"I swear you need to stop following me!"
"I'd rather die than willingly follow you right now."
"Well, you are doing a terrible job at avoiding me."
"Looks like, your parents do not trust you walking around alone, cause they are the ones who asked...
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I thought I saw something. A snake, I think? I stand there emotionless and still, feeling something climbing up my leg. I slightly bow my head down towards my leg and notice my biggest fear, climbing up on my leg. I scream and again go still.
I shake myself back to reality as the faint sound of differing footsteps reaches my ears. I turn back, with the snake still clinging onto my leg, in hopes of moving towards the same sound of hurrying footsteps before I am met with the solid muscle. I turn my head up to find Zayden glaring at me with his sandstone eyes.
"What happened?" He peers all over my body checking for any injuries before his eyes land on the snake.
He quickly grabs a wooden stick from nearby and removes the snake from my leg.
"Are you okay?" Zayden and Camilla ask me at the same time.
I gather the strength to say something finally. "I'm okay." I say truthfully. "I thought that snake was going to bite me and then I would have died, and I screamed. It's all okay now. You don't have to worry."
"Are you sure, though?" perches in Camilia, her voice filled with concern.
"Yeah, trust me. I'm all fine." I assure her. Her eyes narrow towards me, as if assessing the ratio of truth in my words.
"Let's get back to what we were doing." I don't want any of us to deter off our objective for today. "There is nothing to worry about and we should finish what we came here for."
I glance at both their faces, with hope and determination flickering in my eyes.
The tension in the air was palpable as we stand in the dimly lit hall, our flashlights casting long, eerie shadows on the damp walls.
"I can't believe you, Ivy!" Zayden's voice echoes through the tunnel, sharp and accusing. He runs a hand through his hair as he looks around, tension clearly decipherable in his hands, face and voice. "You never think things through. You just rush in without considering the consequences."
I turn around not wanting to face him.
Zayden's eyes flash with anger as he turns me around so that I'm coerced to face him. "And you think too much, Zayden! You're always over-analysing and always doubting everything. Especially me." My head drops. "Sometimes you just have to take a risk to achieve something."
"This isn't about taking risks, Ivy. It's about being reckless." Hearing this rational explanation stirred feelings of frustration and determination in me. "We could get seriously hurt down here, or worse." He throws his hands up in the air.
"We're doing this to find answers, Zayden. To figure out what my grandmother wanted me to find." I shake him, hoping to get my message across. "If we don't take risks, we'll never get anywhere." I retort.
