The Elemental Trials

Seventeen

Luke

"DAD!" I woke with a cry as I sat straight up, clutching at my heart as I felt it thunder wildly against my chest , my breathing coming in harsh, sporadic bursts. My eyes flitted around, taking in my strange surroundings before I realised that we were still in Aurora's bubble, the black sea swirling around us as we moved at a rapid pace. I quickly scanned the others to see if they had caught my outburst, finding that Aurora was the only one awake - standing in the centre of the bubble while the other two slept against the edges. 

The journey to the mainland was only around two hours, but we had agreed we should probably grab all the sleep we could get. I had meant to stay up and keep Aurora company but obviously I had accidentally drifted. I wouldn't make the same mistake twice.

I caught Aurora's eye as she flashed me a sympathetic look, running a hand through my hair as I focused on calming my breathing. Marcus and Aurora were - as far as I knew - the only people on the island who knew about my nightmares. I don't know why I hadn't told Skye; I think it was just one of those things that had never really come up. And maybe there was a part of me that didn't really want to initiate the conversation. 

Aurora had found out on our first night on the island, and I had ended up telling her everything about my Dad. Marcus had witnessed it from our sharing a room of course, and could probably piece together that there was some trauma revolving around how my Dad had passed, but he kept it respectful and always offered his help any way he could. I appreciated it.

"Sorry." I murmured to Aurora, wiping some sweat from my brow. It had been a particularly bad one but I was trying my best to hide how shaken I really was. 

"Don't apologise." She said kindly, still looking at me with a smile that was supposed to be comforting - if it had managed to reach her eyes. I didn't know what that was about; my relationship with Aurora had been weird for a while now, in a manner I couldn't quite put my finger on. It felt...strained. There was always this precipitating tension whenever she spoke to me, all these half-hearted smiles and quick glances away. It felt like she couldn't stand to be near me sometimes. I had hoped it was maybe just anxiousness surrounding our plan to escape, but now I wasn't so sure.

I shuffled awkwardly, not sure what else to say, and was thankful when she picked up on it and decided to change the subject. I guess today she was able to stomach me a little longer than usual. "I'm not completely sure, but I think we're pretty close. Maybe like fifteen minutes out?" 

"Good," I said with a nod, my gaze growing distant, "that's good." My thoughts slowly began to spiral as I realised our impending arrival on the mainland meant we would soon be faced with God knows what. A sense of dread crept into my stomach, and there was something on my mind that I hadn't quite been able to get off my chest. This moment seemed like the perfect time, with just Aurora there to hear my thoughts. Maybe she would help me make sense of them. 

"Do you think we're making a mistake?"

"What?" She asked with a quirked eyebrow, looking at me skeptically "Why would you think that?"

I didn't answer right away. I wasn't sure how she'd take the next thing I said, so I chose my words carefully before meeting her gaze. "Alex told me something a week ago. Sort of...opened up about things. About what we might be facing. I didn't-...I wasn't sure if I should tell you guys. Now I'm maybe second guessing."

Aurora levelled her gaze at me, and she looked far from impressed. "Luke. I thought we were all in this together." 

"We are, Aury, of course we are. Look just hear me out okay? He didn't say much, he just-...explained a few things." I felt like I had to choose my next words very carefully. I knew it was terrible that I hadn't told them yet, but with the amount of responsibility on my shoulders certain gambles were necessary. This was just a particularly large gamble.