked up beside him.
"Well, we'll be off then. See you if you make it."
See you if you make it? What was that supposed to mean? I didn't get to ask him, however because he was suddenly taking my hand, swinging me off my feet into his arms and flying through the forest. Now, it was really running. He was, however running at an inhumane speed. I blocked my face with my hands. Although he did seem to avoid most of the branches, I didn't want to risk getting absolutely whiplashed by some measly twig. Hey, it could happen! Especially with the way he was speeding around… I'll tell you one thing. He was going to have a lot more explaining to do.
Guess it just adds to one of my recent many questions about existence…
"Almost there?" I managed to choke out.
"Almost…" he answered but suddenly he came to a halt. I was jerked back into his chest from the sudden stop.
"What was that for? I…"
"Shhh," he silenced me. He was looking around wide eyed.
Without another warning we were off again, even faster than before. He saw….or sensed something I wasn't even aware of. I felt his whole body tense around me as we sped through again. Oh, I hope we arrived wherever we were going soon.
Finally, after getting smacked in the face with a branch, we came to a clearing. He stopped in the middle and stopped, looking up at the sky. He put me down. "I apologize if you are hurt," he answered, his deep voice mimicking his worried eyes.
I brushed myself off, but as I took a step, I sort of collapsed to the ground. I growled. "I will be all right when you tell me what exactly is going on. Why are we in such a hurry?"
He took my hand and helped me to my feet. "We were just afraid that you might not make it in time for it."
"For what?" I asked.
"Sundown," he answered.
I looked at him a moment, waiting for him to explain this whole "sundown" nonsense. "So you had to make me go through all of that and we haven't even missed the whole thing we're about to see yet?" I furled.
"We weren't sure if we'd get here."
"I understand that much Gabriel. Please, I do not wish to be rude but I want to know what exactly it is…we need to do here."
"We must wait," he grinned, starting to really enjoy my obliviousness of the situation.
I sighed and just walked away from him, giving up. He was absolutely impossible! I just stayed away looking at the trees around me, waiting for the others to arrive. I figured I'd have to wait quite a while. After all, was it just me or was he really fast?
I turned around to face him again. "How can you run that fast?" I demanded.
"Practice," he replied. He was carving a piece of wood with a knife.
"When are they going to get here?" I turned around, not facing him anymore. I was wondered if I had directed at the question more at myself than him. He answered anyway.
"Soon," he replied.
I didn't respond, just went back over to sit down. I lay in the grass, waiting for them to arrive, or for whatever we were waiting for to start; whichever came first.