INIZIO

XVII | SEVENTEEN

The ride was long and tedious, but at some point, Jayden had managed to fall asleep. Now, he awoke to the dull light being birthed by the mountains on the horizon.

Sunrise was still a few hours away, and judging by the pathway traced on the map, the Turncoat was still some time away.

"Morning."

Jayden tensed on his seat as his eyes clashed with those grass green eyes that stared at him through the rearview mirror.

Yvette chuckled lightly. "Didn't mean to scare you son."

Jayden offered a tight smile and shook his head. "Are we almost there?" He managed.

Yvette smiled and shook her head. "I wish. But no. We still have a long way ahead of us." She turned her gaze to the scene in front of them, the view of trees greeting the morning sun. "We will be stopping in a while more, I'd say a good half hour more, to stretch our legs. There must be a stream around, don't you notice how cool everything seems around?"

Jayden rose his eyes and allowed the morning rays to pull him from his groggy state. Never did he imagine he'd be able to ride an overpriced vehicle like this bubblefloater. It wasn't as amazing as they made it seem in commercials.

Being a person that hated heights, the idea of being held secure by only a floating crystal ball wasn't exactly pleasing to him. That's why, when Yvette finally announced that they would be resting, Jayden couldn't feel any more relieved.

The worst part was feeling and seeing how the crystal ball began to lower, brushing past branches and limbs, and seeing the ground grow closer and closer. How was it possible that Rachel could be so calm?

Rachel chuckled. "Jayden, you can let go of my arm now."

It was only then that Jayden realized he had his fingers tightly wrapped around Rachel's arm, his cheeks flushed and he immediately let go of his sister. His sisters' smug smirk did little to calm the shame evident on his cheeks.

The ball began to fold itself back until it was back into looking like an ordinary motorcycle. Jayden slid off with a silly feeling in his stomach. His worries fled when he rose his eyes and saw himself surrounded by tall trees that menacingly loomed over him.

"Scared?"

Jayden turned in direction of the voice and scowled when he saw Giselle standing next to him with a teasing smile drawn across her lips.

"No, just wary." He informed her, as he zipped up his jacket over the ridiculously thin bulletproof jacket.

Giselle rose a brow and nodded, feigning comprehension. "Of course, we wouldn't want to let our guard down in the middle of this tangled mess of trees we're in."

Jayden glared at her and opened his mouth to speak, but Yvette interrupted them. "C'mon kiddos, we must set the fire and build the tent. Vadim and Rachel went in search of wood, you guys will help with the tent."

Giselle bit her lip and nodded, she shot Jayden a glance and Jayden followed her. They reached her folded bubblefloater and she opened a small compartment that held an array of miniature hiking tools.

"Didn't know you had access to the nanomachine," Jayden stated, smiling to himself. He took secret pride in knowing his father had helped create it, but like most things he created, his father could only create such luxuries, for the rich – and apparently, for the government as well.

Thinking of his dad led him to also think of his death, which wiped the smile off of his face.

"Yup. Yvette managed to steal some goods from the UNIPO before leaving." Giselle tugged out the small tent and added a drop of the reversing serum. "Ok, now we should back off," She took Jayden's hand and tugged him back while leaving the equipment on the ground a few feet away from the bubblefloater.

A few minutes later, the tent's parts were already in their normal state, ready to assemble.

Giselle huffed a bit, a satisfied grin on her face. "Ok then, let's get started."

By the time they had finished, Vadim and Rachel had already started the fire, and Yvette had begun to serve supper, which consisted of a bunch of dehydrated goods that ranged from vegetables, fruit, seeds, meat, and noodles.

Jayden settled for some noodles and seeds, all the while growing more and more aware of the noise that seemed to be growing around him – the sound of branches that broke in the trees, the sudden noise of crickets that for some strange reason got louder then softer, and the noise of an owl now and then.

"Jayden?"

Jayden flinched and turned to Giselle. "What?" He blinked a few times.

Giselle stared at him for a second and tried hard to suppress a smile. "I just said that you and Vadim will sleep together, while Rachel and I will be together. Yvette is going to be sleeping alone," she gave him a small nudge. "It'll be alright Jay," she said, "The worst that could happen is have a few hundred mosquito bites and a sore back."

Jayden shot her a glare but didn't stop his lips from forming a small smile. "Truth be told, I have never been camping."

Giselle's brows shot upwards, causing her usually somber expression to flee and making her look endearing. "Really? What did your family do for fun, then?"

"Well, we usually climbed abandoned buildings, those that still had stairs." He replied. "Those places still stand? I thought they were long gone! Well, at least where I lived, they were practically extinct!" Giselle popped a bunch of raisins into her mouth. After a while, she said, "It must have been nice to climb those stairs. I suppose they must seem like large skeletons that served as a connection from one floor to the other."

Jayden remained silent for a while, the images of the building his family and him used to climb floating in his mind. A smile curved upon his lips as he turned to see Giselle. "Yep, that's exactly how they looked; like large skeletons. If we ever get out of this mess, it'd be nice to take you to see one."

A wide grin spread across her features; a genuine one Jayden had never seen before. A spark shimmered in her eyes, giving her face the youthful look that she often lacked. "That would be wonderful, Jayden."

"So, tell me, where did you live before?"

Giselle smiled as she dusted off some ash from the fire that had drifted toward them. "I used to live in Golden Grapes. Not far from the ocean." Her eyes drifted into elsewhere, a look that contrasted greatly with her usually sharpness and wariness that she always wore.

From the looks, he could tell that she missed her home, although most times she never gave a hint of yearning.

If there was one word that could describe her, Jayden would undoubtfully say strength.