Jakovi Poza: Shadows Of The Past

Chapter 1

The day became warmer, the birds sang, Roxanne and Gold walked through the woods and listened to the sounds of nature. Both left in silence, Gold overtook Roxanne a few minutes later. For a few days she is no longer the leader of her group. Ella became the new leader, so Roxanne can go on as usual. 
“Come on, faster!” She heard Gold, who had a friendly voice. Roxanne woke up from her thoughts and caught up with her friend who was waiting for her.Gold looked at Roxanne, the girl with the black hair looked nervous and serious.
 “Are you all right? You look upset.” Gold said insecure. Roxanne looked at Gold and laughed artificially.
“It’s nothing, don’t worry.” 
Gold sighed heavily and then looked forward. She started wondering if Roxanne was nervous about the meeting today. Did something happen last night? Gold knew that Roxanne might still worry about ending her relationship with Foxy. Two had been a couple for six months, but Foxy broke up with her without a word, and until then nothing was known about him. 
Gold went unsurely to Roxanne’s side, who wasn’t looking at Gold, but straight ahead. Something must have happened. Gold thought with a serious look. When they came out of the woods, they saw in front of them a clean clearing and a little further on a large tree in the middle of the clearing where the assemblies take place.
“Beautiful weather promises to be today.” Roxanne suddenly said in a quiet voice to Gold and looked up at the sky. When Gold saw Roxanne’s pride, she became dizzy. Maybe it’s just my thoughts, she was just stressed out about the meeting. Gold thought. 
“I agree.” Gold replied. 
“I wonder what the weather is going to be tonight.” Roxanme muttered. Gold didn’t answer, she didn’t know what Roxanne was about. Does she have a meeting? When they entered the big tree, they were greeted by familiar voice.
“You arrived!” Lillie said.
Roxanne smiled and nodded. “I hope we’re not too late.” 
Gold greeted Lillie with a nod. She was wondering, where’s Ella? As she searched for the leader and her best friend, she looked further away from Dark and Alex. Gold came up to them. She was curious what they were talking about. 
“Hello Dark and Alex, how are you?” Gold asked and gave them a serious look.
 “We’re fine, what about you?”Alex said. Gold didn’t know what to say. She was concerned about Roxanne’s strange behavior, but she decided not to tell anyone. 
“It’s good, as always.” Gold answered.
“Is Roxanne with you?” Dark suddenly asked. Gold turned to Roxanne, who was a little further away from them, Roxanne and Lillie were both talking, but she got a remark.
“Where’s Ash? She won’t be late for a meeting, will she?”Gold asked curiously. 
“We don’t know,” Dark said. “Maybe she’ll be here any minute.” 
Gold watched Dark go to Roxanne and Lillie. She felt strange, but it quickly faded away when she saw Ella come towards her.
“Hello, dear leader!” Gold said. 
“Hello, Gold and Alex.” Ella warmly welcomed them. Alex nodded respectfully as Gold sided with her best friend.
 “Are you all ready for a meeting?” Ella asked.
“Not really.” Gold said quickly. “Ash isn’t here yet.” 
Ella slowly nodded. “Then we’ll wait for her.” 
Gold followed Ella, leaving Alex behind and sitting next to Ella under a big tree. 
“I hope she won’t be long.” Ella said and looked up at the sky. 
“Don’t worry, Ash will be here soon, I’m sure.” Gold answered. Ella didn’t answer anymore, she just looked at the other group members. Gold looked at her friends and members, who were all talking to each other, Alex joined them. Gold sighed loudly and noticed Roxanne approaching her. Ella got up first and greeted Roxanne.
 “I think we can start the meeting.” Roxanne told them. 
“What about Ash?” Gold asked. She hesitated when Roxanne shook her head. 
“She’s not coming to the meeting, she’s not feeling well.” Roxanne muttered with a worried face. Gold and Ella exchanged uncertain looks, but Ella nodded. “Okay, let’s get started.” 
Ella signs that the meeting begins. Dark arrived first and took his seat next to Roxanne. Lillie and Alex rushed towards them, and then Gold took her place next to them. 
“Today I wanted to elect the deputy.” Ella started. “I’ve made my decision, and I hope it’s a good one.” 
Gold was curious, but was afraid of a decision Ella had made. I hope she didn’t choose me, she thought nervously. She knows I won't be a good deputy!
 “My deputy will be...Dark.” Ella told. Gold was surprised, but she just felt the excitement that he was going to be deputy. 
“Congratulations, Dark!”
“Good luck!”
The members welcomed the new deputy, Gold joined the uniform. Dark came into the middle, his eyes shone with pride. 
