Is This True Love? (DNF)

Chapter 64: Markings in the Sky

George POV.

For what felt like hours Clay stood there, brows furrowed as he thought. It wasn’t really hours, but the paranoia of being found (alongside the fact that it was boring to see him just stand there) made the time drag out. After what was actually two or three minutes he seemed to focus back on the world around him.

"Okay, I think I know where to go." He smiled. Then he turned to look around the area, his gaze lifted slightly to look just above the treeline. I followed his line of sight, yet all that I saw was the open sky. It didn't make sense to me.

"How are you so sure?" I asked him, doing a full 360 spin to try and spot anything that would hint to me as to what direction an exit would be.
He pointed up to the sky. "If you look you can see thin markings along the wall of the dome." His voice was monotone, talking as though it was simple.

"...those markings are to show the entrances of the dome. You wouldn’t notice it unless you were actively trying to find it.” Clay explained, he had begun moving around but I couldn’t bring myself to look away from it. The small black marks against the crisp blue of the sky… or I guess this wasn’t really the sky, was it?”

I followed the patterns with my gaze as far up as they went, reaching up high enough that I couldn’t end up focusing on it. My breath hitched as I thought about this, thinking about the idea that this was a dome. The blond beside me had called it a dome at the very least, and I trusted Clay.

If I didn't put my trust in him I'd be relatively screwed over, after all. If I didn't trust him, if I backed away right now I would just remain trapped, except now I would know my place in this monkey show, and I'd refuse to perform for the audience. The show would be ruined as I'd dedicate my life to escaping this hell.

"I've… I've never seen the sky." The thought slipped out among many others, being the only one that ended up on my tongue though.
"George?" Was all he could ask, sensing my concern. I glanced momentarily over at him and felt my eyes water.

"Just… if this is a dome like you say it is." I hesitated, taking a long moment to fully realise what this meant. “I have never been able to see the sun.” Sympathy laced his gaze. “Have I? I don’t know if I know.”

Finally I dared over towards the blond, seeing that his gaze was now travelling around the dome as well, settling on a golden orb that radiated its own light from over the trees in the distance. It amazed me to look at, and I remembered as a kid always pretending to explore alien planets with red and green and blue suns. To think it may be true.

“That is what the sun looks like.” he reassured me. It was something calming that at the very least something in my life was like what it was outside. “Most of the show tried to stay realistic… I guess that’s because the viewers liked the opportunity to see you living life how they did.”
“How? Living life with hundreds of cameras watching you?” I scoffed.

It seemed as though Clay was thinking something else, but after a few long moments he must have thought better of it, instead he decided to let his gaze move off of the first spiralling along the design and to the left. Although it had already proven bad as I was still anxious about my discovery, I did the same.

“Over that way.” His voice was simple, and I found myself glancing in the direction he looked. “There are some more markings on the wall… it is another place where we’ll be able to leave. It isn’t a main entrance so hopefully I’ll be able to smuggle you out there.” Then the blond flashed me a grin, one that had me giggling at him like a child.

Just seeing him was enough to have me swooning, head over heels. Perhaps it was insane of me, but he had shown me more care in this one afternoon than anyone else had in my twenty-five years of life, as he had loved me enough to tell me the truth about my existence.

“If we walk it may take us an hour to get there.” He observed, continuing to look around while I moved to take his hand. “Especially if we want to avoid the road.” I continued to hold his hand, squeezing lovingly at it, continuing to feel bubbly as I stayed with my saviour, with the man who was getting me out of here.

“Don’t you want to go back to the car and grab your stuff?” I questioned. “Or it would be much quicker if we drove there.” I should honestly not be questioning him after what he was doing for me, yet I couldn’t help but think it would be smarter and quicker to drive. I didn’t say anything else to elaborate, just closing my eyes from here and waiting.

“There is nothing there that is important.” The blond’s voice was light, dreamy almost as he said that. Then the gaze softened and the hand that wasn’t holding mine moved up to brush my cheeks. “All that matters right now is making sure you are okay.”
“Clay-” I didn’t have anything I wanted to say, just smiling lovingly at him.

Our hands stayed entwined as we continued to walk. Other than the looming dangerous circumstances this was romantic, feeling like a walk in the park. The romance of our togetherness away from the rest of the world made my heart flutter in a way that it hadn’t done in years, not since long before dating Fundy.

Even just the contact present in our hands holding each other was enough to make me feel like everything would be okay, like he would never allow any harm to come to me and would protect me from this twisted life I’d grown up in.

“Are you okay?” I was shocked when I realised I had gotten lost in thought, lost as I looked over at the blond and soaked in his protective aura. The realisation made me blush but I gave him a nod to reassure him.
“Yes… I’m fine.” Then I paused. “I was just thinking about stuff.”

“What were you thinking about?” He stopped walking as he asked that, taking a long moment to look around at all of the trees before attempting to gaze back up at the markings to check if we were going in the correct direction.
“Just about everything.” I admitted. “About what the world could be like outside.”

“Just ask anything and I’ll be happy to answer.” The look of love and adoration had reappeared on his face and I nodded, smiling softly. For a moment I thought of my first question before asking him.
______________________________________
1198 words.