The Search for the Eoz Potion

18. On the Run

Hailey was shaken by her argument with Claire, but she wanted badly to get on with things. She wanted to find the potion, go home, and hang out with Faith again. That was it. So she checked her map one last time as she prepared to head off to No Man's Land. Claire had joined the others and was standing with her back to her. Haiely did her best to ignore the group as she studied the map before sneaking off. As best as she could tell, it appeared to be a straight shot to the northwest, so she pointed herself in the right direction and, as the others were distracted by their planning, ran off without anyone realizing she had left.

She felt bad about not saying goodbye to the others, but she knew they would have never let her go. As frustrated as she had become, and in spite of the fight they had just had, Hailey had to admit to herself that Claire was right about some things. Josef and Zack had rescued them in the forest and she owed them for that. Still, she didn't let herself dwell too much on their kindness. Her goal was to find the potion to help Faith. After that, she would never see these people again. If they were mad at her, that was something she could live with.

As she walked a little further, she could tell she was losing her sense of direction. She nervously looked at the map and tried to figure out her location in the garden, but it was becoming more and more difficult. Ahead of her, she started to hear noises in the bushes. She looked at her map again to see if she had wandered into some dangerous part of the Garden of Yllop that was labeled on the map, but there was nothing there. She kept walking in the same direction though she periodically heard more noises ahead. Finally she became worried enough to change her direction slightly and headed more toward the north. She figured that was probably a better approach anyway because once she reached the river she could just follow it west to No Man's Land, get the potion, and then head south to the portal.

She worried about how Claire would get home, and wished she had made arrangements to meet up with her again, but she hoped she would be safe with Zack and Josef. Her mind continued to dwell on Claire as she walked. Though she worked hard to stay focused, she began paying less and less attention to where she was going. Eventually, she noticed some footprints on the ground. It was muddy where she was and the tracks appeared to have been freshly made. Her first thought was that there was someone nearby, and she looked around nervously. She had run across so many people in the garden while traveling with the SG and she assumed this was another. Then she studied the tracks more closely and realized something. For some reason, she placed her own foot inside of the prints on the ground. It was a perfect fit. She had been walking in circles.

Hailey dropped her head in frustration and let out a loud and angry groan that filled the empty air around her. In complete defeat, she looked at the ground. When her anger started to ease a little, she noticed something else about the footprints. There beside her own tracks was another set of larger ones. She instantly looked around her, anger and frustration now replaced by fear. Someone was following her. Behind her she heard a rustling as of someone receding back into the brush in order to remain hidden. Without thinking, she took off running. She could hear someone behind her, but when she looked quickly over her shoulder she couldn't see anyone.

Hailey tore through bushes like she was parting curtains. She dodged trees and jumped over fallen branches without thinking. In her fear she discovered a part of herself she had not known before. She was reacting based on pure instinct, but there was more to it than that. That feeling she had noticed when she first came into the Garden of Yllop, that peace, it seemed to be back somehow. In the face of conflict, peace seemed to have been invited back. As she ran, she felt as though she were almost being guided, but by what, she did not know. At one point, she looked behind her to see if the person chasing her was close or not, and when she looked back in front of her she saw a tree directly before her. She was seconds away from slamming right into it, but, without even thinking, she glided to the side and kept running. It was as if the struggle she now faced had freed her to be led by something outside of herself. That was where the peace had come from.

The sound of her pursuer was falling further and further away. Despite constantly looking over her shoulder as she ran, she never actually saw anyone following her. She started to slow her pace, and when it seemed safe enough, she returned to a walk before finally collapsing to one knee and gasping for air. She had not run that far, but she had run hard, harder than she remembered ever running before. She was not a very athletic girl. Her dad had pushed her into softball, but she usually spent gym class in the corner screwing around with some friends.

As she knelt there looking at the ground and trying to breathe, she saw what looked like another field of Octahedrills. She was thirsty from the run, and when she saw the flowers she got up and excitedly went to them. While the field they had found earlier was all different colors, all the flowers here were all a deep, dark green, almost black. If she had not been looking for something to drink, she would have missed them completely because they blended in so seamlessly with all the other greenery. But there they were, just waiting for her to take a drink, and she was grateful for them. She grabbed the first one she could reach and tore open the petals, spilling some of the juice. She raised the flower to her lips, but before she could take a drink she heard a loud shout from the trees.

"Stop!"

Terrified that her pursuer had caught up to her, but too tired to run any further, she dropped the flower to the ground and gasped. She noticed that as the juice splashed out, it instantly killed everything on which it landed. The plants and grass shriveled up within seconds, turning brown and dry before crumbling into ash with a short and quiet sizzle. It was not until then that she noticed the little bit she spilled when she opened the flower had done the same to another plant. When she looked up to see who was yelling at her, she saw Tellis Oliver walking out of the bushes toward her with an exaggerated look of concern on her face, the kind of look a mother would give to a crying but barely hurt toddler.

"Well that would have definitely killed you," she said without a trace of humor.