“Thank you all,” Dark said. “I will try to be a good deputy for all of us.” 
Gold smiled, believing Dark was the right choice for the deputy. He was always loyal, caring and helpful. Gold watched as Dark stood by Ella’s side. She remembered how she was once elected deputy by Roxanne. 
“Now, tonight, there will be another meeting, since Ash is not there, I cannot say. Because I want it to be complete.” Ella said calmly, looking at each member in turn. 
“Does it have to be at night?” Roxanne asked, Gold heard fear in her voice. Ella kept silent, not knowing what to say, when Dark saw it, he answered, “It depends on whether we’re all together.” 
Ella gave Dark a thankful look. 
“Is that a important meeting?” Roxanne asked and added, “We can meet when Ash gets back from town.” Gold looked at Roxanne confused. Isn’t Ash not feeling well? Gold hought. Ella gave Roxanne a questioning look. 
“Gets back from town?” Ella said uncertainly. Gold looked at Roxanne, she still looked calm.
 “I mean...she will recover.” Roxanne said quickly, she was smiling, even though Gold knew Roxanne was hiding something. Is that a bad thing? Is she lying to us? Gold asked herself. I hope these are just my thoughts. According to Roxanne’s words, Ella and Dark acted as if nothing had happened.
 “When Ash is well, we’ll start the meeting.” Ella confessed. 
Everyone nodded in agreement, Ella took one last look and signaled that the meeting was over. Gold looked at Dark as he approached her. 
“Congratulations, Dark. I’m sure Ella made the right choice.” Gold said to Dark.
Dark just nodded and disappeared from her eyes. Gold followed Ella, who was a little further away from her. She noticed that Ella looked as if she had seen a ghost.
 “Are you worried about what Roxanne said?” Gold asked Ella.
 “I don’t know. I feel like Roxanne’s hiding something.” Ella muttered with a worried face. Gold tried to convince her it was just her thoughts, but she was sure Roxanne was acting strangely. She reacted quickly when she said something about the town. Gold thought.
 “What is she hiding?” Ella asked. Gold sighed heavily, hoping it wasn’t a big deal. 
“I don’t know, maybe she is too worried about the loss…of Foxy.” Gold spoke insecurely. She was gripped by fear. What if it’s something worse? Gold dreamed of knowing the truth, and she reminded that Roxanne behaved like that yesterday. She woke up from her memories when she heard Ella’s voice.
 “That might be possible”, Ella admitted. “We both know Foxy was important to her.”
 “Let’s hope that what she’s hiding isn’t bad for all of us.” Gold answered, without looking at Ella. Ella nodded and agreed with Gold.
“You’re right.” Ella said.
 “I’ll try to talk to her, see you around, dear leader!” Gold said, running on the way to the big tree. Maybe she’ll feel better if I talk to her. Gold thought.
Gold was looking for Roxanne, but she didn’t see her anywhere. Gold thought she’d have to take the same route back home. So she walked on the path the two had go before, and Gold looked around here and there and saw Roxanne nowhere. She must be in the woods! Gold then thought and ran into the woods. She felt like her legs are falling off, but she didn’t give up, she had to talk to Roxanne. As she ran into the woods, she immediately heard the rustling and chirping of the birds. Gold set out and hoped to find a friend nearby. She had the feeling that Roxanne was already home. Suddenly she heard the conversation a bit further, Gold recognized the voices and moved quickly towards the voices. When she got closer, she knew who the voices belonged to, it was Ash and Roxanne. Gold was surprised to hear Ash, is she feeling better? Gold realized that Ash might have returned from the town, as Roxanne had said. So we were right? Does Roxanne have something to hide? Gold wondered. She felt she had to find out. She hid in the nearby bushes and listened to Ash’s and Roxanne’s conversation. It was quiet, but suddenly Gold heard Ash.
“He will come, but when I spoke to him, he sounded very scary.”
 “He will come”? Who’s coming? Gold thought. She mentally begged Roxanne or Ash not to notice her in the bushes. Otherwise, everything will end badly.
 “Okay, when will be here?” She heard Roxanne, her voice sounded happy, but also fear. Is this about Dark? Is there a new member? Gold had a lot of questions on her mind.
 “Tonight at 18:00.” Ash answered. 
“Thank you for doing this. I really don’t know how to repay you!” Roxanne said. Gold tried not to move so that the bush she is wouldn’t rustle. She didn’t want to be discovered, not now that she can find something out. 
“You don’t have to, that’s what friends are for, Roxanne.” Ash said. She heard Ash say something else, but Gold didn’t heard.
