Hybrid: The Awakening

Chapter 23-Tesha

Date on Earth: Tuesday, October 10

The ground became wet and slick as rain continued to fall. My damp hair slapped my face as I ran.

When no one was looking, I caught myself glaring at the girl in front of me. Her black cloak seemed to wave mockingly in my face as a breeze went by.

I huffed. The girl had only just arrived, and already she was harder to handle than all three Chosen combined. She seemed to think she could suddenly appear and immediately start shouting orders as if she were the one in charge.

I didn't trust her. Her timely arrival was way too conveniently close to the appearance of the strange monster. The two events had to be connected.

It was also strange to note that the description of the creature didn't sound like anything I had encountered or even heard of before. Which made me wonder if that had even been the truth.

I shook my head. No, that couldn't have been a lie. Asher had seen the monster as well. And I trusted him, no matter how I felt about his new acquaintance.

Still, I couldn't help but theorize what darker motives the girl may have. Asher said she saved him, but that didn't mean she did it out of good will. It could've been for other reasons.

And with people like her, there were always other reasons.

"Ash, you don't look too good."

Tristen's statement snapped me out of my thoughts. I looked up to see Asher leaning against his walking stick, his stab wound open and bleeding.

I frowned. My wrapping job should have held up better than that.

"It's nothing, really," Asher said characteristically. "Let's just get out of this town first."

I made a slight nod. Getting out of the town was our top priority. Any injury could be tended to later, when we were in a safe area.

"It's your leg, right?" The new girl asked with her deep voice.

The blond boy nodded and she said with a sigh, "We can't leave yet."

"Why is that?" The words tumbled out of my mouth before I could stop them. Staying in the village would mean putting the Chosen in more danger. Whatever these new Earthen creatures were, I was unfamiliar with them. I wouldn't know how to defend the humans if one were to attack.

My main mission was to protect the Chosen at all costs. And that meant getting them out of danger as soon as possible.

The girl wearing the cloak then bent down to study Asher's wound.

"This wrapping job is atrocious," she stated, and I held back a retort at her criticism. "Not even the right material. It's going to get infected if we don't treat it properly."

I was about to argue, but Diana beat me to it.

"Can't we do that after we get out of this hellhole?" she said, and I awaited her answer expectantly.

The girl shook her head. "Based on the size of the lake, it will take about a day to reach the other side. He needs treatment as soon as possible. If we don't do it now, he's going to have to wait, and by then there's a good chance it will already be infected. So no, we can't." She looked at me while stating the last part.

Clenching and unclenching my fists, I took a deep breath. I had to stay calm. I was supposed to be a reasonable leader, and I wouldn't let my emotions overtake me.

And it wasn't as if the cloaked girl was wrong. Asher's wound did need to be treated as soon as possible; the fact that he was still bleeding profusely proved as much.