Far Away From Home

Part Eleven

The family stopped at a small pond, and the elderly man, whom she assumed to be the imaginary father, opened the colourful jar that he's holding. She was shocked to see something come out of it.

She had thought that they would perform a ritual and trap them inside the jar.

Guess she was wrong, but that doesn't mean that she's totally wrong.

She couldn't feel the heartbeat, but she could sense that there was something wrong with them.

“Let me show you to your rooms, and you can change and come down for dinner,” the young girl said.

“Thank you.” Jackson said, and Steph looked at him in disbelief.

They were taken upstairs and shown their various rooms. Caleb suggested that they stay in twos. While Jackson and her stayed in one room, Caleb offered to stay alone because Renia is a girl and he wouldn't mind staying alone, making Tony and Renia stay in one room.

Jackson wore the shorts and t-shirt that the young girl gave him. Steph changed out of her clothes because she could feel them stick to her body.

She remembered thinking why the clothes weren't sticking to her body while they were out in the rain, and she wondered why she would have thought that.
“Come on, Steph. Let's go.” Jackson said.

“Go on. I'm not hungry,” she said.

“Suit yourself,” he said.

He left shortly after that, and Steph sat on the bed while ruminating on what happened between when they reached the edge of the forest and now.

Someone knocked on the open door, and she looked up. Caleb stared at her for a while and came into the room. She didn't know how to respond to that.

Caleb has been a bone in her flesh, and while she has this undying hatred for him, she knows that he's one of the people she has to rely on for now.

Caleb sat at the edge of the bed and said,
“Aren't you coming?”

He watched her closely, like he was looking for something she had but couldn't give.

What's his problem?

“Funny. Why are you asking me that? You can go do whatever and let me be,” she said, with a bite in her voice.

“Woo! I just want to know. You've been acting different ever since we came here. Is there a problem?” he asked.

She was surprised by the softness in his voice.

This new Caleb annoyed her.

“Is this your new way of telling me to get lost' cause I'm not the one staying in someone else's bedroom or sitting on their bed?”

He laughed and said,
“I'm just checking up on you.”

As he said this, he came closer to her. She held her guard and monitored his movements. He seemed like Caleb, but he was still not him, making her wonder if she was in an illusion. She pinched her arm and looked back at Caleb, and he's still sitting there.

Are illusionists that strong?

“What is wrong with you?” she asked him.

“Why were you looking the way you did in the sitting room? Have you matured?” he asked quietly.

He stared at her so intently that she wondered if she had any funny things on her face.

Why is he this way?

“I believe those people downstairs have influenced some of us. Don't give in to them, Caleb. You are a telepath. You are better than this.”

Caleb blinked at her and laughed.

“I'm fine. Come on, pinch me. That will stop an illusion,” he said.

“An illusion would say that too,” she replied.

He stared at her for a while.

She noticed a change in his demeanor before he said,
“If you think I am an illusion, I hope you think that this is an illusion too.”

Before she could ask him what he meant by that, he bent down and kissed her. It was a soft and light kiss, but she was dumbfounded.

Somewhere inside her, something told her that she had a boyfriend, but she wanted to feel what kissing Caleb would be like. So, she wrapped her hands around his neck, and he wrapped his around her waist, and the kiss became intense. 

Caleb was lost in euphoria. Kissing Steph had never crossed his mind before. He didn't know if the kiss was just an impulse or if he really had always wanted to kiss her. She's beautiful, and she's kind and honest, but she has a boyfriend that she really likes.

That didn't stop him, and Steph didn't stop either.

Had she always wanted it?

He didn't care. He wanted it, and he's getting it.

For a while, he kissed her with fervour and she returned his kisses with the same fervour. Her kisses were too addictive.

Why hadn't he kissed her before?

“You are kissing Stephanie?” Someone roared in his head.

The force of the voice made him break off from the kiss. Disoriented, he looked around, looking for the owner of the voice.

Finding no one, he concluded that it must have been his imagination, but before he could get back to kissing Steph, the same voice screamed at him.

“That's Jackson's girlfriend that you are kissing.”

Tony!

He scrambled off of Steph. Her lips were red from his kisses, and she was staring at him as he got off. He didn't know what to do. 

“That's a test kiss. You cheated on him,” he said, and she raised an eyebrow.

Why had he wanted to kiss Steph?

He had no answer for that, but he could feel his heart racing and the desire to kiss her apparent. She's looking beautiful just sitting there, staring at him with a curious, innocent expression on her face.

Why was she so pretty?

“Bye!” he said and ran out of the room.

Steph stared at him as he ran out of the room. Kissing him wasn't that bad, and she was giddy from it. She has cheated on Jackson, and she's not remorseful at all.

Lying back in bed, she wondered who would break the news first. Sleep found her pretty quickly, and before she knew it, she was in dreamland.