Sakura's Journey Chapter 18 Almost Free
I had been working at my computer for a few hours now, analyzing a new find. The great thing about my job was that I could work at home from a computer too. I'd be here when Johnny comes back with Daemon and Kura...he WILL come back. I know he will...he has to. Angie was out taking Lucifer for a walk. I assumed she was coming back when I heard the doorbell ring. That's strange...why would she ring the doorbell? She had the keys. I wasn't expecting anymore guests... My parents had come over, Tom's parents too, his brother, Angie's mom, Johnny's parents, even Dill came by. I never expected to see who I saw... She was notably different, with hair of it's natural color: brown. Skin tone pale, sickly even and a body shape that bordered anorexia. The one thing that never changed about her were those unsettling amber eyes. Jessie, despite looking frail and weak, still had an air of power to her.
"Hello, Sarah..." She spoke quickly and stiffly. I assumed she still wasn't the best of friends with me... I also could tell right away from the aura that hung in the air around her that, even after 23 years, she was still broken hearted. She had been kind to us though. I let her in. Tom was out at work right now. My God, he'd never believe this when I'd tell him. The tall and elegant woman sat down on the couch in the living room, looking at me again with those amber eyes. "I heard what happened...I'm sorry..." I knew right away she was sincere and genuinly sad. We may have been enemies at one time, but I had never seeked to fight with her. We spoke a bit more. Of course, she asked me how my husband was doing. All the while staring down at my ring... "He's...dead looking. It's like all life was drained from his soul. Hardly the same person anymore... " I looked down in sorrow, feeling her eyes on me. She said nothing, then, finally, reached out towards me with her frail and weak hand and placed it on my shoulder, giving me a brave smile. One of the few smiles she had ever given me in my life... I heard keys rattling at the front door as Angie was coming back. In an instant, the woman next to me paled and changed until she was a good 7 feet tall and faceless. She then dissapeared, right as the front door opened. "Hey Sarah. Sarah?..." She noticed me staring blankly in the spot that had been occupied by my guest just a few seconds ago. "Sarah, you ok?" I smiled and laughed a bit, looking up to her. "You'll never believe who just dropped by."
(Sakura's P.O.V.)
We kept on walking through these woods, trying to put as much distance between ourselves and the mountain. Squible managed to find a few nuts lying around, which was pretty usefull to us. I thanked him with a rush of static and a pat on the head every time. We even still had some apples from that apple tree at the beginning of our journey. I was eating one now. The fruit had been very well preserved in the cold weather which often dropped below freezing temperatures. Even now, in the middle of the day, it was pretty chilly out here. I gave a slight thought to the way we spent our nights...without a camp fire. Juan was already not used to the cold at all and Laurianne was so small and weak. I was scared someone would die before we got out of here...
Daemon walked by my side, Squible on top of his head, looking around. We hadn't spoken about what happened yesterday yet. "So...Kura...does this make us...y'know...together?" I grinned faintly, thinking before answering. "I don't know...I really don't...I don't even know what I did or why I did it! I don't know how I feel or if I'm ready for being in a relationship..." He nodded, looking into the distance. Until, of course, Squible decided to drop the front part of his body over Daemon's face, still clinging to his sickly green-brown hair. "AH! You stupid squirrel! Get out of my face!" I laughed and took the little furball, gently holding him in my arms. "Aw come on, he just wants to play." Daemon tried his best to fix his hair, but out here in the woods, it wasn't really worth much of anything. Again, our eyes met, but we both looked away pretty quickly. It was odd, as though both a certain comfort as well as an uncomfortable awkwardness had set it's self between us. The awkwardness was raised even more for me when Laurianne walked in between us and turned to me. "Vous sortez ensembles?" (Are you dating?) I blushed, grimacing and looked away. Were we? I don't even know... Maybe when we left this forest, we could. If we left this forest...no, we were going to leave this forest. Soon too...I could feel it.
(Johnny's P.O.V.)
We had picked up the pace, walking quickly through the forest. Well, me quickly and him at a somewhat normal speed... I didn't even know the guy's name and I had never seen his human face. All I knew was that he was desperate to save his little girl. His tentacles waved in the air, showing me he was most likely still scanning the place with his aura. His light steps made no sound as they hit the leaf covered forest floor. I still don't get how they do that...Slenders are freaky... Suddently, he stopped, his mouth hung agape. I shuddered when I saw those fangs. No wonder legends claim these guys eat children...they certainly don't have the teeth to look friendly."They...they are so close. I feel them...I feel her. Four kids. All together. And...uhm... Écureuil? How you say? No matter... They are here." I got excited...until I thought about what he said a bit more. Four? Who's the fourth kid? No matter...just like he said. I chuckled slightly at my thought, both of us walking much faster now. I had gotten used to this dark presence.
We both froze in place when we reached the top of a hill that was at our left when we first ran through here. Just as the small group of skinny and visibly cold people below us did... The boy with discolored seaweed hair looked up to me with emerald eyes that shone with so much light. "Dad..."