On the Petals of a Flower, I found something that does not belong to me

25

For those who achieve their goals and those who try.

"Charlie! Charlie!"

 Someone was calling me. I didn't know who and I didn't care. I was in a hurry. I had to run to catch up. If I didn't catch up I wouldn't do anything. I had to move on. To catch up. Do something now. Before it's too late. Before my deadline expires.

 "Charlie!"

 What did I want to catch up to? For a moment this thought went through my mind, but I didn't stop. My teacher's words reached my ears.

 'In two weeks you will do your presentation. I want you to be ready. And then look at your future. You will not be in the game for long.'

 I shook my head. I kept running. I didn't want to think about that now.

 'How many days do you have here? Have you reached the source so as not to drink water? You have to finish. And make your people proud.'

 I started panting. My throat was dry and I felt thorns piercing me when I swallowed. The voice reached my ears and my mind again.

 'You don't have...'.

 "What?" I shouted loudly. I wasn't listening. The wind from the speed I was running would not let me hear.

 'You don't have...'.

 "Sir, I do not hear you!" I shouted angrily. For some reason I wanted to cry. I wanted to give it all up. To stop. I was tired. I was tired of being judged. I was tired of trying.

 "You don't have time!"

                                                                                         ***

 I jumped. Everything around me turned black. Then colors and shapes began to take the place of the black vacuum. It was dawn.

 "Time? What time is it Daryl? It's not like anyone is chasing me."

 I shook my head slowly at the voices.

 "By the time you get the soup ingredients, you will have already burned it!"

 The blond man mixed a pot with a spoon. "Then what do you suggest, Daryl? Are you going to get them yourself? See how your leg is."

 The dark haired man looked at his leg and sighed. "I can do my command."

 "If you could do your command, you would not fall down with the girl. You should thank Sect leader Jiang who was there again and saved you."

 Sect leader Jiang? Which sect leader Jiang?

 My eyes rolled. I got up, but a sharp pain pierced my whole body.

 "Whoa, whoa. Relax" Daryl came limping and sat on the bed where I was lying. The damn Daryl! Yes. The one I used to watch on the internet on artworks from the novel I was reading.

 Then he pushed me back slightly to lie down, but I refused to move.

 I grabbed my head. Then I looked around. "Where am I?"

 The place seemed familiar. The familiar window next to the bed where I was lying. The kitchen at the bottom side of the bed. The door opposite the bed.

 The house I had seen before didn't just look like the house I had appeared in the beginning.

 It was that house itself I had appeared in the beginning.

 Tears of joy appeared in my eyes.

 I had succeeded. I had arrived. I had arrived home. I had reached the place where it would take me home.

 "Hey, are you okay? Why are you crying?" Daryl did.

 Alex scoffed. "Because maybe you pushed her to lie down with force. She's injured. And you are a beast that doesn't know how to control its power," he commented.

 Daryl sighed. "Sorry if..."

Bam!

 The door opened and a figure appeared on the doorstep, which would be the last person I would ever want to see again.

 The shoes echoed on the floor as the purple figure came and dropped, almost threw, a bag next to Alex.

 "Are these alright? Do you need anything else?"

 Jiang Cheng's gaze met mine.

 Bugger.

 I got up. I had to go. Why had they found me again? Why didn't they let me go home?

 "You little.. " said Jiang Cheng and moved aggressively towards me.

 I instinctively put my hands on my head to protect myself.

 But before he could even get close enough, a figure blocked Jiang Cheng from coming to my place.

 "Sect leader," Daryl said. "I do not know your relationship with this girl, but as you can see she is hurt. I would advise you to calm down. I know it's not our job as rogue cultivators to get involved in your affairs, but my morals will not allow me to let you hurt the girl."

 Rogue cultivators? What rogue cultivators? How did Alex and Daryl show up here? They were not even part of this story! If this world where I was in belonged to a story.

 Were my prayers that I had just said when I first came here heard?

 I put my hand on my chin. I remember saying something. Like 'Where are you Alex and Daryl to save me.'

 Jiang Cheng glanced at me coldly and gritted his teeth. Then he retreated.

 "We are not done," he threatened me.

 "Ha" I took my hand out of my chin. Despite my wounds, I still didn't say to shut my mouth.

 Alex laughed out loud. "The Sect leader saved you, Miss. You should be grateful. Like he saved my friend Daryl."

"Really?" I did ironically.

 Jiang Cheng gave me another look that would kill anyone moving in the space. "You ran like you've been chased. We knew you wanted to escape but we did not think you would do it then. We had you for more of a coward. "

 I took a deep breath and pursed my lips. "Go to hell."

 "What did you just say?" Jiang Cheng jumped to his feet.

 "I said go to hell. Do you want me to repeat it a third time, just in case the miracle happens? "

 Jiang Cheng clenched his fists until they turned white. His gaze fell and darkened. "Say it again."

 "I told you to go..."

 "Aahahahaha!"

 I looked at Alex who laughed out loud. A smell of something burning, reached my nostrils.

 "I think I burned the pot."