Connection

Chapter Twenty-Five: Cliff

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Chapter Twenty-Five: Cliff

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No matter how much distance had been put between him and the town, Cliff felt his heart jump every time he heard any sort of sound. The emotional effect of what he'd experienced previously had set in and the fear—the feeling of undergoing constant surveillance—was more pressing than he ever could have imagined.

His breath fogged the air in front of him as he moved stealthily through the woods. He felt butterflies in his stomach and despite the cold, his palms were pooling with sweat. He had only narrowly avoided his mother discovering he wasn't, in fact, retaking his assessment; he preferred to be out of Mallowkeep before he could let his guard down.

A light snow fluttered from the grey skies as Cliff picked his way through the thin line of trees, heading deeper into the forest. Few plants remained green and the complex mess of colorful autumn leaves had decayed into an unattractive brown. With each step, his boots made a sharp crunch! and he slowly grew paranoid someone would hear him.

By the time he had reached Grez's cabin, he was covered in cold sweat and pulled himself through the window gratefully.

"You didn't wait for your friend?" Grez asked after they'd exchanged greetings.

"Jean? No, I didn't think to. She knows when we're supposed to be here," Cliff answered though the look which Grez shot him as he threw his bag on the ground caused his cheeks to tint red.

After a few moments of small talk, they heard a pounding on the wall.

"Oh," Cliff exclaimed with a laugh. "I forgot she didn't know the pattern to get in."

He leaped toward the window which had solidified itself and knocked. The moment it melted away Jean came rolling through the window, landing on the ground with a thud!

Slung over her back was a large, bulging duffel bag. Jean dropped it on the ground and brushed her hair out of her face, which she'd cut and dyed a more natural red the night before. With a smile, Cliff lent her a compliment then pointed to the bag.

"What on earth is in there?"

"I downsized from my original bag—"

"Downsized?" Cliff exclaimed. "You can't possibly need everything in there."

"Oh, you should have seen it before," she shot back but Grez was nodding.

"Do you have a nose?"

"What?" Cliff felt his eyebrows scrunch as he stared in confusion.

"Can you smell? She packed it with food! Something you clearly didn't think of," he jibed with a playful smirk.

Cliff felt his heart drop. "I stand corrected."

Jean nodded with a smug smile and pulled open the zipper just enough to pull out a sandwich stuffed with eggs and bacon.

"I brought my breakfast, which is why he can smell it. The rest of the things in here aren't cooked," she explained as she dug into her breakfast sandwich.

"So what did you tell your mother you were doing?" Cliff asked.

"Just . . . told her . . . that I was going on a . . . school field trip," she responded through bites of her breakfast. Cliff felt his stomach rumble as he watched her eat and he began to deeply regret choosing not to eat before he left. "What 'bout you?"

"Pretended I was going to retake my assessment. I'd prefer if we went soon because I have a feeling that lie won't last very long," Cliff explained. Grez nodded and walked toward the window. Cliff had never seen him leave and wondered how he did it; he didn't seem like the type of man to wriggle through a window.