Gold Fever (m×m) ✔

XVII: A tough nut to crack

《 ASPEN GRISWOLD 》

The girl was the obvious choice.

I still didn't know what the whole story was, but I could piece together that something had happened to Najwa's mother and that she and Adrian blamed Elian Phoenix for it. I heard her reprimanding him, when I followed them back to the woods and kept watch nearby.

After Najwa was done shouting at Elian Phoenix, she rushed away from the camp. I had to jog after her, as she dashed into another direction. She was huffing and puffing despite the slow pace she soon slowed to, but from all that I had seen, it had to do with too much running around and too little and too poor nutrition. That is what you get when you stand by the world's most wanted man.

Either Najwa was terrible at paying attention to her surroundings or she was really that distraught, because it took her until I was right behind her to notice she was being followed. When she did, she turned on her heels so fast I stumbled onto her back, which caused us both to lose our balance and land heavily on the ground.

"And who the fuck are you?" She snapped, glaring at me like she wanted to crush my bones into dust. She was short and pocket-sized, but terrifying all the same. It was mostly because of her expression but also because of the knives hanging from her belt and the punk-goth type of clothing she wore.

"Aspen." I managed to say with a timid, croaky voice, but then cleared my throat and tried again: "My name is Aspen Griswold."

"I've seen you somewhere." Najwa started getting up, not taking her eyes off me while she did so.

I lifted my hands, palms up. She was squinting her eyes, which were smudged with rubbed off mascara, and her hand was inching towards her knives. I needed to make her believe I wasn't going to hurt her, to convince her we were on the same side, and I needed to do so fast. With each second ticking by, I was losing her.

No matter how angry and bitter you are, it's a long way to wanting to murder someone. You might want to destroy their life, but killing is out of question. Especially if that someone is your friend. I was prepared to use my charm and to be insistent with my persuading, but the biggest challenge was to get her to listen to me.

"I know you and Elian Phoenix are fighting." I blurted out. When her eyebrows shot up, and she crossed her arms over her chest, I went on. I talked fast, to make sure she couldn't cut me short: "I know he caused all this. No one should have that much power, and I know a way to fix it. To help you."

"You want to help us?" She asked, still squinting at me like she wasn't buying a word I said. I had to think fast, but I wasn't desperate enough to fall on my knees and beg.

"Give me fifteen minutes, and if you don't agree with me, we can just walk away and never think about this again." I suggested and dropped my arms back down to my sides.

"My friends will come looking for me." Najwa remarked. Her stance was still diffident, but the look in her eyes had shifted and I knew I was winning her over. "Ten, and then I'll go."

"Ten is all I need." I assured her. 

We sat down under an old three, where the soil was dry and patched with undergrowth. Najwa sat with her back straight and hands close to the knives hanging from her belt. I kept mine close by as well, but again, I had no intention of hurting her. It was merely a matter of self-preservation. 

"I saw my parents turning into gold right in front of me." I explained, and I had to focus on my hands to keep them from fidgeting. My voice was shakier than I would have hoped for. "It wasn't long after they lost all their money and we saw that picture of Elian Phoenix in our heads."