until the very end

part 31

Surprisingly, we made it back to the lake without being seen by the boys. We bathed in the lake to wash off the blood, then returned to the camp to quickly change clothes in the tent. Ellie and Calum came back from their hunt shortly after.

Jax half-heartedly suggested we’d play another game of Truth or Dare now that it wasn’t possible for either of us to hide the truth, but the only one who seemed to be in the mood for that, was Toto.

The next day, we left early. To my relief, Toto didn’t complain about the long walk through the forest. He kept mumbling to this ‘Spidey’ creature that seemed to only exist inside of his head.

When we passed the willow, no one noticed anything, despite Aria’s constant nervous glances towards the bush where her brother’s body was hidden.

I subtly squeezed her hand in a weak attempt to reassure her.
Neither of us talked much – it was a bit too risky with so many secrets and a Truth Teller.

“Is it just me or are we taking a complete different route then yesterday?” Jax stated when the sun was starting to set after a long day of walking through the forest.
“Yeah.” Calum stratched his head. “This way, we don’t have to dug through the desert.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Then why did we go through the desert on the way here?”
“Because I wanted to train your walking abilities,” Calum said.
“That’s not true.” Toto paused his heated discussion with Brend about imaginative friends to interrupt our conversation.

Calum let out a heavy sigh. “Fine. I miscalculated, accidentally leading all of us towards a detour.”
“That’s true,” Toto said with satisfaction in his voice, before turning back to Brend.

Calum scowled. “Man, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I agree with Gwen. This kid is getting on my nerves.”
“Great,” I mumbled. “Absolutely fantastic. So you’re telling me that I’ve spent more time in your company than strictly necessary?”
Calum flashed a wry grin. “No need to flatter me so much, Gwen.”
Aria just sighed, not even bothering to try and end our constant argueing anymore.

Truth be told, if we were really taking the shorter road now, that was good news. It had taken us one and a half day to get to the boatcamp, and we were slowed down by the fight with the coyotes. If we were really taking a shorter way back, maybe we could make it back in time for the battle, which would start shortly after sunset.

And Jax and I would be in time for our meeting with Gaia.
Calum eyened me up and down with a raised eyebrow. “You’re limping. What happened? Did you punch yourself in your sleep?”
I rolled my eyes. It was annoying that despite my many efforts to walk up straight to hide my broken rib, that guy didn’t miss anything. “I bumped into a tree because you were leading us through the middle of nowhere, but thanks for caring.”
Thank god, Toto wasn’t paying attention.

Calum gestured for Jax to come walk next to him. Brend and Toto had now moved their animated discussion to the question as to whether or not if all kinds of imaginary friends existed, this should mean that pink elephants existed as well. I hoped they could be friends – then at least one good thing would come from dragging that idiot with us. Ellie was trudging meters behind us, looking like something the cat dragged in. Brend and she had not talked all day.

“How are you feeling?” I softly asked Aria.
She looked up at me. Judging by the huge bags under her eyes, she had not slept all night. On one hand, she seemed calmer than yesterday: she wasn’t constantly looking over her shoulder at every noise. But she looked like a shadow of herself. She had barely said anything all day, as if her own mind was taking up all her attention.

“I don’t know, Gwen.” She let out a sigh that came all the way from her toes. “I think Calum suspects something. He keeps asking me if something’s wrong.” She nervously glanced over at the guys walking ahead of us. “I don’t know how to explain this mess to him. How to explain to him that I… that we…” Her breath caught in her throat.
“I understand, but don’t you think he’ll be relieved to know that we don’t have to be afraid of Ben anymore? If you want, you can put the blame all on me.”
“No! Gwen, I don’t want that. I don’t want any lies between us.” She looked down. “And I kind of haven’t told him about Ben.”
“Wait a second…”
“Yes, Gwen. I know.” She closed her eyes, letting out an exhausted sigh. “He only knows about the letter he found. I’ve told him that it was probably some sort of stalker. Someone who’s probably already forgotten about me now.” She chuckled softly. “At first, he was ready to throw hands, but I think he’s let it go now.”
I sighed. “Aria…”
“Oh, come on. Don’t go on a lecture about how it’s not smart to keep secrets.” She looked at me, irritation written all over her face. “What are your plans for the Thanksgivingsbattle?”
I opened my mouth to answer, then stopped myself, realising I didn’t have a good explanation.