 “I’ll come home, I’ll see you later.” Ash said, and then it was quiet. Gold slowly bent down to see if Ash or Roxanne were still here, but she only saw Roxanne sitting under the oak tree. Gold got worried and tried to get out in different direction of the bushes where she came in so Roxanne couldn’t see her. She quickly pulled herself together and got up, then she walked towards Roxanne.
 “Hey! I’ve been looking for you!” Gold just called. Gold pretended to be happy, but she felt different. 
Roxanne reacted quickly, got up and looked at Gold nicely. Gold wanted to ask Roxanne who’s coming tonight, but if she does, Roxanne will know she was listening.
 “Sorry, I had to sit down for a while. I didn’t want to go home so quickly.” Roxanne answered.
 “I understand”, she said Gold, “but I must ask you something.” 
Roxanne still smiled slightly, but she saw sadness in her eyes. 
“How have you been lately? You know you can tell me everything.” Gold muttered. Roxanne has stopped smiling, she make a serious face, will she say everything? Roxanne lowered her head as if she dodged Gold's gaze.
 “Everything’s fine...I just have bad thoughts lately.” 
“Is this about Foxy?” Gold asked calmly. Roxanne was silent. Gold didn’t know what to say. She realized she had gone too far. Foxy wasn’t as important to her as for Roxanne. Foxy always had empathy only for Roxanne, no one else. Gold hated him more when he hurt Roxanne more. Gold felt guilty and stopped looking at Roxanne. 
“If this is a difficult topic for you...”
“No.” Roxanne interrupted Gold abruptly. Did she try to show her that she’s still self-confident?
 “It’s not a difficult topic for me, I just sometimes miss the old days.” Roxanne explained. Gold hesitated, she remembered when Roxanne said she regretted being with Foxy. Gold sometimes longed for the past when Foxy was nice to everyone. However, she assumed Foxy wasn’t a good person. Gold shook her head slightly and tried to clear her memories.
“I miss them too, but we have to live in the present.” Gold answered. 
“I know, but it’s still hard for me.” Roxanne whispered. Gold hugged Roxanne without thinking, she felt safer when Roxanne hugged her too.
 “Remember, you’re not alone. You can tell me and Ella everything, and even Dark.” Gold said, and shortly afterwards they both stopped hugging. Roxanne smiled and gave Gold a graceful look. 
“Thank you, Gold.” Roxanne answered.
 You have nothing to thank, because that’s what friends are for. Gold thought, and then she turned to the path that leads to their house. 
“Come on, let’s go home.” Gold said, then she walked towards the path. She heard footsteps behind her, and as they walked along the path, Roxanne was walking next to Gold. Gold never had felt sad like this before. Roxanne still misses the old days, but I’ll help her no matter what!

When they arrived home, Gold opened the door and let Roxanne pass. 
“Oh, we just started playing Truth Or Dare.” Gold said nicely. Gold laughed, but when she noticed that Roxanne was still sad, she stopped laughing, when Dark noticed, he made a worried face. 
“Something happened, girls?” Dark asked. Roxanne shook her head and walked towards the stairs, Gold looked at her as she went upstairs. When Roxanne disappeared, Gold looked at Dark, his eyes burned with concern. 
“I’ll talk to her.” Dark said, but Gold kept him. 
“No, she needs to be alone, give her time.” Gold muttered. Gold carefully pushed Dark slightly blocked his way, Dark sighed heavily.
 “Okay, I hope nothing bad happened.” Dark anwsered. Gold felt weird as he walked past her and walked into the living room, she followed him and met there Alex, Dark and Lillie there. 
“So you’re playing truth or dare, huh?” Gold asked curiously. 
“O Gold, you are back! Where’s Roxanne?” Lillie asked. Gold took a seat next to Alex, went up and took a piece of pizza that was on the table.
 “In her room, she’s tired.”
She felt stupid to lie to her friends, but then everyone leaves Roxanne alone so she can rethink everything. Gold only saw that Dark sat there silently and had a sad face. He’s worried about her. Gold thought. She looked at Lillie and tried to forget what happened earlier. There’s still someone coming at 18:00, but who? Gold thought about it for a moment. Her heart beat like a hammer when she had theories. Is that Foxy? Or Sting? Gold thought. Sting used to be a member of their group, as did Foxy. He was Foxy’s best friend, but they stopped being friends for some unknown reason. Roxanne was the leader at the time, and she banished Sting for breaking her rules. He was a good friend, but I will always respect Roxanne’s decisions. Gold thought. She just hoped it wasn’t Foxy or some enemy she knew or Roxanne.
 “Can I play with you?” Gold asked while eating pizza.
 “Sure, let’s get started!”